UFC 276 | Main Card Preview
Saturday, July 2nd (10:00 PM EST Main Card, 8:00 PM EST Prelims, 6:00 PM EST Early Prelims)
Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier
WATCH - We love to romanticize the most dominant champs. They are world beaters, unstoppable forces, to be looked at with awe and admiration as they stomp all over the contenders with ease. But is that truly how it was in the height of their reigns? You might picture GSP's finish victories over Matt Hughes, Matt Serra, and B.J. Penn that defined his popularity, but when hearing GSP's name how often do we remember how annoyed or bored fans were by his last 7 title defenses that all went to decision? The middleweight champion Adesanya is in that position now, feeling more removed each day from the brutal finishes of Whittaker and Costa early on in his reign. #2 Cannonier is a hard hitter and used to winning with vicious knock-out power, but this style leaves him vulnerable to getting pieced up himself which presents a unique opportunity for Adesanya to remind the fans why they used to love him. The question remains whether Adesanya will take the risks necessary to bring the fight to Cannonier, or if he is comfortable being the boring and risk-averse champion so many see him as now.
FGTDalgo Bet - Fight Does Not Go The Distance 1u @ -120 (better than -209.6)
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway
WATCH - Let the featherweight championship snobbiness flow through your veins! Yes we get it, the last fight was very technical and high level MMA. It was also boring with neither guy in grave danger or convincingly winning rounds. The only reason to watch this fight is to feed off the salt that will pour out of the fanbase for whatever unlucky fighter loses the inevitable coin-flip decision. I'm rooting for Volkanovski to retire Holloway with a front kick just so this division can be freed from seeing these two in another title fight and freed from having Holloway slaughter all of the exciting contenders again.
MMAalgo Bet - Max Holloway 3.5u @ +165 (better than -116.6)
Sean Strickland vs. Alex Pereira
WATCH - It doesn't matter if #4 Sean Strickland tries to point fight his way to victory, the former Glory Kickboxing Champion and 2 times destroyer of middleweight champion Adesanya (in kickboxing) Alex Pereira is going to march Strickland down and find out how tough that maniac really is. Or so we hope.
MMAalgo Bet - Sean Strickland 3.5u @ -110 (better than -144.0)
FGTDalgo Bet - Fight Goes The Distance 1u @ +140 (better than -119.3)
Robbie Lawler vs. Bryan Barberena
WATCH - Old guy fights are really big mysteries. When the fighters come out ready to go it's an incredible flashback to their violent primes. But oh boy is it painful to watch when they come out looking really out of shape and have a dud performance. Barberena seems to still be swinging for the fences each fight, but I worry about Robbie Lawler who really hasn't looked great outside of his most recent skirmish against the corpse of some social media influencer.
MMAalgo Bet - Bryan Barberena 3.5u @ +100 (better than -127.2)
Pedro Munhoz vs. Sean O'Malley
WATCH - A spotlight, so big it blinds you as they use Luka Doncic as a reference point for how incredible he'll become. A superstar in the making! Three 5 minute rounds to ascend into the upper echelons of the MMA world! But one kick to the peroneal artery had #13 Sean O'Malley crashing all the way down. Call it a lucky shot, a fluke, it doesn't matter. Because you don't get infinite chances and the world won't wait around forever for you to figure it out. This is O'Malley's opportunity to cement his bantamweight ranking with a win over #9 Munhoz and be a true rising star in this sport. It's ESPN mainstream highlights or fading journeyman from here on out.
*Nothing contained in this post is financial advice, please bet at your own risk