UFC 298 betting isn’t just limited to the main event featuring Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria. No, no the best bets of UFC 298 might be in the undercard bouts. Allow us to tell you which three undercard fights are worth putting your betting money on!
- What: UFC 298
- When: Saturday, February 17
- Where: Honda Center in Anaheim, California
Geoff Neal vs. Ian Machado Garry Betting Pick
If judged by Twitter (now called X) activity, Garry might be one of the most-known fighters in the business — not necessarily for good reasons either. Garry has caught the ire of online fans due to his recent last name change and finally gets into the octagon since that marital drama. However, this is not an easy welterweight matchup versus Neal at all. Here are the latest Garry-Neal moneyline odds, available at the best UFC betting sites:
Garry is 13-0. Obviously, with a record like that, there’s some hype and haters too. Critics like to say “he hasn’t beaten anybody”, and, indeed, he hasn’t fought upper-echelon talent. Regardless, Garry’s skills at only 26 years old are obvious. Particularly, he’s an excellent striker. Garry is averaging 6.67 significant strikes per minute. He’s not a powerful guy, but his timing is special.
His opponent, Neal, can also strike with the best of them — albeit in a different way. Neal is a one-punch-power type of guy. The 33-year-old owns nine wins by KO out of 15 in his career. So expect this fight to be fought mostly standing up. It’s Neal’s stunning power against Garry’s speed and precision, who wins?
Our gut tells us Neal can pull off the upset. We can’t help but remember when Garry fought Song Kenan a year ago. Garry, who is very hittable, was almost finished with strikes until Kenan decided to grapple with him for some dumb reason. That helped Garry survive and ultimately finish him later in the match. We doubt Neal will make the same mistake. Neal is going head-hunting and we’re banking he’s successful in doing so.
Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Lemos
What a banger of a women’s strawweight fight this is. You can tell that’s the case with one look at the Dern-Lemos moneyline odds. It’s almost at pick ‘em:
Lemos is the slight favorite, and we’re actually surprised. Surprised because we last saw Lemos get absolutely mauled by champion Zhang Weili at UFC 292. Yes, Weili is probably the best women’s fighter in the world, but Lemos was wildly uncompetitive (almost hard to watch uncompetitive). She’s also 36 years old now — six years older than Dern — and that’s an age where fighters really start falling off.
Perhaps Lemos is favored because she’s the far better striker of the two. Lemos is trained in Muy Thai and definitely packs a punch. Eight of 13 of Lemos’ wins are by knockout and another three via submission. Dern has improved at striking, but her forte has always been grappling, and what a forte it is. Seriously, on the ground, very few women fighters can hang with Dern.
Here’s Dern’s issue: she struggles to get opponents down in the first place. Seriously, Dern might be one of the worst at the takedown so much so that her accuracy is only 14 percent. That’s awful, especially for someone who could dominate just about anyone on the ground.
We can’t bring ourselves to pick Lemos — not after the historic beating we just saw her take. We mean, will she ever be the same? The damage she took was not small whosoever. Dern will capitalize on that and gut out a hard-fought victory.
Roman Kopylov vs. Anthony Hernandez Betting Pick
Bettors will be surprised to learn this middleweight clash will open the pay-per-view — it’s not on the prelims. After betting so many moneylines, we have to jump on the Hernandez-Kopylov over/under instead. Here’s the latest lines:
Hernandez is a convincing -250 favorite to win. History tells you if Hernandez is going to win, it’ll likely be by tap out. Seven of 11 career wins have been by submission. “Fluffy”, as he’s called, is so effective at the tap-out cause Hernandez can take down most opponents. He’s averaging a crazy 6.79 takedowns per fight in the UFC.
Kopylov is a finisher too. In fact, he’s won four in a row and all came by KO. Kopylov fights the opposite style than that of Hernandez. Rather than on the ground, Kopylov likes to stay up and let his kickboxing do his damage.
We sense this fight ends before the scorecard, but that doesn’t mean it’s an over. The line is set dead in the middle at 1.5 rounds. It could take time for either man to “figure out” the other before earning a finish. The over bet gets our money here!
How To Bet On UFC 298 Undercard?
There is a multitude of UFC 298 undercard bets available — not just the three we covered above. To get every type of bet for this card, hit one of the bookmakers below. While there, look into the big promotional bonuses being offered. All your UFC 298 bets could be free off these deals so it’s worth your time. The table below lists a few of our favorite offers going on right now:
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