Bantamweights Top Packed Card in Vegas
UFC lines are available for every fight on Saturday and we have picked out three of the best to include in our parlay.
Headlining our sports betting parlay is Petr Yan vs Merab Dvalishvili, where top class bantamweights battle for a potential title shot.
We also preview Krylov vs Spann and Assuncao vs Grant.
Yan Eyes Rematch
Yan is the former UFC bantamweight champion, but after losing his title to Aljamain Sterling and then losing to Sean O’Malley, he’s on the outside looking in.
The Russian 30-year-old still has plenty to give and we think he has the class edge against Dvalishvili, who defeated an aging Jose Aldo at UFC 278.
Dvalishvili is 15-4, so he must be respected in the main event. However, he has faced much easier opponents than Yan.
That could be the difference on fight night, so the -260 with UFC betting odds is worth snapping up and including in parlays.
Dvalishvili respects Yan’s Octagon prowess, but isn’t fond of him personally.
“Petr is a great fighter. He is a former champion. We all know he’s tough,” Dvalishvili said. “As a fighter, he’s a great fighter. He’s dangerous. He doesn’t have holes anywhere. He’s a good striker. … He defends wrestling good. His cardio is good. This is my toughest fight. And I have other reasons. I think he’s a great fighter, a good family guy, but he’s not a humble guy. He’s not a great human. It doesn’t matter how good of a fighter you are, you have to be a good person.”
Those are fighting words from his opponent, but Yan won’t care once they’re looking face-to-face in the cage.
- Pick: Petr Yan (-260)
No Tears for Krylov
Nikita Krylov squares off against Ryan Spann in the catchweight division and he could continue his winning streak.
The 31-year-old lost to Paul Craig early in 2022, but he kept busy with bounce-back wins over Alexander Gustafsson and Volkan Oezdemir.
The latest UFC news is that’s training well for the fight against Spann, so bettors should have confidence in the 29-9 fighter.
Spann is a dangerous and well-rounded fighter after knocking out Dominick Reyes and submitting Ion Cutelaba, so he poses a real threat to the favorite. However, every time he gets close to rising in the rankings, he loses.
“Spann is back from me in the rankings and this fight is not going to take me to a title shot, but a contender maybe,” Krylov said. “I think the way the division is right now, everyone is beatable and everyone can beat everybody.”
It was the case when losing to Anthony Smith in 2021, so there are holes in Spann’s game.
Krylov is a beast on his day and we’re happy to include the -170 in our UFC bets.
- Pick: Nikita Krylov (-170)
Grant Bringing the KO
Davey Grant vs Raphael Assuncao won’t be short of excitement, but we think the fight ends in a knockout.
Our UFC picks have Grant winning by a knockout, and his odds of -135 to win outright are generous.
Grant might be 37, but he comes off a knockout win over Louis Smolka, which was an excellent bounce back after having lost to Adrian Yanez in November.
We have enjoyed seeing his power on display with knockout wins over Jonathan Martinez and Christos Giagos.
Assuncao has 28 wins on his record, so the 40-year-old can’t be overlooked. He defeated Victor Henry, who fights earlier on the card, in October. He lost to Ricky Simon with a knockout prior to that, which is the big concern.
We’re happy to include Grant at his moneyline odds. There is more value in Grant to win by knockout, but play it safe for the UFC parlay.
- Pick: Davey Grant (-135)
