Following a string of canceled UFC main event bouts, Robert Whittaker vs. Ikram Aliskerov will begin in Saudi Arabia.
Khamzat Chimaev was originally scheduled to face Whittaker on the card, but he once again declined the big fight.
Last week he had a dominant performance, flying in as a +900 bet on a round by submission of Weston Wilson and winning as a +600 bet on a decision by Lucas Almeida.
This impressive bout would have been a historic night had Alex Perez not injured his leg in the main event.
He looked to be headed to a +550 decision victory in the main event.
In total, we won 6 and lost 5, earning an incredible 15.24 units, a wild 138.55% Return on investment.
It doesn’t get any better than that.
The fun continues with an early Saturday morning card, beginning at 12pm ET with primetime coverage on ESPN and ending at 3pm ET on ABC.
UFC Saudi Arabia Predictions
Robert Whittaker vs. Ikram Aliskerov
Middleweight legend Robert Whittaker will face rising star Aliskerov in an intriguing bout.
Neither fighter is rushing into this bout – Aliskerov was scheduled to fight last week, but Chimaev withdrew.
Whittaker is a legend, but the reality is he is aging fast.
What’s even more concerning is that he’s started slowly, which could be very troublesome when facing a very dangerous fighter like Aliskerov.
If Whittaker makes it through the first two rounds he will be very worthy of a live bet as his experience should come into play straight away.
However, there are serious concerns about whether he can last that long against a striker like Aliskerov.
Chimaev is a nasty grappler, but Aliskerov prefers striking, and Whittaker was not prepared for an opponent with that style.
Don’t bet Whittaker with plus money during or after the second round, he’s not trustworthy early on.
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Daniel Rodriguez
Kelvin Gastelum missed the weigh-in for this bout with Daniel Rodriguez, but it won’t take place at middleweight.
Rodriguez had a terrible start to his fight against Ian Machado-Garry, suffering a first-round TKO loss.
Rodriguez has lost two straight fights and has little grappling talent.
Even though Gastelum missed the weigh-in and won’t be in top physical condition, he should still be able to score multiple takedowns and easily win by decision in this bout.
Rodriguez himself is not an Olympic-level athlete.
choose: Gastelum wins by decision (+112, ESPN BET)
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UFC Saudi Arabia full card picks
- Robert Whittaker (-152) vs. Ikram Aliskerov: Whittaker goes live after the second round
- Sergey Pavlovich (-230) vs. Alexander Volkov: PASS
- Kelvin Gastelum (-198) vs. Daniel Rodriguez: Gastelum wins by decision (+112, BetRivers)
- Shara Magomedov (-535) vs. Antonio Troccoli: Magomedov wins by decision (+470, FanDuel)
- Johnny Walker (-110) vs. Volkan Oezdemir: Özdemir Submission (15/1, BetRivers)
- Nasrat Haqparast (-230) vs. Jared Gordon: Gordon wins by decision (+310, BetMGM)
- Muhammad Naimov (+100) Felipe Lima: Pass
- Rinat Fakhreddinov (-345) vs. Nicolas Dalby: Fakhreddinov ML Parlay
- Kang Kyung-Ho (+130) vs. Kang Mu-In Gafurov (submission) (+650, DraftKings)
- Magomed Gaziaslov (-340) vs. Brendon Ribeiro: Pass
- Xiao Long (-105) vs. Chan Ho Lee: Long wins by decision (+163, Caesars)
