The UFC is continuing its tour away from the Apex as they head to Columbus, Ohio, for a fight night card with heavyweight title implications. No. 4-ranked Heavyweight in the world Curtis Blaydes will look to remain a top contender for the belt against No. 9-ranked heavyweight and new blood for the division Chris Daukaus. Once again on these smaller fight night cards there are a lot of massive favorites on the money lines, which are only good for parlay building blocks. In the few fights that have money lines that make sense to bet the underdogs are live. This gives bettors multiple ways to bet when making their UFC picks tonight. As always, when shopping for the best UFC betting odds and lines, make sure to use OddsShopper to find the top odds at various sportsbooks. It is easily the best sports betting tool when it comes to shopping for the top ROI odds for the fights, and it will save bettors a lot of money in the long run. Below are my UFC picks tonight when filling out your betting card. Let’s dig into some of the best UFC Columbus predictions, picks and best bets for this amazing card for UFC Columbus: Blaydes vs Daukaus.
Expert UFC Columbus Picks, Predictions & Best Bets Tonight
Ilir Latifi vs Aleksei Oleinik
This heavyweight fight really is a headscratcher. The 39-year-old former light heavyweight turned heavyweight Ilir Latifi will face off against 44-year-old Aleksei Oleinik, who said he was retired a few times yet here he is. Oleinik is probably the best submission artist the heavyweight division has and will ever see. This will be his 77th pro MMA fight, which is just ridiculous. On top of that, he has 59 wins and 45 have come by submission. If Oleinik can get you to mat, whether it via takedown or sometimes pulling guard, the chances of you getting up before getting submitted are extremely low. The problem here is Latifi is built like a fire hydrant and is very small for a heavyweight, he is under 6 feet tall and it could pose a challenge for Oleinik to get the fight to the mat. Latifi, on the other hand, has tremendous power, but his cardio past Round 1 is very questionable. It is very possible at this stage of Oleinik’s career that if Latifi finds his chin flush, he will crumble. It is also possible that if Latifi cannot put him away in the first round, he will tire and find himself in a very poor position on the mat in the later rounds. Oleinik does not have very good cardio either, so if this fight extends into the second and third rounds, the better the chance of either fighter winning by finish.
Best UFC Betting Pick Tonight: Latifi/Oleinik Under 2.5 Rounds -136 (FanDuel)
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Curtis Blaydes vs. Chris Daukaus
In a very important fight in the heavyweight division perennial top five Curtis Blaydes will take out Chris Daukaus. From a experience standpoint, Blaydes gets a massive edge and this will be his fourth main event, and the second for Daukaus. Daukaus is coming off a first-round knockout loss to Derek Lewis and he looked like he felt the pressure of the moment. However, Blaydes is also two fights removed from fighting Lewis, and he took a second-round knockout loss as well. Blaydes rebounded after that and beat Jairzinho Rozenstruik in a three-round decision. Blaydes controlled the fight easily with his wrestling but never really used his ground-and-pound to finish the fight. Prior to getting knocked out by Lewis, Daukaus won his first four UFC fights by knockout, but the level of competition was very low. It is possible that Daukaus will come in here and knock out Blaydes, but Blaydes is an elite wrestler and he will look to grind out rounds. Blaydes, on the other hand, has excellent ground-and-pound, but he almost never uses it. He will look to take Daukaus down and control him to win rounds. If Blaydes survives the early onslaught from Dauakaus this is a fight that will get extended into the third and possibly championship rounds.
Best UFC Betting Pick Tonight: Blaydes/Daukaus Over 2.5 Rounds +102 (FanDuel)
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