UFC 198 takes place this weekend in Curitiba, Brazil, and this card has the who’s who of Brazilian MMA. You have Fabricio Werdum defending his title against Stipe Miocic in the main event, but this card is top to bottom one of the best cards you’ll ever see if you’re a fan of Brazilian MMA. Other Brazilian legends on this card include Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort, Jacare Souza, Shogun Rua, Cris Cyborg, Demian Maia, and the list goes on with other home town favourites in Warlley Alves, Thiago Santos, John Lineker, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Francisco Trinaldo. This is a stacked card and could be considered the best card ever to be held in Brazil.
On top of that, the Brazilians are the favourites in most of these fights, which means we could have a very exciting night for those Brazilians lucky enough to be in attendance.
All of the odds below are from BetOnline.ag, which is our top rated sportsbook for betting on MMA. Here’s a full review.
Fabrico Werdum vs Stipe Miocic
I don’t see Werdum having a lot of trouble with Miocic. Obviously he has to avoid getting hit by the heavy hands of Miocic, but Werdum has only been knocked out once in his MMA career, and that was by Junior dos Santos who had the best hands in the division in his prime. I think Werdum is better now and he’s shown the ability to avoid taking damage in this division.
If he can avoid taking damage he should be able to use his more well rounded game to take Stipe to areas he doesn’t want to be in this fight. If Werdum can get the fight to the ground I think we will see a submission and even if this fight stays standing I think Werdum still has a good chance to land the decisive blow.
On top of Werdum being the better fighter, the home crowd advantage really seems to help Brazilians inside the octagon.
Play: Werdum 1.64
Vitor Belfort vs Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza
Belfort is coming off a quick knockout victory over Dan Henderson that has allowed him to put his title shot loss to Weidman behind him. Luke Rockhold has made it clear that he wants to avenge his loss to Vitor for the belt, so a win over Souza could actually set Vitor up with an unlikely title shot.
Vitor still has that explosiveness to begin fights that can end a fighter quickly, but it showed in his fight with Weidman that if his opponent can survive that initial flurry they are in a great position to attack.
I just can’t really see Vitor finishing Souza early. Yes, Souza had a rough outing in his split decision loss to Yoel Romero, where a win would have surely earned him a title shot, but he was on an 8 fight winning streak heading into that fight, including a win over Gegard Mousasi who was the only man to ever finish him. I like Souza in this one because I don’t think Vitor will have enough in the tank.
Play: Souza 1.32
Uriah Hall vs Anderson Silva
I’m surprised that Silva is not a bigger favourite in this fight. Yes, he’s coming off a loss to Michael Bisping and has not finished an opponent since 2012, but he showed in the Bisping fight that he still has some very dangerous attacks left in his arsenal.
I’m expecting Uriah to be at his best, which he usually is coming off a loss (decision loss to Robert Whittaker), but I don’t see him landing the decisive blow on Anderson and it’s shown in the past that he doesn’t usually get the benefit of the doubt when the fight goes to a decision.
This fight being in Brazil should definitely play a factor in helping Anderson Silva, and I hope that he learned his lesson from the Bisping fight that he has to attack more often if he hopes to get decisions. These are both counter punchers, so I actually think this could be a borefest, but both men have finishing ability if the other makes a mistake. I like Silva to get back on track at home.
Play: Silva 1.76
Leslie Smith vs Cris Cyborg
This fight could be an absolute destruction. Cyborg should rip through the journeyman fighter in front of her home crowd, which will put the UFC in an interesting position moving forward. Will they make a new division for her, continue to offer her catch-weight fan friendly fights or put her back down to Invicta FC?
I really don’t see any scenario where Cyborg will lose this fight. Even a scenario where she doesn’t get an early finish seems very unlikely.
Play: Cyborg 1.07
Shogun Rua vs Corey Anderson
Shogun is a legend in Brazilian MMA, but this is the one fight on the main card where I don’t see a Brazilian getting the job done. Shogun has been KO’d in two of his last three fights, and all of them were in Brazil, which shows he’s very susceptible to defeat even at home.
I’m not a big Corey Anderson fan, but I don’t see him having a ton of trouble with Shogun in this fight.
Play: Anderson 1.42
Bonus Pick
I also really like Demian Maia in the main event of the prelims. The fact Neil Magny and Gunnar Nelson have done so well in their fights after really one-sided losses to Maia shows me that he is one of the top fighters in the division. He should have no trouble with Matt Brown.
Play: Maia 1.35
Anderson Silva • Fabricio Werdum • Jacare Souza • Stipe Miocic • UFC 198 • ufc betting • UFC Brazil • vitor belfort