UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Fiziev Best Bets and Prediction
By Reed Wallach
We are LIVE with another UFC Fight Night card featuring a pair of Lightweight contenders.
Former champion Rafael dos Anjos looks to stop the momentum of rising star Rafael Fiziev on Saturday night at UFC Fight Night on ESPN. We have a loaded card full of rising contenders, but the main event will help sort out the top of a crowded Lightweight division.
I don't have too many bets on this card, but my favorite bet lies in the main event. Let's get into it.
Odds courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook
UFC RECORD: 36-55, -12.14U
Main Event: Rafael dos Anjos (+185) vs. Rafael Fiziev (-225)
Fiziev packs power behind his strikes, but this is a serious step up for him after knocking out Brad Riddell in his last victory.
Dos Anjos has incredible cardio and is more than capable of keeping a pace on for 25 minutes. He is 4-4 in the UFC in five round fights against some of the best in the industry: Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington to name a few. We haven't seen Fiziev tested like this in his 12 fight career.
Fiziev has been able to use a size advantage as well as a power advantage to overwhelm his opponents, but that won't be the case here against dos Anjos, who has looked to be in incredible shape in his past two victories. The Brazilian is an excellent grappler and can present different looks than Fiziev has seen in his young career.
At this number, I'm going to back the more proven product to hand Fiziev the loss. While there is some merit in backing 'Ataman' by an early finish, dos Anjos hasn't been finished since 2016. This has all the makings of a dos Anjos decision victory based around him taking over in rounds four and five.
LEAN: dos Anjos ML (+180) 1.5U
Parlay: Borralho (-220)/Nurmagomedov (-370) -122
I'm taking two rising prospects on the main card to take care of business against outmatched opponents.
Nurmagomedov has won his last two fights in the first minute, so maybe there are questions if this gets longer, but his opponent, Douglas Silva de Andrade has been in some fire fights lately and I question if he can handle the Russian's offense. Silva de Andrade has a ton of experience, 33 fights to his name, but was nearly finished in the first round by Sergey Morozov before rallying to get a finish.
Nurmagomedov is too calculated for Silva de Andrade and sports a two inch reach advantage. He also has showcased better striking defense (61%) and can challenge 'D Silva' with his grappling background.
Borralho is less proven than Nurmagomedov but has a ton of advantages against his opponent Armen Petrosyan. He has a four inch reach advantage and is a slick grappler, finishing seven of his 11 wins inside the distance. Petrosyan got a split decision nod in his UFC debut, and I don't think he can handle the Brazilian's length.
I like 'The Natural' to get this to the ground and find a finished one way or another, but I also trust his cardio with four decision victories, so I'll parlay the two young favorites.
PICK: Borralho (-220)/Nurmagomedov (-370) -122
UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Fiziev Best Bets
- Ronnie Lawrence (-140)
- Kennedy Nzechukwu (-130)
You can find all of Reed's plays on Betstamp HERE!