UFC 288 Betting Preview
The Ultimate Fighting Champion is a Mixed Martial Arts franchise that has taken the world by storm, delivering unforgettable matchups between some of the biggest fighters in the world.
UFC 288 was announced to be held on May 6th in Newark, New Jersey, at the Prudential Center. Bettors will look to wager on their favorite superstars as they wrestle for accolades in different weight classes. Sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings offer competitive odds on fights in the Early preliminary, Preliminary, and Main cards events. Moreover, both sportsbooks along with a list of others offer easy deposit and withdrawal methods including VISA and PayPal. In fact, we have found that PayPal offers numerous safety and security advantages such as preventing the sportsbooks of receiving sensitive information like your credit card or bank account number.
And now to our betting preview:
Five fights are scheduled for the Early preliminary card that will be aired on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass. They include a women’s Strawweight bout between Marina Rodriguez and Virna Jandiroba, a Middleweight fight between Phil Hawes and Ikram Aliskerov and a Flyweight matchup between Rafael Estevam and Zhalgas Zhumagulov. Also, a Middleweight fight between Joseph Holmes and Claudio Ribiero, plus a Bantamweight bout between Danny Santos and Johnny Munoz Jr, will air live.
ESPN and ESPN+ will show all three fights in the Preliminary card. They include a lightweight battle between Drew Dober and Matt Frevola, a Light Heavyweight bout between Kennedy Nzechukwu and Devin Clark, and a Welterweight matchup between Khaos Williams and Rolando Bedoya.
However, the Main card is what every UFC enthusiast will be waiting for. It features five high-octane fights, with the top-ranked fighters competing for bragging rights in their respective weight classes. The UFC has also announced a Heavyweight bout between Parker Potter and Braxton Smith.
The Bantamweight bout will be the headline event because it will be a championship match. Henry Cejudo of the United States will challenge for the championship held by Aljamain Sterling of Jamaica. The moneyline odds attached in this fight on both Draftkings and Fanduel favor Aljamain Sterling at -110 to Henry Cejudo -113.
The next highlight will be the Women’s Strawweight between Brazil’s Jessica Andrade fighting China’s Xiaonan Yan. Jessica Andrade has a 24-10-0 record and places at no. 5 in UFC’s women’s flyweight rankings, while Yan Xiaonan has a 16-3-0 record, placing at no. 6.
USA’s Bryce Mitchell, who is ranked no. 11, will square off with his countryman Jonathan Pearce in a featherweight bout. Bryce Mitchell has a 15-2-0 record, while Jonathan Pearce has a 14-4-0 record and comes in as the underdog. It will be interesting to see how Pearce can cope with the pressure and prove himself, considering he has 14 wins, 9 of them by knockout and four losses.
Bryce Mitchell has 15 wins in 16 fights, nine by submission and six by decision. He has only lost one fight, which he did so by submission. If Jonathan Pearce can evade Bryce Mitchell’s submission maneuvers, he only has to give himself a chance of landing a knockout, which has contributed to his win percentage thus far.
Finally, the last match in the Main card is a Featherweight bout between Brazil’s Kron Gracie and Canada’s Charles Jourdain. Gracie’s record is 5-1-0, while Charles Jourdain’s is 13-6-1. Gracie’s five wins have been by way of submission, with his only loss coming by decision.
Charles Jourdain has won eight fights by knockout, four by submission and one by decision. Bookmakers have him as a favorite to win this contest. However, Gracie is older and has mainly worked as a martial arts instructor.
Overall, UFC 288 is looking more and more to be for the books, with top-seeded fighters and tactical specialists gracing the ring. The lineups are well thought out and will surely guarantee entertainment on the day.
