Dana White has already announced the main events for the first three UFC numbered cards of 2024 — UFC 297, UFC 298, and UFC 299. Top-used UFC betting sites have odds up for these bouts too. You’ll want to read this for our early picks to win the UFC 2024 main events. We think these will pay nicely come early next year.
UFC 297: Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis Pick
The middleweight belt is on the line in this card live form Toronto, Canada. As it stands, oddsmakers are favoring the champion, Strickland, over Du Plessis, but it’s close. Here are the current Du Plessis-Strickland odds:
This marks Strickland’s first title defense since shockingly beating Israel Adesanya over the summer. Originally, Du Plessis was slotted to face Adesanya that night but pulled out to heal an injury. Strickland was a last-choice fill-in and proceeded to pull off one of the bigger title upsets in UFC history.
This should be a stand-up slugfest from bell to bell. Strickland can wrestle, but for some odd reason, never busts it out aside from defending the takedown. He’s a pressure fighter, just ask Adesanya. Strickland’s gas tank is seemingly always full because he just keeps coming at whoever he faces.
Du Plessis will slug right back with Strickland. He averages just under seven significant strikes per minute. But here’s the difference between him and Strickland: Du Plessis is far more dangerous. In 20 wins, he’s finished his opponent 19 times — 9 KOs and 10 submissions. Last time out, Du Plessis manhandled an all-time great middleweight in Robert Whittaker before a second-round TKO.
At UFC 297, Du Plessis is getting our money. His performance versus Whittaker honestly shocked us more than Strickland’s versus Adesanya. We sense Du Plessis is more versatile than Strickland because of a good grappling game. Du Plessis’ superior finish ability also gives us confidence in picking him.
UFC 298: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria Pick
For the first time in a long time, a featherweight title fight involving Volkanovski offers somewhat competitive betting odds. At UFC 298 in Anaheim, Volkanovski is favored over Topuria but not by much. Check out the current betting lines:
Is Volkanovski on the decline? It’s fair to wonder that after his latest performance. At UFC 294, he was head-kicked KO’d by Islam Makhachev. Volk took the fight (at a higher weight class) on short notice so he does have an “out” per se, but still, he didn’t look good and he is 35 years old now — an age where, historically, decline picks up in even the greatest fighers.
We’ll know for sure at UFC 298 because Topuria is the real deal — and only 26 (he’ll be 27 in January). Topuria is 14-0 and has run through most of his opponents. He’s a very balanced fighter, but without question, his wrestling is elite. Topuria is averaging close to 2.5 takedowns per fight while in the UFC.
Phew, this is far from an easy pick, but we’re leaning ever so slightly toward Volkanovski. Maybe he’s falling off, but it’s not drastic just yet. Let’s not forget how easily he outclassed Yair Rodriguez in mid-2023 when he was actually able to prepare. His championship, big-fight experience will give him an edge over Topuria.
UFC 299: Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera Pick
UFC 299 in March from an undetermined location will be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between O’Malley and Vera. Currently, O’Malley is a comfortable favorite to retain the belt at UFC 299. Here’s the odds:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSzD1FfDHuFpIpU1UVFWsYtAKNUGtp4Wa95CZsJWu2VwglXcnSWXqHbrCCq8eh5gQZw-gM_IfnsMWLL/pub?gid=1141710584&single=true&output=csv
This is not the first time these two bantamweights have met in the octagon. You have to go back to UFC 252 when Vera handed O’Malley his only career loss. O’Malley tweaked his ankle and Vera took advantage of the hobbled opponent, finishing him in round one with strikes.
That fight was three years ago but we’re not sure Vera has done enough to earn a title opportunity outside of the shared history. He’s gone 5-2 since but hasn’t been nearly as impressive as other bantamweights like Merab Dvalishvili, for example. To us, this feels like UFC match-making to create a star in O’Malley and get his revenge. So long as he’s healthy and mobile, we’re betting O’Malley dominates Vera on the feet.
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