UFC fans had an exciting time this weekend as UFC271 became a great success in Houston, Texas. The premier MMA promotion now moves back to Las Vegas as a UFC Fight Night card will take place on Feb 19 at the UFC Apex Center.
The Main Event will feature a 5 round fight in the light-heavyweight division between two promising and young contenders in Johnny Walker and Jamahal Hill. This Fight Card isn’t as exciting as it was supposed to be as a huge fight in the lightweight division between Rafael Dos Anjos and Rafael Fiziev had to be postponed due to Fiziev’s visa issues.
This card may not be as exciting as some of the recent UFC Fight Night cards, but there are still quite a few fights that you must watch. We break down the Main Event and look at the betting odds for some exciting fights on this card. See if you agree with our expert picks.
Johnny Walker vs. Jamahal Hill
Johnny Walker was in line to be the next biggest star in the UFC a few years ago, but a sudden dip in performance saw him go from someone who had a great future in the company to someone who fights rarely. This is his chance at redemption as he is headlining the Main Event and has an opportunity to show the UFC brass and his fans that he can become one of the top stars in the light-heavyweight division again!
Standing in his way is the dangerous Jamahal Hill coming off an impressive win over Aussie Jimmy Crute. Hill will want to use that momentum to take out Walker and then make a push to get into the top 10 as Hill is currently ranked in 10th place.
Walker and Hill prefer to stand and strike, but both men have been working on their wrestling. If the fight goes into the third round, it could start to go Hill’s way as Walker has had trouble in the past with his cardio. We think Walker’s best chance to win is to be aggressive in the first couple of rounds and go for a finish.
As of this writing, Hill is the betting favorite with odds of 2/5, while Walker is the underdog with odds of 2/1. We will put our money on Hill to finish by TKO/KO.
Joaquin Buckley vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
If you like to see two fighters with great striking skills stand and bang in the middle, you must watch this fight in the middleweight division. Buckley and Alhassan possess immense striking power and can end the fight with one punch.
Buckley is coming off a TKO in Sep 2021 and goes in as the betting favorite with odds of 4/6, while Alhassan is the underdog with odds of 5/4. We expect this to be a banger and think the fighter with the better chin will win this fight. We think Alhassan will have the slight edge over Buckley as Alhassan stopped his losing streak with a win in his last fight and is a much more dangerous fighter when he has some confidence under his belt.
Jim Miller vs. Nikolas Motta
UFC veteran Jim Miller returns to the Octagon for a lightweight challenge against Nikolas Motta. This is a great opportunity for Motta to build his name by beating a UFC Hall of Famer, but it will not be easy as Miller has shown that if he can get the fight to the ground, he can take out the best.
Miller goes in as the underdog, which is the case in most of his fights and, has odds of 6/4, while Motta is the favorite with odds of 4/7. If you don’t like taking risks, go ahead and back Motta to win. However, we will bet on Miller and believe that he will pull off one of those underdogs wins as he has done many times throughout his career in the UFC.
Other Exciting Fights
You need to watch out for three other exciting fights: heavyweights Parker Porter vs. Alan Baudot, a bantamweight fight in the women’s division between Jessica-Rose Clark and Stephanie Egger, and a featherweight fight between Gabriel Benitez and David Onama. Our picks for these three fights are Baudot, Jessica-Rose Clark, and Onama.
