Two of the UFC Heavyweight division’s most highly touted fighters take centre stage in this weekend’s UFC Fight Night main event, as Curtis Blaydes meets England’s rising star Tom Aspinall.
In the co-main Jack Hermansson faces off against Chris Curtis and rising stars Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett, Muhammad Mokaev and Mason Jones all feature on the card. Two underdogs and a multi are my go-to bets for this weekend’s card and they are below.
UFC Fight Night Betting Tips
Curtis Blaydes vs Tom Aspinall
If you have been following my tips for some time now you should be able to guess who I will side with. If not simply, when we have a hyped up and comer against a proven ‘gatekeeper’ who is an elite fighter in the division, I almost always back the proven product unless the challenger poses a challenge new for the division’s elite. Curtis Blaydes for a long time has seemed like he is about to take the division by storm and this is the first time in his 14 fight UFC career he comes in as an underdog. He has lost in the UFC three times, twice to current champion Francis Ngannou and once falling to a brutal shot from Derrick Lewis in a fight at the time he was winning.
Tom Aspinall is Britain’s next big thing, 5-0 in the UFC, with 12 professional wins all by knockout. While Aspinall is largely a boxer, his submission game is quite good for a Heavyweight as he showed when he submitted Andre Arlovski.
Simply in no world would I back Aspinall here at the odds on offer. Blaydes is elite and knows how to get the fight to the ground and frustrate his opponent, piecing them up with vicious elbows along the way. In my books he should be about $1.40, so as an underdog I am going a max 5 stakes for him to get the win.
Blaydes to win
$2.10 (5 Units)
Nikita Krylov vs Alexander Gustafsson
Yet again we are seeing a veteran disrespected by the bookies with odds that are simply silly. Yes Gustafsson is now 35 and has not won since 2017, but Krylov has lost his last two and the Swede hasn’t faced anyone that isn’t elite… until now.
Gustafsson has all the experience to stay on the outside and pick apart Krylov and has the height and wrestling to turn clinch exchanges in his favour. Great odds and a great bet despite the obvious risk of his lack of Octagon time in the last five years.
Gustafsson to win
$2.62 (4 Units)
Undercard Multi
Muhammad Mokaev + Nathaniel Wood
Muhammad Mokaev in my personal opinion is the greatest young prospect to grace the Ocatgon since Jon Jones. He has absolutely everything and I have been a fan since his amateur fighting days. Charles Johnson is no joke and I actually believe he will be successful in the UFC but Mokaev has too many tools to dominate. He will be a champion one day.
Nathaniel Wood has a fantastic grappling game, one that should see him account for Charles Rosa who was taken down six times by Damon Jackson and six times by TJ Brown in his last two fights. Simply, this ends either with a Wood submission or a dominant decision victory.
Undercard Multi
$1.54 (4 Units)
