Pereira, Hill Headline Stacked UFC 300 Main Card
Champions Favored to Retain Per Pereira vs Hill Odds
Alex Pereira vs Jamahal Hill headlines an epic main card at UFC 300. The Pereira vs Hill odds have Pereira favored at -135 to retain his light heavyweight belt. But it’s a belt Hill was forced to vacate after getting injured.
Also featuring on the main card is Zhang vs Xiaonan, Gaethje vs Holloway, Oliveira vs Tsarukyan, and Nickal vs Brundage.
The UFC schedule 2024 for UFC 300 is stacked, and we can’t wait.
Pereira Could Dominate
The 32-year-old Brazilian has had a unique UFC career. But he’s already a two-division champion, which is tough to overlook.
Pereira defeated Israel Adesanya to win the middleweight title before being knocked out by Adesanya in the rematch. However, since rising to the light heavyweight division, he is unbeaten and is the current title holder.
The former kickboxing champion won the title by beating Jiri Prochazka for the vacant title. Thus, Pereira did not beat Hill. The American was the champion before getting injured. This is Pereira’s toughest test to date.
Your next UFC event is always your biggest, and we think Pereira is made for the challenge. He should jump all over Hill, who has not been in the octagon for over a year.
The Pereira vs Hill odds have Hill at +110, but there is much better value with Pereira at -135. That’s a fair price for the favorite, who could close UFC 300 in style.
Favoritism with Zhang
Weili Zhang is the worthy -500 favorite to retain her women’s strawweight title, and we can’t see her being beaten. Xiaonan is a quality fighter at 17-3. But the class resides with Zhang, who “beasted” through Amanda Lemos in her most recent fight.
The Chinese champion landed a total of 293 strikes compared to 29 from Lemos. The five-round decision was about as easy as it got. And her opponent this Saturday in Las Vegas could suffer a similar fate.
Bettors must take shorter odds than what’s being offered with Pereira vs Hill odds. But Zhang at -500 is an excellent UFC parlay inclusion.
Gaethje is the ‘BMF’
Credit to Max Holloway for stepping up to fight Justin Gaethje. However, he could soon regret his decision this weekend. Gaethje showed his toughness when beating Dustin Poirier for the ‘BMF’ title last year. That was a slugfest. The 35-year-old from Arizona won by knockout in the second round, and Poirier isn’t a fighter who gets knocked out often.
Gaethje is the -175 favorite with UFC odds against Holloway (+145), who we would have considered a winning chance around five years ago. We don’t think Holloway is the same fighter in 2024, and he could suffer a one-sided loss at UFC 300.
Tsarukyan vs Oliveira: A Classic in the Making
Arman Tsarukyan is marching his way to the top of the lightweight division and former champ Charles Oliveira now stands in his way. The Armenian-Russian fighter knocked out Joaquim Silva and Beneil Dariush in 2023, with the win over the latter standing out the most.
His rise in the UFC has been astronomical. But beating Oliveira is easier said than done.
The 34-year-old also scored a knockout win over Dariush. Despite losing his title to Islam Makhachev, we don’t think Tsarukyan would handle Makhachev either. Getting +185 for Oliveira is unheard of, especially on a PPV card. It’s tough to turn this down, despite Tsarukyan looking like the real deal
We’re prepared to take the risk and back the underdog.
No One is Stopping Nickal
Bo Nickal is a top-level wrestler, and we can’t see Cody Brundage being good enough to stop him. The prodigy is unbeaten at 5-0, following a knockout win over Val Woodburn. And he’s not even a knockout artist.
Nickal’s wins usually come by submission because there is no getting up once he grounds his opponent. He is a special talent in the wrestling world, and he will have a big career in the UFC.
Brundage is 10-5 and is an easy opponent for Nickal, hence the -2500 odds. There is much better value with Nickal to win by submission at -120.
Because Nickal KO’d Woodburn, the sportsbook is playing it safe at +125 for Nickal to win by KO/TKO. However, he should get Brundage to the ground early and secure the tap.
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