MMA fans and bettors will shift their focus to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday night for UFC 328, featuring a Middleweight title fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland as the main event and a Flyweight title fight between Joshua Van and Tatsuro Taira as the co-main event. Let’s get right into it; here are our UFC 328 best bets with odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
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UFC 328 best bet: Waldo Cortes-Acosta ML over Alexander Volkov (+145)
The 3rd fight on the main card at UFC 328 pits Alexander Volkov against Waldo Cortes-Acosta in the Heavyweight division. Volkov enters this fight with an MMA record of 39-11 and 13-5 in the UFC, while he averrages 4.78 strikes per minute with a striking accuracy of 57%. On the other end, he absorbs 2.86 strikes and has a striking defense of 53%. His grappling is only decent, averaging 0.57 takedowns every 15 minutes, while he boasts a takedown accuracy of 66% and a takedown defense of 68%.
Cortes-Acosta enters this fight with an MMA record of 16-2 and 10-2 in the UFC, averraging 5.55 significant strikes per minute with a striking accuracy of 48%. Defensively, Cortes-Acosta absorbs 3.53 strikes and resists 55% of opposing strikes. His grappling is decent at best, averaging just 0.35 takedowns every 15 minutes, though he has a 72% takedown defense.
Volkov is the significant favorite in this fight, but I’m going with the underdog due to better form and superior striking volume. Look for Cortes-Acosta to continue to be aggressive and improve on his recent 8-1 run, which includes 3 straight KO/TKO wins.
You can also find our UFC 328 parlay picks for Saturday night’s action
UFC 328 prediction: Sean Brady vs. Joaquin Buckley – Fight to go the Distance: No (-125)
The 2nd fight on the main card at UFC 328 will be between Sean Brady and Joaquin Buckley in the Welterweight division. Brady is 8-2 in the UFC, landing almost 4 significant strikes per minute with 55% accuracy while absorbing 3.05 strikes and defending 59% of strikes. Brady also has elite grappling, averaging 3.53 takedowns every 15 minutes and defending 86% of opposing takedown attempts.
Buckley is 11-5 in the UFC, averaging 3.88 strikes per minute with just 36% accuracy. His defense is solid — 59% striking defense — while his grappling is also is decent, averaging 1.54 takedowns every 15 minutes and defending 72% of opposing takedowns.
I expect this fight to end before the judges get involved. Brady has seen 6 of his last 8 UFC fights end inside the distance, while Buckley has seen 5 of his last 8 UFC fights do the same. They both have proven to have elite power, plus Brady is an elite grappler and has been known to force submissions. In fact, 4 of Brady’s last 6 wins have been by submission, while 4 of Buckley’s last 6 wins were by KO/TKO.
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