One of the BEST CARDS OF THE YEAR! Two title fights on the card with the only negative being the early start time. We get Petr Yan vs. Sean O’Malley, a fight that could be a co-main but the co-main is Aljamain Sterling taking on TJ Dillashaw. And then we find out if Islam Makhachev is TRULY the best lightweight in the world.

Here are some specifics. The  prelims at 10:oo pm and the main card at 2pm . All of it is on ESPN+ and it will cost you $70 but its worth it.

I will give you my predictions in the order the fights are to take place. All odds are courtesy of Bet MGM. The King of Sports Books! For new users head on over there and use the promocode PatEgan and get your first bet RISK FREE up to $1K

176-127-1 this year. 59-31 on locks.

In 2021 I hit on 60% of picks. In 2021 I hit on 61% of “locks” (so a lot of people had keys to that lock.)

(5-6 last fight card. 0-3 on locks)

PRELIMS

Lina Lansberg

Muhammad Mokaev (lock)

Armen Petrosyan

Gadzhi Omargadzhiev

Makhmud Muradov

Sean Brady

MAIN CARD

• Katlyn Chookagian vs. Manon Fiorot

  If Chookagian wasn’t fighting Fiorot, and she had weight cut issues, I may pick her still. But this fight was trending towards Fiorot BEFORE Chookagian came in a half pound over. “Whats the big deal? Half a pound.” Because she clearly didn’t have a great cut and might have trouble re-hydrating. Chookagian is a REALLY good fighter. Doesnt have knock out power but she knows how to control her range and win a points fight. But it just feels like its Fiorot’s time. She looked really good against a former title challenger in Jennifer Maia, and with this win she could be in line for a title shot. Hate picking against a local fighter, but I have to.

  Manon Fiorot (lock)

• Beneil Dariush vs. Mateusz Gamrot

  This is a REALLY great fight. Two very evenly matched up guys. Dariush is on a hot streak riding a 7 fight win streak with his best win coming against Diego Ferreira. Who else holds a win against Ferreira? Mateusz Gamrot. Gamrot came into the UFC with a lot of hype from KSW and hes lived up to the hype. BUT….I think Dariush is slightly better. I think Dariush’s striking is better than Gamrot’s, and the wrestling cancels each other out.

  Beneil Dariush.

• Petr Yan vs. Sean O'Malley

  No more coddling. Sean O’Malley is getting his biggest test to date. I just wish it was coming in a 5 round fight. O’Malley is talented. Hes quirky and tough to pick up. Combine that with Yan’s propensity to start a bit slow and I expect O’Malley to take round 1. But I am VERY high on Petr Yan. And I think this is a jump up in competition that O’Malley isnt ready for. While I like O’Malley a lot, the reality is we havent seen him against top level competition. The Chito fight, for me, gets an asterisk because of the drop foot. It changed everything in that fight. Would love to see a rematch. But for this fight, I think Yan does something no one else has done and thats high O’Malley and make him think twice.

  Petr Yan

• Aljamain Sterling (C) vs. TJ Dillashaw

  Did TJ earn this fight? No. He “Beat” Cory Sandhagen in a fight that only 3 people in the world think he actually won (those being TJ and the 2 judges that scored it in favor of TJ.) But the fact is TJ never lost his 135 pound strap. He got caught cheating trying to go down to 125 pounds but at 135 pounds he is one of the best fighters in the game. BUT….BUT….Aljamain Sterling has a lot of tricks in his bag.

  His ground game is so elite and we saw that against his fight with Petr Yan. A fight that I picked Yan to win. It was close, but Sterling showed real growth. He just has to make sure he doesnt get caught by that EPO haymaker and he should crusie to victory

  Aljamain Sterling (lock)

   

• Charles Oliveira (C?) vs. Islam Makhachev

  A lot of MMA media pundits have said for the longest time that Islam Makhachev was actually the best light weight in the world. But fighters were ducking him. They cant duck him anymore. He has dismantled everyone in his path and looks like his mentor, Khabib. But I cant pick him. Because I have doubted Charles Oliveira in just about every fight (I actually picked him against Poirier) and hes done nothing but absolutely DOMINATE. His ground game is legit, so take him down but it might be to your detriment. He knocked out Michael Chandler, so the power is there. Give me Charly Olives to regain whats rightfully his!

  Charles Oliveira

• Parlays

  Since BET MGM is the king of parlay’s here is how the parlay odds look!

  if you take every one of my picks and parlay them on BetMGM, wagering $100 you’d win $298,954 (+298854)
  If you just parlay the prelims, using all my picks and wagering $100 you would walk away with $15,144 (+15044)
  Parlay the main card, taking all my picks and wagering $100 you would cash in $1,973 (+1873)
  And if you just want to take my locks and parlay them on BetMGM, wagering $100 you would win $251 (+151)

  Odds subject to change. Good luck!

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