We have a stacked card this weekend as UFC 311 will take place at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
Today, I will break down my 4 favorite bets for this weekend’s fight card. Let’s get into it!
This should certainly be an exciting fight. Kevin Holland is always ready to put on a show and he will be taking on the former ONE Championship double-champ De Ridder. De Ridder is an experienced champion and won his UFC debut by submitting Gerald Meerschaert in the 3rd round. Of his 18 professional wins, he has 12 submissions, 4 KOs, and 2 decisions.
Kevin Holland is an exciting striker, but the majority of his losses come due to his lack of takedown defense. This will certainly be a tough matchup for him.
De Ridder is a solid striker who works well into his takedown game. He took Meerschaert, a much better grappler, down 5 times in their fight. This fight will certainly be fun, but I think De Ridder will show he is a legit threat in the division.
MY PICK: Rennier De Ridder -112
We have a matchup between two former light-heavyweight champs here. Both of these guys are as good as they come at the 205 division and I think we are in for a hell of a fight. Both of these guys are KO artists. Jiri has 26 pro KOs in his 30 wins and Jamahal has 7 in his 12. Look for fireworks early between these guys.
Both of these fighters' only losses in the last 3 years have come by KO at the hands of Alex Pereira in title fights. Now, they will face off with each other to hopefully secure a rematch against the champ.
Jiri has an extremely unorthodox style of fighting while Hill is much more linear. However, that unorthodox style is extremely hard for fighters to prepare for. I think Jiri will be able to confuse Hill enough to come out of his shell.
MY PICK: Jiri Prochazka +114
This may be the most anticipated fight of the night for me. It is a matchup of clashing styles and extremely high cardio levels. We saw Merab take out Sean O’Malley to win the UFC championship a few months ago, and now we will see him take on one of Khabib’s proteges in Umar.
I think this fight, which is between two extremely high-level grapplers will play out mostly on the feet. Like most fights where wrestlers face-off, he ground game turns into a stalemate. However, I think this is the first big test against this level of grappling for both of these guys.
Umar, unlike Khabib, is extremely solid in his standup game. He only has 2 career KOs, but he is athletic and quick on his feet. However, I think Merab has an advantage in this fight and it will be his pace. Give me the champ to hold onto his belt at the end of the night.
MY PICK: Merab Dvalishvili by Dec +350
We have a rematch between these two guys in what was a great fight the first time around. Islam has cemented himself as possibly the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC right now. These two fighters faced off back in 2019 when they were both young prospects on the roster.
The fight went to a decision where Islam won a hard-fought, but Unanimous Decision. Since then Islam has won 9 straight and became champ and Arman has gone 9-1 and earned his rematch.
Both of these fighters have similar styles that lean heavily on grappling. However, they both are scary strikers as well. Arman has 9 wins by KO and Islam has 5, but we have seen KO Volkanovski not too long ago. I think this fight is going to be way too high-level to see a finish.
I expect Islam to win the grappling exchanges, however, Arman may have a slight advantage on the feet. The odds themself are too slanted to take Islam Moneyline (-325) so I am leaning towards Islam to win another hard-fought decision.
MY PICK: Islam Makhachev by Decision -120