In the first event of the year, the UFC once again returns to the Apex Arena. A middleweight clash between a rising contender and a veteran of the division takes place in the main event, whilst a number of intriguing bouts litter the undercard.
Join us below as we break down our best bets for this UFC Fight Night event!
Punahele Soriano ML
Hawian knockout artist Punahele Soriano takes on Russian striker Roman Kopylov on the main card of this Fight Night event.
Kopylov is coming off an impressive KO finish over Alessio Di Chirico at UFC Paris in 2022, but prior to that win, he had left much to be desired. Back-to-back losses against Albert Duraev and Karl Robertson demonstrated a number of glaring holes in his game.
Soriano is coming off an impressive KO finish over Dalcha Lungiambula. He also has solid UFC/contender series wins over Duško Todorovi?, Oskar Piechota and Jamie Pickett. Soriano possesses an excellent chin, solid endurance, and legitimate knockout power. He should be able to pick up the bigger round-winning moments against Kopylov, and even chase a KO finish in the second or third rounds.
Betway have priced Soriano at -150, whilst Soriano to win inside the distance is lined at +150.
Raquel Pennington by Dec
‘Rocky’ Raquel Pennington has been a staple of the UFC women’s bantamweight division for some time now, having picked up wins over solid opposition such as Roxanne Modafferi, Jéssica Andrade, and Miesha Tate. Currently riding a 4 fight-winning streak, she takes on fellow top contender Ketlen Vieira.
Vieira is coming off back-to-back wins over former champions Holly Holm and Miesha Tate. However, when analyzing the footage, Viera didn’t look overly impressive in either fight. Prior to those two wins, she dropped a decision loss to Yana Kunitskaya.
Pennington is a solid offensive submission higher, however, in this bout, we believe she will utilize her boxing to piece up Viera over 3 rounds on course for a unanimous decision victory.
Betway have Pennington by decision priced at +150. However, if you do think her chances of locking up a submission are too high to take the decision prop, Pennington’s ML is lined at a very enticing -105.
Claudio Ribeiro ML
Our final bet will be to take UFC newcomer, Claudio Ribeiro, over Abdul Razak Alhassan.
Alhassan is known for his KO power, however, he has only 1 win in his last for fights. Now at the age of 37, it appears that ‘Judo Thunder’ may be coming to the end of his physical prime.
In comparison, Claudio Ribeiro is entering his peak. At the age of 30, and riding a six-fight win streak, all of which finished inside the distance, the Brazilian looks to be a legitimate threat to the middleweight division. We are banking on this fighting being a changing of the card.
Ribeiro’s ML is priced at -110 on Betway, and you can also find his KO/Sub prop at +120.