Want to come out "in the green" at the next UFC Vegas card? Well, you're in the right place then cause we're laying out three of the best UFC bets to make this weekend, including the main event featuring Yusuff and Barboza. Here are the top UFC picks to make:
- What: UFC Fight Night
- When: Saturday, October 14
- Where: UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada
Sodiq Yusuff vs. Edson Barboza Betting Pick
At last, we have a main event with a pretty close moneyline. As it stands, Yusuff is a marginal favorite over Barboza at the best UFC betting sites. Here’s how the odds are being pegged in this featherweight fight:
This is an even fight as the odds suggest. Both fighters have the ability to battle on the ground or on their feet. We suspect this fight will be standing up mostly though. Statistically, Yussef is landing 5.29 per minute compared to Barboza’s four per minute.
On the feet, you’d think Yusuff would have the advantage. For one, he’s seven years younger than Barboza. Yusuff is 30 years old so not exactly in his prime, but his speed and power should be better than the aging Barboza. Despite his striking upper hand, Yusuff doesn’t really have stopping power. He’s 7-1 in the UFC but only two were by knockout.
Barboza will have to lean on his experience to win this fight, which he has an abundance of. He’s been in the UFC since 2010 and has fought some of the best the division has to offer — Tony Ferguson (loss), Beneil Dariush (win), Khabib Nurmagomedov (loss), and Justin Gaethje (loss), among others. Barboza is also the better ground fighter, though he doesn’t fall back on it as much as he probably should.
If Barboza doesn’t try to go for the takedown, he’s probably cooked. He’s a good striker, but in a stand-up war, we would favor the much younger Yusuff. Therefore, we putting money on the betting favorite here. It’s his biggest challenge yet but we see Yuseff rising to the occasion.
Jennifer Maia vs. Viviane Araujo Betting Pick
Here again, the Maia vs. Araujo moneyline is pretty close. Here’s a pair of featherweights stuck in the middle of the division — Maia is No. 9 and Araujo is No. 11. Here’s the current Maia vs. Araujo betting odds:
Neither fighter is exactly spring chicken. Maia is 35, whereas Araujo is 36. With that age, there’s always the threat of a fighter declining from the last time we saw them. Such a scenario would be scary for Araujo, who has dropped two in a row. The first was against the current champ Alex Grasso, but most recently to Amanda Ribas. It’s a long way of saying she’s already down-trending, anything worse could be catastrophic.
Here again, we’d expect a fight mostly on the feet. Araujo has okay takedown ability — maybe her only advantage in this fight — but it’s not a big part of her game. Striking is Araujo’s preference and so is Maia’s. But here’s the thing: Maia is a much more crisp striker, who happens to be on a two-fight win streak. To us, we see Maia taking this fight pretty convincingly. It might be worth laying a larger bet than average on Maia here — were that confident in this one.
Jonathan Martinez vs. Adrian Yanez Betting Pick
Many times, we get UFC cards where the top fight’s moneylines are all lopsided. This is not one of those times. Of the fights we’ve covered, this one is expected to be the biggest toss-up. Right now, it’s a pick’em with -110 odds each way. We’re going to skip out on the moneyline and take the Martinez-Yanez over/under instead. It’s being pegged at 2.5 rounds, as seen below:
Yanez, if he’s going to win, it’ll likely be by knockout. This bantamweight has some insane speed behind his punches. Yanez is averaging a whopping 6.75 strikers per minute so you know he’s not afraid of letting it fly. He is coming off his first loss since 2019, but still, Yanez has routinely shown a killer instinct. Ten of his 16 career wins have been by knockout.
Martinez is dangerous too. But here’s the thing about Martinez: he’s more versatile than Yanez. Martinez can strike too, but he also has a jiu jitsu background. Ten of 18 wins for Martinez have come early.
This is an excellent match that we honestly don’t know who wins. But our prediction is someone will get stopped so your best bet here is the under.
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