UFC Fight Night Predictions
The UFC had an impressive card on free TV with UFC Fight Night being held in Atlantic City. Here’s some fight predictions we like for tonight’s card.
24201 Edson Barboza vs. 24202 Kevin Lee
This main event is a lightweight contest between fifth-ranked Barboza (19-5) and sixth-ranked Lee (16-4). According to the latest oddsmakers at YouWager, Lee is listed as the favorite in this bout, as he is getting odds of -160 to win. Barboza is getting a money line of +140 to win. Lee actually didn’t make weight for this fight, so he could be dealing with some fatigue issues if this bout goes long. He is coming off a submission loss to Tony Ferguson in October, but had won five straight prior to that. Barboza is coming off a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov last December. Barboza is a powerful striker, especially with kicks. However, he is passive and not a great grappler. I think Lee has the edge. He will pressure early and not allow Barboza to settle into striking distance. UFC Fight Night Prediction: Kevin Lee -160
24205 Cub Swanson vs. 24206 Frankie Edgar
This is a battle of two tremendous featherweights in fourth-ranked Swanson (25-8) and third-ranked Edgar (21-6-1). Oddsmakers are listing Edgar as the clear favorite, giving him odds of -230 to win. Swanson is listed with a money line of +195 to prevail. Edgar is one of the all-time greats in the UFC, but just suffered a KO loss on March 3. This feels like a really quick turnaround against a guy like Swanson, who is very aggressive and can pack a punch. Swanson lost to the same guy Edgar did in his last fight, back in December. Still, I think Swanson has the chance for the upset tonight. Edgar can’t be fully recovered from a big KO in just seven weeks and Swanson has the gas tank to push the pace with Edgar. I don’t see Edgar being able to dominate the grappling here either. UFC Fight Night Prediction: Cub Swanson +195
24213 David Branch vs. 24214 Thiago Santos
This is a middleweight contest featuring eighth-ranked Branch (21-4) against 12th-ranked Santos (17-5). Oddsmakers have Santos as the favorite, giving him odds of -170 to win while Branch is listed with a +150 money line. Santos has won his last four fights, all by TKO. Branch is coming off a second-round KO loss to Luke Rockhold in September. I think Santos will continue to ride his momentum. He has proven to be able to have striking power later into fights. He doesn’t need the quick finish to end the fight. He can pick his opponents apart and stay off his back. UFC Fight Night Prediction: Thiago Santos -170