UFC Vegas 96: Cannonier vs Borralho comes to us this week from the UFC Apex. Caio Borralho looks to stake his claim at the top of the middleweight division. Standing in his way is divisional stalwart Jared Cannonier, who is trying to keep his ranking. We hit that fight and dug through the rest of the card to give you our UFC Vegas 96 best bets. Come check out these UFC Vegas 96 picks for Saturday.
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UFC Vegas 96: Cannonier vs Borralho – Predictions & Best Bets
Nathan Fletcher ML (-160) vs. Zygimantas Ramaska
A fight that came together in the week before the fights features a pair of featherweights who were injured on the show. Nathan Fletcher lost to Kaan Ofli in the opening round and suffered a fibula fracture in the process. He kept training through it only to find out weeks later. Ramaska on the other hand suffered a small facial fracture that pulled him from his semi-final.
To make up for it, Dana White has given them both a chance at the finale. Personally, I like Fletcher a lot in this spot despite the line and his loss. He is a guy who beats anyone who will allow him to wrestle and get his jiu jistu going. While Ofli didn’t allow that, I think he gets his ground game working against Ramaska.
Cong Wang – Wins via (T)KO (+100)
Cong Wang was signed to the UFC off of their Road to the UFC series. In her fight, she showed exceptional ground skills, but she is best known for her kickboxing. In fact, she hold a decision win in kickboxing over former flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. Now she’ll face Victoria Leonardo, who has been knocked out four times already in her career. This seems like some nice matchmaking work to build a future star.
James Llontop ML (+185) vs Viacheslav Borshchev
There’s are a ton of underdogs I like on this card, but Llontop is one of them. Part of what I like from him in this spot is his durability. Slava Claus has won just one time when the fight has gone the distance. A lot of that is due to throwing low volume and having issues with the wrestling. I think he lands far too few shots in this one to win a decision and I’m not sure he can KO Llontop.
Mairon Santos ML (-180) vs Kaan Ofli
If you watched these two on the show, you saw two very different fighters. Ofli is a tough grappler who needs a gritty type of fight. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t get a fighter who can give him that. Santos does an exceptional job of tossing aside wrestlers and forcing them to box. His long range then takes over and helps him cruise to victory. I imagine we see plenty of that here.
Jose Medina vs Zach Reese – O1.5 Rounds (+130)
The number is coming in for the under here largely because Reese has won quickly in two of his last three fights. The difference is that Medina is hard to put away. The Bolivian fighter has lost just once inside the distance and that fight was over half a decade ago. I expect Reese to cruise to a victory, but I do expect him to have to wear out Medina before getting the win.
Gerald Meerschaert – Wins via Submission (+510)
If you follow these columns, you know I need one bomb to end the night. Gerald Meerschaert has 28 submission victories in his 53 fight career. That means he wins by submission in nearly 53% of all of his contests. His last eight wins have all come by submission as well. Regardless of who he is facing, if he has an opportunity to win, it’s going to be by submission. I think he’s worth the +240 on his moneyline right now, so to see that balloon to +510 on the submission it too good to lay off of.
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