Ufc 226 Predictions

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UFC 226 STAFF PREDICTIONS. Gokhan Saki (1-1) vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. (6-2) Fernando Quiles Jr: Saki struggled in his UFC debut despite earning a first-round knockout win. He blames it on ring rust. UFC 226 Miocic vs Cormier Picks and Predictions. By Mike Pruitt in UFC Picks — Jul 6th, 2018 12:00am PDT. I remember my first International UFC Fight Week. I drove 2500 miles to meet some of my favorite fighters. The ultra charismatic Renzo Gracie was the first person I met. When I mentioned to him that I trained at one of his. UFC predictions and UFC picks for tonight’s event. Get UFC betting advice from expert UFC handicappers for every mixed martial arts event. Scroll down to get tonight’s UFC picks and predictions for the entire card. There’s a new sport of kings and the popularity of mixed martial arts is largely being driven by UFC. The above listed odds hail from GTBets sportsbooks, one of the best UFC betting sites to turn to when betting on MMA bouts. GTBets sportsbook has some great sign up bonuses that will allow you to place some large predictions on UFC 226’s action. On top of that, their easy to use interface will have you making your predictions before you know it.

I remember my first International UFC Fight Week. I drove 2500 miles to meet some of my favorite fighters. The ultra charismatic Renzo Gracie was the first person I met. When I mentioned to him that I trained at one of his affiliates, he immediately proceeded to load me up with autographed shirts and shorts as we had a laugh about how my BJJ coach’s 10-year-old son would kick my butt in warmups.

It was off to a great start. After Renzo, I met the always interesting Shonie Carter. Little did I know that a few years later I would witness my teammate Johnny Parsons would knock Shonie out in the 1st round at an MMA event in Grand Junction, Colorado.

I can remember standing in line to meet Randy Couture for an hour only to bolt when I had the chance to meet my idol, Anderson Silva. One of my first Vegas gambles paid off as this was the only time I would get the opportunity to meet Silva, while I ended up sharing Starbucks black coffees quite often with Randy as he and I ended up neighbors.

To go along with the Fan Expo, the UFC has their Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on Thursday, The Ultimate Fighter Finale on Friday, and of course the biggest pay-per-view of the year, UFC 226.

Even though I won’t be in Las Vegas this year for all the festivities and scalding heat, I am uber excited for both the TUF Finale and UFC 226. My old gym in Vegas, Syndicate MMA has fighters all over both cards.

As I reviewed some of the odds on BetOnline, I found some excellent value with several fighters.

One of those fighters is Brian Ortega. Unfortunately, Max Holloway had to pull out of Saturday night’s title fight due to concussive symptoms. I looked up a recent interview UFC Tonight had with Max. Michael Bisping and Kenny Florian could each sense something was wrong with Max. Bisping went as far as to ask Max on national television what was wrong with him, and if he had just woke up.

If you listen to the interview, you can tell that his speech is very slurred. As much as I wanted to see this fight and make some cash on Ortega, I have to agree with the call that was made. The fighter’s safety is paramount.

The rest of the card, thank goodness, is still intact including the champion versus champion main event of Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier.

World class K-1 kickboxer Gokhan Saki will be in action opposite Anderson Silva’s protege Khalil Rountree Jr. This fight is almost sure to finish inside of 15 minutes.

Another battle that I don’t see lasting very long is a heavyweight collision between Francis Ngannou and the “Black Beast” Derrick Lewis. Both of these men bring so much heat with their hands, one guy is sure to fall.

Underground sensation “Platinum” Mike Perry and the hard-nosed Muay Thai machine Paul Felder from Philadelphia will likely have their matchup moved to the main card. This is Perry’s first fight camp at the famed Jackson-Wink MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico, so expect to see at the very least a decent game plan from the powerful brawler.

UFC 226 is stacked from top to bottom. Let’s go ahead and break down these fights, find the best value, and pick winners.

Jamie Moyle (-200) Emily Whitmire (+170)

This is an undercard matchup, but I can’t leave out the ladies. Plus, Jamie was a training partner of mine and good friend at Syndicate MMA for several years. The Vegas local has since relocated her fight camp to Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California.

The change of pace and scenery is just what Moyle needed, I think. She went from one great camp to another, and will definitely evolve from that. There are many more training partners around her size at Team Alpha Male, so I expect to see a much-improved Jamie Moyle.

