After a week off to digest the eventful UFC 225 card, the UFC is back with a Fight Night card this weekend from Singapore. Donald Cerrone vs Leon Edwards headlines the event, while Ovince Saint Preux vs Tyson Pedro is the co-main event. Those are really the only two fights on the card that truly interest me, so those will be the only picks I breakdown below. The four main card fights get underway at 8am EST, while hardcore fans on this side of the pond can get up at 4:30am EST to watch the prelims as well.
All of the odds are taken from BetOnline.ag, our top rated betting site for MMA. Here’s our full BetOnline review for you to check out if you’re interested in opening an account and placing some bets.
Donald Cerrone vs Leon Edwards
I think Cowboy has been exposed at welterweight. He’s not going to beat the high level fighters at 170 pounds as was shown when he was destroyed by both Darren Till and Jorge Masvidal. He had a close fight with Robbie Lawler, but I do not consider Lawler one of the top welterweights at all anymore. Yes, Cowboy looked alright against Medeiros, but Yancy is also a true lightweight, but his skills are inferior to Cerrone’s.
Edwards is a true welterweight who has proven that he is an elite fighter in the UFC. His last loss was a close 29-28 loss to Kamaru Usman back in 2015, and I can’t hold that loss against him considering how Usman has looked in his UFC career. After that fight Edwards submitted Albert Tumenov as a 2/1 underdog, beat another top prospect in Vicente Luque (who has looked like a killer himself) by decision and continued his winning streak with recent wins over tough opponents in Bryan Barberena and Peter Sobotta.
I think Edwards may be able to overpower Cerrone and get the early finish like both Masvidal and Till did to Cowboy. If that doesn’t work though I think he has the advantage on the feet and the ability to get the fight to the mat if things don’t go his way. Edwards only losses in the UFC were to fighters with a takedown first style, which is not how Cowboy fights at all. I think this is a good matchup for Edwards and he should be able to launch nicely with a dominant win over a big name like Cerrone.
Play: Edwards -205
Ovince Saint Preux vs Tyson Pedro
OSP is a dangerous opponent, but he’s the type of fighter who can make lower level opponents look silly, but has never been able to get over the hump against truly quality opposition. He was embarrassed with a standing guillotine choke by Ilir Latifi in his last fight and before that his 3 fight winning streak was not over impressive opponents.
Pedro is 7-1 in his MMA career with his only loss coming to Ilir Latifi, who was able to grind out a decision against the Aussie. OSP and grind are not words that often are used together, so I don’t think Pedro has to worry about suffering a similar fate at the hands of OSP.
I’ve been impressed with Pedro in his 3 UFC wins, most recently a kimura submission over Safarov in Australia. The problem with Pedro is his 3 wins have all come over very low level UFC competition and the one time he got a step up in competition against Latifi he failed. That said, I do think he has the skills to take advantage of this latest step up in competition and a win over OSP will do big things for him as well.
Play: Pedro -150
Edwards and Pedro should both use this event as a launching pad for their careers with winnable fights against well known opponents.