Jon Jones continues to be active, getting back into the octagon to defend his light heavyweight title for the fourth time in 15 months this Saturday. He will face Dominick Reyes, who has climbed the divisions ranks quickly, and could pose a threat. UFC 247 will also feature Valentina Shevchenko defending her belt against Katlyn Chookagian. Both champions are big favorites to defend.
I have 3 picks for the card below. I’m going with the two obvious favourites from the title fights and then a sneaky underdog pick. I’m using the best odds available from any of our top rated betting sites for the picks.
Jon Jones vs Dominick Reyes
Jon is actually a smaller favourite in this fight than he was against either Thiago Santos or Anthony Smith. Perhaps that is because he had some trouble getting past Santos, even after the challenger obviously injured his knee fairly early in the fight. That said, Jones clearly won that fight as well, and even though it’s not always pretty, Jones finds a way to get wins every time.
I like Jones in this fight as well. I think he will be able to control the distance against Reyes, who does have power in his hands, but doesn’t have a lot of reach. I think Jones will fight a safe fight, using his length, en route to an obvious decision victory.
Play: Jones 1.22
Valentina Shevchenko vs Katlyn Chookagian
Shevchenko is simply on another level than anyone else in the UFC’s women’s flyweight division. I expect her to completely outclass Chookagian in this fight and I really see no path to victory for the challenger. At these odds it’s difficult to make a big bet on Shevchenko considering that anything can happen in MMA, but I do think the odds are accurate and Shevchenko will get this win.
Play: Shevchenko 1.09
Derrick Lewis vs Ilir Latifi
Latifi is moving up to heavyweight to take on Derrick Lewis. I actually think this is a pretty good matchup for Latifi to make his heavyweight debut. He’s a short fighter with a wrestling base. He is a two-time national wrestling champion in Sweden, and has shown the ability to get takedowns if that’s what is required to win fights.
I see Latifi as somewhat of a poor man’s Daniel Cormier. We saw how Cormier was able to take Derrick Lewis down at will, and that is the same path to victory that Latifi will have to employ to get this win.
That said, we all know that it only takes one punch from Lewis to end the fight, and I do believe he’s the rightful favorite. But the fact that there is a clear path to victory for Latifi leads me to believe he can win this fight and he has some great value at these current odds.
Play: Latifi 3.20
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