Her opponent, Emily Whitmire did not impress me as I went back and watched some tape of her on Fight Pass. Don’t worry, I adjusted for the fact that I’m friends with Jamie and just don’t see Emily beating her.

Ufc 226 results

Whitmire was submitted by a deep armbar in the 1st round of her only UFC fight. Jamie has a couple 3-round wars under her UFC belt already, if you will, so far winning one of those contests. Emily will be a little taller, but she holds her hands low and in front of her face.

Jamie loves to chain together looping punches with her takedowns and will have a surprising 4-inch reach advantage. One of those will land every round and I see Jamie getting the submission by rear naked choke in round 2.

My Pick – Jamie Moyle by 2nd round submission
PLACE YOUR BET

Paul Felder (-145) vs Mike Perry (+125)

Don’t blink ya’ll! This is just one of several fights on Saturday’s card that I can see ending in a knockout. Neither man is known for their takedowns or submissions, although Mike Perry may fight more game plan oriented. For his own sake, he better fight with some brains or he won’t have any left.

Mike is very talented and has knockout power in both hands. That’s about all we can say about him at this point because that’s all he has shown us. It worked on lesser competition, but he has since dropped two straight.

Word is that Mike has a strong takedown game.

Will we get to see it?

I doubt it.

Men who love to bang, bang.

Whether or not we see any wrestling in this fight, I feel the outcome will be the same. Paul Felder is a very technical Muay Thai striker with much more Octagon experience and has power in all 8 limbs, not just 2.

I don’t think he will stop Mike, but Paul should consistently land the cleaner shots to the legs, body, and head of Perry.

My Pick – Paul Felder by unanimous decision
PLACE YOUR BET

Paulo Costa (-400) vs Uriah Hall (+330)

Wow, these are huge odds against someone as dangerous as Uriah Hall, right?

I think so. Hall has his share of defeats inside the Octagon, but most of them have been against top-notch competition. After winning 5 out of 6 including a shocking victory of one of the world’s best in Gegard Mousasi, Uriah dropped 3 in a row including a rematch loss to Mousasi and losing a decision to current Middleweight Champ Robert Whitaker.

Uriah will hold a 7-inch reach advantage and 4 inches in the legs! Both guys are ranked next to one another at 9th and 10th, respectively, and if Hall is confident and careful, he can definitely win this fight.

Paulo Costa is 3-0 in the UFC and 11-0 overall. After reviewing tape on him and watching his 3 UFC fights, I have concluded that he isn’t that good. He doesn’t shoot for takedowns and has mediocre technique on the feet.

He recently destroyed Johny Hendricks, but that isn’t saying much. Johny has been on the decline ever since USADA rode into town, and was severely undersized. Other than that win, his other two victories were against tomato cans and he didn’t even look that good.

I thought Costa covered up too much when he saw a punch coming his way he didn’t like. That plays right into the game of Hall as he can hit you with a kick you don’t see coming if you’re staring straight at him.

If you put both arms in front of your face with only the threat of a jab, good luck with the wheel kick or whatever is coming your way.

I love Uriah Hall here to pull off what the books consider an upset, but I just don’t see it.

My Pick – Uriah Hall by 2nd round TKO
PLACE YOUR BET

Gokhan Saki (-132) vs Khalil Rountree (+112)

Gokhan the “Turkish Tyson” Saki has fought some of the world’s top strikers and cemented his place among them. He is now on to the next journey, a career in MMA.

MMA is obviously a different sport altogether. You can have the very best striking in the world but if your opponent is an All-American wrestler, good luck.

With that being said, Khalil Rountree is not at all known for his ground game or wrestling prowess. He has been training MMA much longer than Saki, so a takedown attempt or two from Khalil shouldn’t be a bad idea.

Khalil is a ninja. I try not to use that term very often, but I promise you it fits in this situation. I was lucky enough to train with him for a couple years in Las Vegas, and I’ve never seen a man his size move so well.

He introduced me to slacklining and while I considered myself to have a decent balance at the time, I quickly learned that there are levels to this stuff. I wasn’t alone either. In a gym full of professional martial artists, Khalill was the only one to walk across safely and consistently. He even threw in some jumps for the heck of it.

I still bear a scar from Rountree’s southpaw left kick. We were in the ring doing a round of sparring when he caught me with just his big toe right below my lip. It wasn’t a super hard shot, but enough to take a chunk out and keep me bleeding for the rest of practice.

