Arguably the biggest card of the year is upon us from T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas. UFC 245 is a stacked card with three title fights, headlined by the bad blood fight between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington in a fight card that is not to be missed.
UFC 245 Betting Tips
Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington
Personally, I don’t buy into the Colby trash talk but what it does do is create a persona that especially if he beats Usman could propel him into stardom based on a pure distaste from MMA fans, much the same as Chael Sonnen. Both men have such similar skillsets and backgrounds, both collegiate wrestlers who have converted into MMA by pushing the pace with their adept gas tanks, landing body shots as their opponents back up against the cage before they ultimately take them down and earn wide decision victories. The way they differ is Usman is the lankier and more dangerous striker who is the stronger of the two. However, Covington’s striking is incredibly underrated. He is a volume puncher who uses strikes to distract his opponent from his goal of taking them down and doesn’t allow them any space to put their game plan into action. Covinton is a legitimately elite fighter and with his act aside works as hard as anyone and will be a real nightmare for the proclaimed Nigerian nightmare, Usman. An incredibly interesting matchup which is tough to call but due to the likely volume of strikes Colby lands I am going to go with Covington here over five rounds.
Max Holloway vs. Alexander Volkanovski
What a fight this is with two of the toughest fighters you will see battling it out for the Featherweight title. As an Australian my heart it with Volkanovski but the fact that Holloway has dominated the division now for quite some time makes me have to lean towards the champ. Holloway is notoriously hard to take down and has a bottomless gas tank. Volkanovski has the wrestling and power advantage but I just think he will struggle with Holloway’s pressure and volume of strikes. He can put it on you like its nothing and has a durable chin that held up against Poirier. Holloway gets this done by decision, but this will not be the end of Volkanovski who looks like a champion in the very near future.
Holloway by decision
$2.60
Amanda Nunes vs. Germaine de Randamie
Nunes faces De Randamie for the women’s bantamweight title and it really is a fight being looked past as both fighters have amassed very nice resumes. De Randamie was TKO’d by Nunes back in 2013 but both fighters have grown a lot since there. While you can’t rule anything out against a woman who has previously knocked out a man, I think Nunes is just too good here. Nunes gets this done in brutal fashion and retains her title.
Nunes by KO/Submission
$1.62
Other Tips:
Ketlan Viera vs. Irene Aldana - Aldana win $2.51 at Sportsbet
Matt Brown vs. Ben Saunders- Brown by KO $1.67 at Sportsbet
