The long wait for the UFC to return to Montreal is almost over, as UFC 315 goes down this Saturday night in the Centre Bell, the first UFC action the city has hosted since 2015. As per most UFC pay-per-view cards, we’ve got two title fights on top, and plenty of local flavor scattered throughout the card. Here are your UFC 315 predictions & best bets to make Saturday night profitable.
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UFC 315 Predictions & Best Bets
Jack Della Maddalena (+160) vs Belal Muhammad
The main event – for Belal Muhammad’s UFC Welterweight Championship – is a fight I’ve switched sides on over the past few days. I’m now backing the challenger, Jack Della Maddalena, to dethrone Muhammad on Saturday night.
While this may be too much too soon for the JDM, eventually Muhammad’s lack of size and athleticism will catch up to him. And Della Maddalena has those traits in spades, plus immense knockout power. The champ’s lack of finishing ability means he’ll be in the danger zone for the whole 25 minutes, allowing plenty of chances for the Aussie to catch him.
Manon Fiorot (-130) vs Valentina Shevchenko
I’m not just predicting one new champion being crowned on Saturday – I expect challenger Manon Fiorot to win the UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship in Montreal as well.
Two-time champ Valentina Shevchenko is well past her peak years, and I’m counting on the French challenger being able to keep this fight on the feet and land enough to win a decision victory.
Aiemann Zahabi (+170) vs Jose Aldo
Montreal’s Aiemann Zahabi might be only a year younger than former featherweight king Jose Aldo, but he has much less wear on his tires (14 pro MMA fights vs 41). And I think that famed coach Firas’s kid brother is much more dangerous at this point than Aldo is.
Aldo seems to have gone away from his deadly leg kicks and relies solely on boxing in his bouts. And Aldo has been uneven in his results lately. Zahabi is worthy of a stab at this price.
Mike Malott (-166) vs Charlie Radtke
I don’t see a feasible path to victory for Charlie Radtke, aka Chuck Buffalo, in his matchup against Canadian Mike Malott. While Radtke has had similar success in the UFC as Malott, the two men have faced a starkly different level of competition.
It also helps that Malott is bigger and younger than Radtke, is a better grappler, and will have the home country crowd behind him.
Bekzat Almakhan (-148) vs Brad Katona
I’m not picking every Canadian on the card to win, however, as I expect Kazakhstan’s Bekzat Almakhan to beat Brad Katona in their bantamweight fight that kicks off the action on Saturday.
As in the main event, it comes down to finishing ability. Almakhan has crazy knockout power for a 135-pounder, while Katona has none. I like Almakhan’s chances of landing one on the Canadian-Irish fighter and ending it.
Check out the MMA Gambling Podcast if you’d like even more UFC 315 picks. The guys are dropping five episodes a week to make you the smartest guy at the bar.