Khalil has seen his struggles inside of the Octagon fighting a guy like Tyson Pedro with such a bigger frame and his cardio has been suspect as he carries quite a bit of muscle for his 5’11” frame.

I would say more about Saki, but there isn’t much else to say. He’s super powerful with the best tricks in the book. As much as I would like to see a striking match between the two, it would behoove Khalil to attempt to grind Saki out with clinch and wrestling work.

This is really hard for me, but I am going to take Saki in this matchup. His quickness should be the difference. Khalil hasn’t shown the conditioning to be able to impose his will and grind the other fighter out. Dang it, still pulling for my boy.

Michael Chiesa (-158) vs Anthony Pettis (+138)

Hey, Mike got the lacerations on his face taken care of from the Conor McGregor dolly through a bus incident. I was very excited to see these two guys lock horns and happy to see the UFC is still going through with the fight.

Okay, I’m a bit biased on this one too. Whenever Chiesa is fighting a striker like Anthony Pettis, he holds his camp in Las Vegas at Syndicate MMA. I wasn’t there for this camp, but I “let him” beat me up a few times in the past.

This matchup will not be easy, though, as Anthony is the superior athlete. Mike’s rear naked choke is one of the best in the UFC, but Pettis’ grappling is severely underrated.

Mike had an ace in the hole with Yair “El Pantera” Rodriguez as his primary sparring partner for this fight. Yair’s style matches up well with Anthony’s, and that should keep Mike relatively safe on the feet.

The question remains, though, will Mike be able to impose his wrestling on Anthony for at least 2 rounds?

I say yes, but barely. This fight has split decision written all over it. Anthony wins the striking battle but the fight is ⅔ grappling, so Mike edges it on the scorecards.

My Pick – Michael Chiesa by split decision
PLACE YOUR BET

Francis Ngannou (-355) vs Derrick Lewis (+290)

The now co-main event is no doubt going to be a cracker. Not a man or woman on earth truly believes this fight will go to a decision. One of these two men may be the hardest puncher in the UFC today.

Francis has the cleaner technique with his hands, and will likely hold the speed advantage.

Ngannou is another guy on this card that did his camp at Syndicate MMA. I don’t know for sure, but it seemed that his original coach lacked a strong MMA knowledge base.

Coach Wood of Syndicate has been knee deep in MMA for over 20 years and should help Francis further evolve his game to fit the level of the UFC.

I’m a fan of both fighters, so it’ll be difficult to pull for either guy. I think Ngannou wins by 2nd round TKO, but Lewis has more value at (+290). I wouldn’t try to make money on Francis here, but if you want to put a few bucks on the “Black Beast”, go ahead.

My Pick – Francis Ngannou by 2nd round TKO
PLACE YOUR BET

Stipe Miocic (-235) vs Daniel Cormier (+200)

I think I did the big Bruce Buffer main event announcement last time, so let’s just jump into it.

This is one of the most anticipated fights of all-time. Both fighters will be considered for GOAT status. That stands for greatest of all time if you didn’t know. Daniel’s only losses in his career are to one man, Jon Jones.

With this win, Stipe Miocic will arguably be the greatest heavyweight of all-time and not far from being the greatest pound-for-pound fighter ever.

Stylistically, both men are similar. Stipe likes to box and wrestle when needed. Cormier likes to wrestle and box when needed.

We can’t focus 100% on the technical aspects of the fight as we must remember that it is a heavyweight fight. I’m not sure of the exact numbers, but there are many more knockouts at heavyweight than any of the other weight classes.

While Daniel may actually weigh more than Miocic on fight night, he doesn’t have the frame or muscle mass that Stipe possesses.

Miocic is in the prime of his career and Daniel is at the tail end of his already discussing retirement, so I don’t see Daniel imposing his will as he so often does.

Stipe Miocic hasn’t shown any weakness in his career, so it’s hard to imagine Daniel Cormier beating him.

One of the biggest question marks going into this one is at what range will they be fighting?

Daniel has made a living beating taller longer guys, yes.

Most of those guys threw long punches which are easier to slip as Daniel loves to do.

Stipe loves the short right hand which is much harder to slip because you have less time to react. Reaction time declines around the age of 40 and Cormier is getting close.

I would love to see Daniel pull off the victory and ride off into the retirement sunset as the double-champ, but I don’t see him doing it against the baddest man on the planet.

