Maybe I’ve become numbed by the UFC Apex “slop” we’ve been force-fed over the past few years, or maybe this is some form of Stockholm Syndrome I’m suffering from, but I think that this week’s UFC Fight Night: Taira vs Park (aka UFC Vegas 108) is a fairly decent fight card. At least it was before the main event was changed at the last minute. Here are your UFC Vegas 108 predictions & best bets to make Saturday night profitable.
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UFC Vegas 108 Predictions & Best Bets
Tatsuro Taira (-330) vs Hyun Sung Park
Former Road to UFC champion Hyun Sung Park steps into Saturday’s flyweight main event with less than a week’s notice after Amir Albazi had to withdraw due to injury. Facing Tatsuro Taira at this point in his career is a tall task for Park, made especially more so with no time to prepare for it.
I think this is too much too soon for Park. Taira is too advanced in all aspects of the sport, too experienced (yet five years younger than Park), and too long for Park to handle.
Mateusz Rebecki (-200) vs Chris Duncan
Mateusz Rebecki is a sneakily good 20-2 for his pro MMA career, including going 4-1 in the UFC. He’s also a finisher, with nine knockouts and seven submissions among those 20 wins.
Chris Duncan is a bit of a brawler with good submission skills. But if ‘Rebeasti’ minds his p’s and q’s, he should be able to use his strong wrestling and grappling to carry himself to a W.
Esteban Ribovics (-240) vs Elves Brenner
The bloom has come off the rose of Elves Brenner, as he’s dropped two straight fights, including getting TKO’d in his last one. However, that was the first time in 21 pro MMA fights that he was stopped.
Esteban Ribovics should be on another level than Brenner, on the feet and especially on the mat.
Neil Magny (+174) vs Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
Neil Magny is as long as Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos’s name is. The American will be four inches taller and have a seven-inch reach advantage over his Brazilian counterpart when the two welterweights enter the cage on Saturday night.
While Magny has been knocked out in back-to-back fights, which is concerning for an aging fighter, he’s still only losing to the young, tippy top of the division, which Zaleski dos Santos is not. I think he can use his length and clinch/grappling game to stop his losing skid.
Nick Klein (+140) vs Andrey Pulyaev
This is a matchup of a couple of middleweights who won their way into the UFC via Dana White’s Contender Series, then went on to lose their lone UFC fight to this point. The difference is Nick Klein has looked better than expected, while Andrey Pulyaev has failed to impress.
Plus, Klein is aggressive looking for finishes, which I like, with two knockouts and three submissions in six career wins.
Check out the MMA Gambling Podcast if you’d like even more UFC Vegas 108 picks. The guys are dropping five episodes a week to make you the smartest guy at the bar.
