Unfortunately, the judges robbed The Fight Analyst of a profitable night as he went 1-2 (59-29 overall) He will be looking to get back on track this weekend at UFC Vegas 64.
This weekend should help fill that void as we get a showdown in the strawweight division as two of the best strikers square off in #3 Marina Rodriguez and #7 Amanda Lemos. The rest of the card is littered with elite talent and is one that you will not want to miss. With that said, let’s take a look at the Best Bets for UFC Vegas 64.
Marina Rodriguez vs. Amanda Lemos
In our main event, we have a fight in the strawweight division between two potential title challengers in #3 Marina Rodriguez and #7 Amanda Lemos.
Rodriguez is riding high coming into this matchup with 4 wins in a row against elite competition in the strawweight division. She has the volume, cardio and 5-round experience to make this a very tall task for Lemos to overcome.
Lemos is one of the most dangerous fighters in the strawweight division. There aren’t many fighters in this division that has the ability to finish their opponents the way that she does. Her finishing abilities will need to come in handy in a big way if she wants to take that next step to a title shot.
This is going to come down to experience and I honestly think Rodriguez has the edge there. She has shown that she can stay safe when it comes to submission defense and in terms of striking she is elite in hitting and avoiding big shots. Those will be key here to weather the early storm and just drown Lemos with pace as the fight goes on to get the unanimous decision victory.
| The Fight Analyst’s Pick |
|---|
| Marina Rodriguez to win -225 |
Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Nate Maness
We have a scrap in the flyweight division between Tagir Ulanbekov and newcomer to the division Nate Maness.
Ulanbekov is coming off his first UFC loss which was rather controversial but he is looking to get back on track as he welcomes Maness to the flyweight division. He is your typical Dagestani fighter that has great grappling skills but has some plus striking to go along with it. That grappling of his will be key in this matchup against Maness.
Maness is also coming off of a lopsided loss to a teammate of Ulanbekov in Umar Nurmagomedov. He has shown to be a dangerous striker on the feet but has a lapse in his defensive grappling that could be a major downfall in this matchup.
It’s going to be interesting to see how Maness fares in his first-ever fight at flyweight. He will be having to defend a ton of takedowns that will push his cardio to the brink of exhaustion. I expect Maness to have some success early on the feet until the grappling onslaught of Ulanbekov ensues where he is drowned over the course of the fight.
| The Fight Analyst’s Pick |
|---|
| Tagir Ulanbekov to win -225 |
Mark Madsen vs. Grant Dawson
In the lightweight division, we have two surging fighters in Mark Madsen and Grant Dawson looking to make that leap into the top 15.
The Olympic silver medalist wrestler Madsen is a perfect 12-0 in his MMA career (4-0 UFC). He is starting to round out his game ever since he moved to Scottsdale, Arizona to train at Fight Ready with the likes of Henry Cejudo, Zhang Weili, Kelvin Gastelum and others. In each fight we see improvement and against his toughest test to date, those improvements will need to be on full display.
Dawson is one of the hottest young prospects in the lightweight division. Ever since his change of camps to the American Top Team he has been a brand new fighter. He will be stepping in on short notice to face his toughest adversary to date against Mark Madsen.
Dawson has shown legit grappling chops and power in his stand-up to really push Madsen to have the toughest fight of his MMA career. We also have seen Dawson’s Achilles heel in that he fades as the fight progresses to the later rounds. That could bode well for the Olympian who’s able to outpace the majority of those in front of him. The early rounds will be close but Madsen’s wrestling pace will be the deciding factor as he drowns Dawson with it late in the fight.
| The Fight Analyst’s Pick |
|---|
| Mark Madsen to win +185 |