My Pick – Stipe Miocic by 3rd round TKO
PLACE YOUR BET

In Conclusion

It sucks that we aren’t going to see Max Holloway vs Brian Ortega, but it will no doubt be scheduled in the near future.

I am still jazzed about the whole card, though, especially the main event.

I love the Uriah Hall pick. I would take him at (-180), but he is currently sitting at a pretty (+330).

Hall is a killer, man. I like him to put a heel behind the ear of Costa after Paulo covers up on some quick punches.

Jamie Moyle is another pick in which I am very confident. She probably should be (-350) in this one, so go ahead and risk the extra money. Moyle will deliver.

Mike Perry is just as dangerous as anyone on the card but has several holes in his game. A technical veteran like Felder will use more weapons more efficiently and should pull off the victory.

Khalil has a very bright future ahead of him in the UFC as he is still in his mid-20’s, but his opponent has quite possibly the nastiest left hook in the entire division.

The odds are very close, but I see Saki catching Khalil later in the fight as he starts to gas.

Chiesa and Pettis is probably the hardest fight to pick. They have opposing styles and whoever is able to impose their will should come out ahead.

Lewis and Ngannou will be fun. Don’t go to the bathroom or you’ll regret it! I like Ngannou’s chances to land a clean shot first. The odds are long, though, and the fight could go either way so don’t risk too much here on Francis.

Lastly, the main event is a fight I will not miss. If Cormier was fighting any other heavyweight on the roster, I would pick him to win. Miocic simply has no weaknesses, so I can’t pick against him.

Enjoy the weekend team and hopefully, you still have all your fingers so you can place those bets!

  • August 14, 2020
  • By Brian Edwards
  • VegasInsider.com

The stakes for Saturday’s UFC 252 main event are clear. When former two-division champion Daniel ‘DC’ Cormier faces current heavyweight kingpin Stipe Miocic in the rubber match of their triology, the right to accurately lay claim to the title of the greatest heavyweight in UFC history is on the line.

UFC 252
Betting Resources

UFC 252 Trends UFC Expert Picks

  • Date: Saturday, August 15, 2020
  • Venue: UFC Apex Center
  • Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
  • Expected Fights: 11
  • Championship Bouts: 1
  • TV/Time: ESPN, ESPN+, ESPN PPV 6:00 p.m. ET

UFC 252
Main Card Picks

Ufc 226 Predictions

Heavyweight Championship
Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier

The 41-year-old Cormier (22-2-0-1 MMA, 11-2-0-1 UFC) won his first 15 career fights as a heavyweight, including a first-round knockout victory over Miocic to win the belt at UFC 226 on July 7 of 2018. He defended the strap with a second-round submission win over Derrick Lewis at UFC 230 less than four months later.

However, in the rematch vs. Miocic at UFC 241 on Aug. 17 of 2019, Cormier tired in Round 4 after seemingly winning each of the first three stanzas. Miocic turned the tide of the fight with body shots in the fourth frame. He landed a total of 13 punches to the body before dropping Cormier with a powerful right and subsequent punches that ended the bout with 51 seconds left in Round 4.

When Cormier initially beat Miocic, who had just become the first UFC heavyweight champion to successfully defend the belt three straight times in the division's history, he took aim at a money fight with Brock Lesnar rather than giving Miocic an immediate rematch.

When Lesnar opted to re-sign with the WWE, the Cormier-Lesnar matchup never materialized, setting up the rematch with Miocic and DC at UFC 241. Since Miocic’s win, he’s needed time to recover from retinal damage sustained from multiple eye pokes in the rematch with Cormier. But finally, the trilogy scrap has arrived.

As of early Friday, FanDuel had Cormier as a short -116 favorite, leaving Miocic at a -102 price. DraftKings had the total at 2.5 rounds (‘over’ -148, ‘under’ +110).

Cormier has claimed that he didn’t wrestle in the rematch due to back issues. He also feels like the smaller Octagon at the UFC APEX Facility bodes well for him working single-leg takedowns on Miocic.

Miocic (19-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) is ranked fifth in UFC heavyweight division history in wins, fourth in KO/TKO victories with nine, ninth in finishes with nine and is in a three-way tie (with Randy Couture and Tim Sylvia) for first place in heavyweight title fight wins with five. The Ohio native is the heavyweight loop’s all-time leader in total fight-night bonuses with nine.

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Miocic won his first three UFC fights before losing to Stefan Struve by second-round knockout in a Fight of the Night performance in 2012. He bounced back with three consecutive victories over Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson, Gabriel Gonzaga and Fabio Maldonado.

