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The Fight Analyst has been on fire, recording three straight undefeated weeks. He is now 9-0 during that span with an overall record of 35-13. He is looking to keep the momentum going this week at UFC Vegas 58.
UFC 276 at International Fight Week delivered and then some! We saw both of City Kickboxing’s champions Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski retain their championships in dominant fashion.
This week we have an action-packed fight card headlined by two of the lightweight’s best in Rafael Dos Anjos and Rafael Fiziev. Let’s dip deep and take a look at the Best Bets for UFC Vegas 58.
Caio Borralho vs. Armen Petrosyan
In the middleweight division, we have a clash between two exciting prospects Caio Borralho and Armen Petrosyan.
Although Borralho won his first stint on the Contender Series he wasn’t awarded a UFC contract. He then was asked to compete again on the show where he won by first-round knockout to obtain his UFC contract. He then put in a dominant performance against the tough Gadzhi Omargadzhiev showing that he is someone to take seriously in the middleweight division.
Petrosyan had the tall task of going toe-to-toe with the powerful Gregory Rodrigues. He was able to outbattle Rodrigues for a close split-decision victory. All but one of Petrosyan’s seven wins have come by way of knockout.
Petrosyan has some legit striking abilities, as he has great power in all of his limbs and the movement to make it hard for his competition to get a read on him. That will need to come into play mightily against Borralho who has shown elite grappling skills. In short, Petrosyan will have some early success on the feet until Borralho lands the takedown, gets his back and sinks in the rear-naked choke.
| The Fight Analyst’s Pick |
|---|
| Caio Borralho -202 to win |
Antonina Shevchenko vs. Cortney Casey
In the women’s flyweight division we have two mainstays looking to get back on track as Antonina Shevchenko and Cortney Casey battle it out.
Both fighters are in a bit of a rut as of late as they are 1-2 in their last three fights. We can expect each fighter to be at their best knowing that their careers could potentially be on the line. That is where I believe we will get a closely contested match throughout between Shevchenko and Casey.
Casey is known for her durability as she has never been knocked out in her time as a professional MMA fighter. Meanwhile, Shevchenko’s durability is right up there with Casey. I also don’t expect either fighter to attempt takedowns or be successful in the grappling department. Expect this fight to be a closely contested kickboxing affair to where we see this fight hit the judges’ scorecards.
| The Fight Analyst’s Pick |
|---|
| Fight Goes To Decision -190 |
Ricky Turcios vs. Aiemann Zahabi
In the bantamweight division, we have a great scrap between Ricky Turcios and Aiemann Zahabi.
The Ultimate Fighter season 28 winner Ricky Turcios makes his long-awaited debut this weekend. He has a very unorthodox style of fighting whether it is on the feet or on the mat. This should make for a very tough matchup for Zahabi on paper.
Zahabi came into his UFC debut dominating his opponent only to go 1-2 in his next three fights. He came back after a long layoff to knockout Drako Rodriguez and now will be coming off of yet another long layoff. It will be interesting to see if the time away will either help or hinder his performance this weekend.
This is going to be a fun scrap between these two bantamweights but ultimately Turcios has more ways to get the job done in this fight. Zahabi will be outgunned on the feet and doesn’t have the grappling accolades to take advantage of Turcios’ lapse of defensive wrestling. In short, Turcio out-strikes and outworks Zahabi for the entirety of the fight to take the unanimous decision victory.
| The Fight Analyst’s Pick |
|---|
| Ricky Turcios to win -183 |
