UFC 236 Predictions
There are two UFC interim championships up for grabs tonight when UFC 236 takes place in Georgia. Here’s our picks for the featured bouts of the card.
UFC 236 will be held from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The main card for the event will begin at 10PM ET and air live on PPV.
24405 Dustin Poirier vs. 24406 Max Holloway
The main event of tonight’s card has the UFC Featherweight champion, Max Holloway (20-3) taking on top lightweight contender Dustin Poirier (24-5) for the interim UFC championship. According to the latest oddsmakers, Holloway is the favorite in this fight, as he is listed with -200 odds. Poirier is listed with a money line of +170 to win. These two met back in 2012 with Poirier scoring a first-round submission. Both are very different fighters now and Holloway could be the best pound-for-pound. He has won his last four fights by TKO. Poirier has won three straight, all by stoppage as well. Both men like to push forward and are relentless, but Holloway has bigger wins in his career and seems to be the more durable fighter. I think he wins with a late stoppage in an absolute war. UFC 236 Prediction: Max Holloway -200
24401 Kelvin Gastelum vs. 24402 Israel Adesanya
The co-main event is for the interim UFC Middleweight Championship as Gastelum (15-3) takes on Adesanya (16-0). According to oddsmakers, the unbeaten Adesanya is the favorite, as he is listed with -175 odds to win. Gastelum is listed with a money line of +150 to win. Gastelum is a veteran of the division that has great striking and mobility, but also is built for grappling. Adesanya is one of the quickest fighters in the division, using impeccable technique. The difference in this fight is Adesanya hasn’t faced a lot of the top fighters in his division. This is a big step up and I question his output. He tends to really size up his strikes and his inactivity could be a problem against Gastelum, who will push the pace and force Adesanya to grapple. I think Gastelum will eventually get the fight on the ground and expose the unbeaten fighter, securing a submission for a win. UFC 236 Prediction: Kelvin Gastelum +150