Then on Dec. 13 of 2014 in another FOTN, Junior dos Santos won a unanimous decision over Miocic in a close five-round battle. Next, Miocic defeated Mark Hunt and Andrei Arlovski with KO wins to earn a title shot vs. Fabricio Werdum at UFC 198 on May 14 of 2016 in Brazil.

Miocic blasted Werdum with a one-punch KO while backing up to avoid a rushing Werdum, cashing tickets as a +160 underdog. He defended his belt with consecutive first-round KO triumphs over Alistair Overeem at UFC 203 (the first UFC event in Cleveland) and Dos Santos at UFC 211.

Then at UFC 220, Miocic survived a first-round onslaught by Francis Ngannou, and then turned the five-round affair into an ugly wrestling match. Ngannou was gassed before the end of Round 2. From there, Miocic would get early takedowns and maintain top position while punishing the challenger in a blowout UD win.

Since then, the 37-year-old Miocic has been in back-to-back fights with Cormier with a loss and a win.

Cormier’s only career defeats have come against Jon ‘Bones’ Jones and Miocic. He owns notable heavyweight victories over Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva (when Silva was off a win over Fedor Emelianenko in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix quarterfinals), Josh Barnett (to win the Strikeforce title), two-time UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir and Nelson.

Cormier also has notable scalps at 205 pounds over Dan Henderson, Patrick Cummins, Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson (twice), former middleweight champion Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva, Alexander Gustafsson and Volkan Oezdemir.

‘DC’ has 10 wins by KO, five by submission and seven via decision. Cormier has only officially been finished once by Miocic his last time out. His other loss to Jones came by UD. Jones also KO’d Cormier with a third-round headkick and subsequent punches, but that result was changed to a no-contest after Jones tested positive for turinabol, a banned performance enhancing drug.

Miocic has 15 career wins by KO and four via decision. He’s been KO’d twice and lost to JDS by decision.

The 6-foot-5 Miocic has a six-inch height advantage and an enormous 7.5-inch reach advantage (80-72.5). However, Cormier has a 2.5-inch edge in leg reach.

UFC 252 Predictions
Miocic vs. Cormier

You can easily make a case for either fighter to get his hand raised in this spot. It’s truly a toss-up scrap. Without a ton of confidence, I’m going to go with one unit on Miocic at a -102 price via FanDuel.

Bantamweight Bout
Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera

In the co-main event, 14th-ranked bantamweight ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley (12-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) will put his unbeaten record on the line against his toughest opponent to date, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera. As of early Friday, FanDuel had O’Malley installed as a -290 ‘chalk’ vs. Vera, the +235 underdog (risk $100 to win $235). The total was 2.5 rounds (‘over’ -141, ‘under’ +105) at DraftKings.

The 5-foot-11 O’Malley is only 25 years old and appears to be a rising star. He has eight career wins by KO with seven of those coming in Round 1. His lone career submission also came in the opening frame.

O’Malley made his Octagon debut on July 18 of 2017 when he scored a first-round KO win over Alfred Khashakyan on Season 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series. Less than five months later, he won a UD over Terrion Ware at The Ultimate Fighter 26 Finale.

Then at UFC 222 on March 3 of 2018, O’Malley gutted out a UD win over Andre Soukhamthath despite sustaining a foot injury that literally had him fighting on one leg in the third round. The bout garnered FOTN honors. In fact, O’Malley has taken home an extra $50,000 in each of his last three appearances. However, a dispute with USADA over a positive test for ostarine that resulted in a six-month suspension and hip surgery kept him out for two years and four days following the victory over Soukhamthath.

O’Malley made his return on March 7 at UFC 248, defeating Jose Alberto Quinonez with a first-round TKO (head kick and punches). Then at UFC 250 on June 6, O’Malley dusted former World Extreme Cagefighting bantamweight champion Eddie Wineland with a one-punch KO only 1:54 into the opening round. Both wins earned him POTN bonuses.

The 27-year-old Vera (15-6-1 MMA, 9-5 UFC) could arguably be on a six-fight winning streak, but his five-fight surge of victories was halted his last time out in a controversial UD loss to Song Yadong. According to MMADecisions, eight media members scored it 29-28 for Vera and one had it 30-27 in Vera’s favor. Eight media members scored it 29-28 for Yadong. All three judges -- the only ones that matter -- had it 29-28 for Yadong. Vera has five KO wins, seven submission victories and has had his hand raised three times via decision. He’s never been finished, with all six career defeats coming from the judges.

