After waiting over two years, California finally gets another UFC pay-per-view this weekend. UFC 298 is set to go down this Saturday from the Honda Center in Anaheim, with an intriguing UFC Featherweight Championship fight at the top of the card. Here are my UFC 298 predictions and best bets.
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UFC 298 Predictions & Best Bets
Alexander Volkanovski (-120) vs. Ilia Topuria
You don’t get the featherweight GOAT in a title defense at this low of a number ever, so I’m taking full advantage of it. I think undefeated challenger Ilia Topuria is being a bit overhyped heading into this fight. I’m really not a fan of his resume.
One thing I am a fan of is champion Alexander Volkanovski’s fight IQ. His intelligence in preparing for fights, plus his smarts while the fight is ongoing, rates up there with the all-time greats.
He’s well-versed and able to fight whatever kind of fight is necessary and always finds a way to win. Until I see a decline from him in the 145-pound weight class (and I haven’t yet), he’s going to be my pick.
Robert Whittaker (-245) vs. Paulo Costa
This is the perfect bounce-back fight for former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker after being TKO’d by current champ Dricus du Plessis in his last fight. While Whittaker isn’t the fighter he once was and gets hurt much more often in fights than ever before, he’s fighting a guy who doesn’t seem too interested in stepping inside the cage.
Paulo Costa spends more time pulling out of fights than actually fighting and didn’t look good at all in his last fight against a totally washed-up Luke Rockhold. Whittaker should be able to put it to him and break him.
Ian Machado Garry (-222) vs. Geoff Neal
Love him or hate him, and it seems most people are in the latter category. You have to respect Ian Machado Garry’s skills in the cage. The young Irishman remains undefeated at 13-0 and seems to be improving with each fight.
While Geoff ‘Handz of Steel’ Neal is a dangerous striker, Machado Garry is much bigger and much younger than him, as well as being a better striker overall. He should be able to use his great distance control to win this fight. Machado Garry via T/KO at +250 could be worth a sprinkle.
Amanda Lemos (-130) vs. Mackenzie Dern
I love the line we’re getting on Amanda Lemos in the prelim main event against Mackenzie Dern. First off, Dern is taking this fight on a shortened fight camp, agreeing to it a little over a month ago. Secondly, this is a bad matchup for Dern.
Dern gets the job done on the mat, but she struggles mightily on her feet. She also isn’t a very good wrestler, so getting the fight to the ground can be difficult for her. Lemos is a very good and powerful striker who is going to eat Dern up on the feet.
Justin Tafa (+130) vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima
Justin Tafa has seven professional MMA wins, all coming via knockout. He truly lives up to his nickname, ‘Bad Man.’ In a way, he’s a reincarnation of his countryman, Mark Hunt.
Marcos Rogerio de Lima is eight years older than Tafa and much more comfortable on the ground than on the feet. I think he’s going to be standing for too long and get himself caught by the Aussie. Tafa via T/KO at +180 makes sense if you’re going to play him.
If you’d like even more information on UFC 298, be sure to check out the MMA Gambling Podcast. The guys are dropping four episodes weekly to make you the smartest guy at the bar.
