The Middleweight Championship headlines UFC 276, with Israel Adesanya defending his title against Jared Cannonier. Here are some bets to consider for Saturday’s bouts:
- Date: Saturday, July 2, 2022 | Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
- Venue: T-Mobile Arena – Paradise, Nevada | TV: PPV
Coming Out Party?
The UFC would love for the Sean O’Malley show to take another step forward with a win over Pedro Munhoz. O’Malley is fast, accurate, and lengthy, but the UFC is probably more interested in his star power. O’Malley is kind of a weird dude, but he’s a highly talented fighter. Munhoz has lost four of his past five fights, although they were to four UFC champions, Dominick Cruz, Jose Aldo, Frankie Edgar, and Aljamain Sterling. O’Malley is a significant favorite outright, but he’s finished five of his past six fights by KO/TKO. At +150, O’Malley has some value to finish by KO/TKO or DQ.
Third Times a Charm
Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway face off for the UFC Featherweight title for the third time. Volkanovski defeated Holloway by unanimous and split decisions in the previous two bouts. Since those back-to-back losses, Holloway has strung together two straight wins over Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez. However, Volkanovski has won two consecutive fights, destroying Brian Ortega and toying with Chan Sung Jung. There is no reason to think the result of this fight will be different than their previous two contests. Take Volkanovski to win by another decision at +100.
UFC Middleweight Championship Main Event
Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier Odds
- Odds to Win: Adesanya -475 | Cannonier +365
- How Will Fight End: KO/TKO/DQ -105 | Submission +900 | Decision -110
- Will the fight go the distance? Yes -110 | No -120
Israel Adesanya has been untouchable throughout his UFC career, only losing to Jan Blachowicz when challenging for the UFC Lightheavyweight title. Blachowicz beat Adesanya by pressuring him, maintaining a strong jab, and using the clinch. Adesanya has a two-inch height and two-inch reach advantage over Blachowicz. Against Jared Cannonier, Adesanya will have a five-inch height and two-and-a-half-inch reach advantage. The Kiwi is very good at leveraging that size difference in his favor. Adesanya should be able to keep range and win a comfortable decision.
However, Cannonier has won five of his six middleweight fights since slimming down through the heavyweight and light heavyweight ranks. There’s no value on an Adesanya outright win, but rolling the dice on a Cannonier knockout pays a hefty +550.
UFC 276 Picks
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Sean O’Malley vs. Pedro Munhoz
- O’Malley by KO/TKO or DQ (+150)
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Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway
- Volkanovski by decision (+100.)
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Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier
- Cannonier by KO/TKO or DQ (+550)