O’Malley has a three-inch advantage in height and a 1.5-inch edge in reach. Vera has a one-half inch edge in leg reach (40.5 inches).

UFC 252 Predictions
O’Malley vs. Vera

Yes, this is a significant step up in competition for O’Malley, who is facing a 14-fight UFC veteran who is on a roll and has never been put away in 22 career bouts. Nevertheless, I can’t turn down the plus money on the prop for O’Malley to win by KO/TKO. Let’s go with one unit on O’Malley to win by KO/TKO for a +150 return at FanDuel.

Ufc 226 Predictions Free

Heavyweight Bout
Junior dos Santos vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik

In a heavyweight clash preceding the co-main event, sixth-ranked Jairzinho Rozenstruik (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) is a -132 favorite vs. fifth-ranked Junior Dos Santos, who is a +112 underdog. The total at DraftKings is 1.5 rounds (‘under’ -134, ‘over’ +100).

The 32-year-old Rozenstruik owns a 76-8-1 kickboxing record with 64 knockouts. He has nine career KOs in 11 career MMA fights, including seven victories via first-round knockout. He is off the first loss of his career at UFC 249 on May 9, when Ngannou put him to sleep in merely 20 seconds.

Dos Santos (21-7 MMA, 15-6 UFC), the 36-year-old former heavyweight champion, is looking to avoid the first three-fight losing streak of his career. He lost to Ngannou by 71-second KO at UFC Minneapolis last summer. Then in January, Curtis Blaydes defeated JDS by second-round KO.

Dos Santos owns 15 career wins by KO, one by submission and five via decision. He’s been KO’d five times, submitted once and lost once via the judges’ scores. The Brazilian will be making his 22nd career walk to the Octagon on Saturday, pulling him into a fourth-place tie with Gonzaga for most career heavyweight appearances.

Dos Santos is in a third-place tie with Derrick Lewis for most career wins (15) in the division. He’s in a second-place tie with Cain Velasquez for most career KOs (10) after Lewis surpassed both men with his KO of Aleksei Oleinik last weekend.

UFC 252 Predictions
dos Santos vs. Rozenstruik

JDS can still beat most ranked heavyweights, but his best days are behind him. His team didn’t do him any favors by letting him go out for the fourth and fifth rounds in both of his losses to Velasquez. My point is he’s absorbed a lot of punishment through the years, and his chin naturally isn’t where it once was. I like Rozenstruik at the -132 price for two units. Let’s also put one unit on ‘under’ 1.5 rounds at a -125 price from William Hill.

Ufc 226 Predictions Today

Lightweight Bout
Jim Miller vs. Vinc Pichel

In the Prelims headliner on ESPN just before the pay-per-view card gets going, Jim Miller will face Vinc Pichel in a 155-pound clash. As of early Friday, FanDuel had Pichel (12-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) as a -132 ‘chalk’ with Miller at +112 on the comeback. The total at DraftKings was 2.5 rounds (‘over’ -139, ‘under’ +105).

The 36-year-old Miller (32-14-0-1 MMA, 21-13-0-1 UFC) will make his 36th career walk to the Octagon in this spot, passing Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone for the most appearances in UFC history. The New Jersey native is 4-2 in his past six fights, with all four wins coming by first-round submissions.

Miller is third in UFC history with 21 career wins, trailing only Cerrone (23) and Demian Maia (22). He is in a fourth-place tie for most finishes (13) in UFC history and ranks third in career submissions with 10. Miller’s 12 career fight-night bonuses are the sixth-most in the annals of the promotion.

UFC 252 Predictions
Miller vs. Pichel

Miller is fighting someone older that him for the first time in years, as Pichel is 37. Six of Miller’s last seven scraps have ended in the opening stanza. Therefore, I’m going to put one unit on ‘under’ 2.5 rounds for a +105 return. Also, I’ll go with Miller for one unit as a +112 underdog. Finally, let’s put one-half unit on the prop for Miller to win by submission for a monster +340 payout at FanDuel.

UFC 252
Octagon Nuggets
Bonus Picks

In one final pick, we’ll go with one unit on ‘under’ 1.5 rounds at a -110 price (DraftKings) in the heavyweight showdown between Parker Porter and Chris Daukaus.