Coming off the amazing card at UFC 317, we have a UFC Fight Night card that should provide some action down in Nashville, TN. Headlined by legendary Heavyweight Derrick Lewis taking on undefeated rising star Tallison Teixeira, Saturday night should surely be filled with some action.
Today, I will break down my 3 favorite bets for this weekend’s fight card. Let’s get into it!
Matthews is a veteran of the UFC at this point, with 21 fights, this being 22, under his belt. He holds a 14-7 record across his 11-year run in the UFC and is entering this fight on a 2-fight win streak.
He is taking on Chidi Njokuani, who is 5-3 in his UFC career, but has made some noise as a known KO artist. Njokuani has won 3 straight coming into this one, so both fighters should be fighting with confidence.
This fight is a true clash of styles. Matthews is pretty well-rounded, but he is a much stronger grappler than Chidi. Chidi comes from a Muay Thai background, and you can see it when he fights. He has brutal elbows and clean striking, which will certainly cause problems for Matthews.
The biggest advantage I see for Chidi is his height and reach. Chidi stands at 6’3 with an 80” reach compared to Matthews at 5’11 with a 73” reach. I think Chidi is going to be able to keep Matthews at a distance and avoid the takedowns, all while inflicting some damage from striking range.
MY PICK: Chidi Njokuani -155
It has been a brutal stretch fro Calvin Kattar. He has lost 4 straight fights and is 1-5 over his last 6. Still, Calvin is as tough as they come, and I feel as though he is going to come out firing in this one.
However, he is going to have to stop the insane run of Steve Garcia. Garcia is on a 5-fight win streak with all 5 being finishes. His quality of opponents hasn’t been nearly what Calvin has faced, but 5 straight finishes in the UFC is insane.
Kattar since he stepped in the octagon back in 2017, but I feel as though his career is slipping away. Losing 4 straight and now being 37, it is tough to turn things around when the UFC is handing you guys like Garcia.
Garcis is a problem everywhere; he can knock you out and grapple a little bit, but he is ultra-aggressive. If Calvin can’t find his rhythm early, he may be in some serious trouble. I think Garcia wins this one, but Kattar is too tough not to go the distance.
MY PICK: Steve Garcia by Decision +400
This fight is guaranteed fireworks. Derrick Lewis is one of, if not the, most prolific KO artist in UFC history. With 15 KO/TKO wins in the UFC, he has a 79% KO/TKO rate in his wins.
He will now take on a 25-year-old, undefeated prospect, Tallison Teixeira. Teixeira is 8-0 and has never had an opponent make it out of the first round against him. He has had only 1 UFC fight so far, and he impressed with a TKO win over Justin Tafa at the end of Round 1.
This fight is almost guaranteed to see someone go to sleep. Lewis has been around the block, which gives me some confidence, but now at 40 years old, you have to wonder if he still has his chin. For Teixeira, this is a huge jump in competition.
Justin Tafa is a mid to low-tier UFC Heavyweight, and to jump from him to Lewis, who has fought some of the greatest HWs of all time, is wild. This may be a classic fast Heavyweight fight, and while it is scheduled for 5 rounds, there is almost no shot we see that. I do think both guys will be a bit cautious out of the gate, and we may see this fight slide to rounds 3-4. So, I am rolling with Teixeira to win with rounds 3-4, mainly for the value here.
MY PICK: Tallison Teixeira to win in Rounds 3-4 +1200