This March is about as packed as it gets when it comes to mixed martial arts action. Just a week on from Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane, arguably the biggest fight in a decade, the UFC will jump straight back into a Fight Night this weekend.
Saturday night in Las Vegas will see 14 fights scheduled with the headline fight an exciting one between two closely matched bantamweights. With Petr Yan ranked #4 in the UFC bantamweight division and Merab Dvalishvili one notch higher than the Russian at #3, this clash should produce some fireworks. We preview the odds for this main event and break down some of the best bets to make on the other clashes this weekend with odds from bookmaker William Hill.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: March 9th, 8:00 P.M. (GMT)
Looking at all the odds for this UFC Fight Night, we can see that there are plenty of fights William Hill is predicting will go down to the wire. One of these tight clashes is expected to be the co-main event with heavyweights Alexander Volkov and Alexandr Romanov squaring off in the Octagon. Volkov is the higher ranked and more experienced fighter, while Romanov is positioning himself as something of an up and comer. William Hill has Romanov as the betting favourite at 1.61, but we say the experience of Volkov will win out here allowing him to get a result at 2.30.
Switching our focus to the main event, Petr Yan will be desperate to win against Merab Dvalishvili. In Yan’s last four UFC fights, he’s lost three that has significantly tarnished his record that was 15-1-0 two years ago and now stands at 16-4-0. Dvalishvili, on the other hand, is in an excellent streak of form having not lost in the UFC since 2018. His record of 15-4-0 puts him as the #3 fighter in the UFC bantamweight division now and a win here would position him well for a title fight in the near future.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: March 9th, 8:00 P.M. (GMT)
Despite the contrasting form between these two fighters, we say it’s Yan who will get the win here. Though the Russian has lost three of his past four, two of those losses have been by way of split decision and the other was due to an illegal knee. Yan has been losing, but he’s not been in terrible form. With the trajectory of his career well and truly on the line in this clash, expect the caliber of Yan to outweigh the current momentum of Dvalishvili.
We’d suggest backing Yan to win by decision, which offers odds of 2.25. Exactly half of Yan’s UFC wins have come by way of decision, and in a tight clash like this, it’s the most likely result.
