This Saturday night brings yet another big evening of mixed martial arts action with the UFC Fight Night returning to Las Vegas.
The UFC Apex will be headlined by an exciting middleweight clash between Jared Cannonier and Sean Strickland over the weekend in what should be a hard fought encounter. Both men enter off the back of recent losses and will be motivated not to concede defeat consecutive times in this cut-throat league. Outside of this headline match, there are 13 other bouts set across the preliminary and undercard fights, which offer plenty of excellent betting opportunities.
We preview the best bets to make on these matches with bookmaker William Hill ahead of Saturday night’s event.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: December 14th, 1:00 A.M. (EST)
Looking at the overall odds for all 14 fights this weekend, we can see that there are plenty of close encounters to be fought. The main event itself has very narrow odds with Sean Strickland taking a narrow lead at this stage on odds of 1.80 against Jared Cannonier’s 2.00.
Jared Cannonier heads into this headline fight significantly older than his opponent. American Cannonier first debuted as a professional in 2011 when he was already 27 years old. The 38-year-old has found great success since then, however, winning his first seven fights to gain a UFC call up. At the UFC, Cannonier is 8-6-0 making his overall record 15-6-0 across his career. The American has gone toe-to-toe with the best of the best across this time losing to the likes of Israel Adesanya, Robert Whittaker and Jan Blachowicz while defeating Anderson Silva and Derek Brunson.
Sean Strickland, on the other hand, is seven years younger than Cannonier. He made his professional debut earlier than his opponent however, first fighting as a professional in 2008. Since then, he has accrued a record of 25-4-0 including 12 wins and four losses in the UFC. He first got the call up to this level in 2014 and has also gained some big fights across his career sharing the ring with the likes of Kamaru Usman, Brendan Allen and Alex Pereira.
This main event should be hard fought with both men bringing plenty of motivation and skill to the Octagon. Cannonier has the edge in power while Strickland’s game is a little more dynamic. Take the younger man to win on decision after three tense rounds of action.
Looking at some of the other fights this weekend, Iraq’s Amir Albazi fights debutant Alessandro Costa. Albazi is undefeated in his first three UFC fights while Costa has never fought at this level but is on a seven-fight win streak that won him a UFC contract. For a healthy return, take Costa to score an upset with a return of 4.50.
