The UFC is back with another pay-per-view card this weekend. This time the UFC is heading down to Brazil for UFC 212, which is headlined by the countries own superstar Champion Jose Aldo as he faces interim belt holder Max Holloway. In the co-main Claudia Gadelha continues to work her way back to a title shot, this time against Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Brazilian legend Vitor Belfort is also back in the octagon, this time for the final chapter of his UFC career against Nate Marquardt.
As always I’m going to be using the odds from BetOnline.ag for this article. Here’s our full BetOnline review for you to check out if you’re interested in opening an account and placing some bets.
Jose Aldo vs Max Holloway
This is going to be a great fight. Both guys have pretty much run through the entire featherweight division and each suffered their last loss to Conor McGregor. The difference being that Holloway is on 10 fight winning streak after that Conor fight, compared to just 1 win over Frankie Edgar since his McGregor loss for Aldo.
Both of these guys are two of the best boxers in the UFC and this should end up being a stand up battle for the ages. It’s hard for me to not take Aldo in this fight at these odds. He has been a dominant fighter in the UFC and WEC for a decade and it is only a poor 13 second performance against Conor McGregor that has removed the air of invincibility that Aldo once had. Aldo ended up even being an underdog in his last fight with Frankie Edgar, but then went in their and dominated like vintage Aldo.
I think the knockout by McGregor is still fresh in everyone’s mind regarding Aldo and that is affecting these odds. Aldo should without a doubt be a -150 or better favourite in this fight. Holloway has looked great and will be one of his biggest challenges to date, but this is still Aldo’s division.
I think the leg kicks from Aldo could play a huge part in this fight and affect Holloway’s movement as the fight moves into the latter rounds.
Play: Aldo -115
Claudia Gadelha vs Karolina Kowalkiewicz
Gadelha is the only other fighter in the UFC’s women’s strawweight division that has really given the champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk any real problems during her title reign. Gadelha first lost to JJ in a title eliminator fight back in 2014, but most pundits thought that Gadelha actually won that fight. In the rematch for the belt last July, Gadelha won the first two rounds against Joanna before running out a gas and losing the last 3.
In my opinion Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha are on another level to the rest of the division. This should be proven with a dominant performance by Gadelha in this fight with Kowalkiewicz. Gadelha should be able to take down the Polish stand up fighter with ease and grind her out on the mat for 3 rounds. Even if she does gas like she did against Joanna in her title fight, this being a 3 round fight should allow her to at least win the first two rounds by dominant fashion before slowing down.
Play: Gadelha -275
Nate Marquardt vs Vitor Belfort
This is Vitor Belfort’s fairwell fight from the UFC and they have lined him up with an opponent that he should be able to take out. Marquardt has a questionable chin and Belfort is without a doubt the more athletic and explosive fighter, so he should be able to land a big shot early in this fight to get the knockout and leave the UFC with his pride and dignity intact.
That said, if Belfort isn’t able to take Marquardt out in the first round, he could be in for a long night because it’s been shown that he gasses quickly after the first round and even a guy like Marquardt might be able to get a knockout of his own if Belfort fades.
Overall, I’m not extremely confident in this pick, but I am leaning towards Belfort getting the early stoppage in front of his home fans.
Play: Belfort -133
Other Play
- Viviane Pereira -115
UFC 212 • ufc betting • ufc picks