UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Bueno Silva Best Bets, Analysis

Article By
Last Updated: 
Share On Your Network
UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Bueno Silva Best Bets, Analysis
© USA Today

Following on from one of the best cards in UFC/MMA history on the famous International Fight Week, we return to the Apex before another trip to London next week for a stacked card in the UK.

Beforehand, we see the former champion Holly Holm step out once again to conclude a rare six-fight main card in Las Vegas

Here are our UFC picks for the weekend.

  • Holly Holm to beat Mayra Beuno Silva on points is +105 with DraftKings Sportsbook
  • Jack Della Maddalena to beat Bassil Hafez via KO/TKO/DQ is -230 with Unibet Sportsbook
  • Ottman Azaitar vs. Francisco Prado to end via KO/TKO is -185 with FanDuel Sportsbook
  • Norma Dumont to beat Chelsea Chandler on points is +115 with BetMGM Sportsbook
  • Albert Duraev vs. Jun Yong Park to not go the distance is -118 with FanDuel Sportsbook
  • Terrance McKinney vs. Nazim Sadykhov to end via KO/TKO is -180 with FanDuel Sportsbook

Holly Holm (-176) vs. Mayra Bueno Silva (+142) 

Holly Holm steps out for her 22nd professional MMA fight at the age of 41 as she looks to get her fourth win in her past five UFC fights. All three of these recent wins have come via decision, and Holm has not won before the final bell for six years after a KO win over Bethe Correia.

Simply put, despite being one of the best female kickboxers on the MMA scene, her days of winning via KO/TKO are seemingly over. In fact, of her eight UFC wins, six of them have been on points.

Mayra Bueno Silva is a submission artist, winning seven of her 10 victories in this manner. Against an elite kickboxer like Holm, we expect Silva to get picked apart on the feet and lose round after round, especially because the latter has taken this fight on short notice.

Holm will deliver accurate kicks, fire in the jabs and get out of range. She has a four-inch reach advantage, and the longer the fight stays on the fight, the easier it gets for her.

Jack Della Maddalena (-620) vs. Bassil Hafez (+430)

After some terrible luck that saw two fights canceled in the space of 10 days, Jack Della Maddalena saw his scheduled fight time move to this week’s card from UFC 290. He has, however, now been moved up to a co-main event spot and faces off with a new opponent, Bassil Hafez, on his UFC debut.

This fight is an easy pick for Maddalena. He is one of the best boxers in the welterweight division, and with 11 knockouts coming from his 14 wins, the 26-year-old rising star is unbeaten in his four UFC fights. What’s more, he's finished all four of his opponents in the first round, collecting a Performance of the Night bonus in three of those wins.

Hafez deserves credit, however, for amassing an 8-3 record and winning four of his fights via submission. On the other hand, on his UFC debut on such short notice and against a man as slick in the striking department as Maddalena, we don’t see how he wins.

Ottman Azaitar (-104) vs. Francisco Prado (-118) 

The toughest fight of the night to call sees the 21-year-old Argentine prodigy, Francisco Prado, take on the experienced Ottman Azaitar. The latter is the narrow favorite, but after a brutal knockout from Matt Frevola in his last fight, we think an upset of the odds could come in here.

Prado did lose his UFC debut to Jamie Mullarkey, but he wasn't exactly beat up badly in this fight and more or less lost due to inexperience. Prior to that, the youngster won all his fights and put together an 11-fight win streak all before the distance with six submissions wins and five TKO/KO victories.

Azaitar has also gone the distance in only one of his 14 professional fights and his recent loss to Frevola was also his first. It’s rare two fighters meet in the octagon having just lost for the first time, and this coupled with the fact only one of their combined 25 fights has gone the distance points us towards the fight ending before the final bell.

Albert Duraev (+132) vs. Jun Yong Park (-162) 

Another excellent fight goes on further down the card as two very skilled fighters meet in the octagon. In fact, from a combined record of 40 fights, there's been 14 submission wins, seven KO/TKO victories and 10 decision wins between Albert Duraev and Jun Yong Park.

Following on from losing on his UFC debut to Anthony Hernandez, Park has gone on to win six times and lose only once in the organization. His two previous wins have been via rear-naked choke, and after a decade of professional fighting, it seems as if the South Korean has finally come into his own.

As for Duraev, the Russian has put together a 16-4 record, winning nine of his fights via submission. The alarming factor for his coaches, however, is how his inability to stand and strike with the opposition has led to him losing all four of his fights via KO/TKO.

Park could easily land a few clean shots and put Duraev away. However, the latter could also tie Park up in a scramble and wrap in another submission. Either way, we don't see how this fight goes the distance.

Norma Dumont (-144) vs. Chelsea Chandler (+118) 

After only six fights in professional MMA Chelsea Chandler looks to make it two wins in two UFC fights after a fantastic knockout in the first round against Julija Stoliarenko. She does, however, have an incredibly tough test against the well-rounded and highly skilled Brazilian, Norma Dumont.

This fight is expected to go the distance. Seven of Dumont's nine wins have come in this manner, and even one of her two defeats was in a points loss too. 

Chandler does possess excellent jiu-jitsu skills, as she comes from the famous Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu gym that has brought up the fighters like Nick and Nate Diaz. However, we simply think she is too inexperienced to get anything out of Dumont on Saturday.

Terrence McKinney (+124) vs. Nazim Sadykhov (-152)

After great expectations and a lot of hype when he entered the UFC, Terrence McKinney has fallen way out of the spotlight. He defeated Frevola with an excellent KO in just 17 seconds on his UFC debut and then went on to submit Fares Ziam in his second bout. 

However, defeats to Drew Dober and Ismael Bonfim in the past 14 months have put the American on a 13-5 fight record.

Nazim Sadykhov enters his second UFC fight after forcing the doctor stoppage against Evan Elder and great success in the Contender Series, where he knocked out Ahmad Sohail Hassanzada with a sensational right hook. 

He has now won six of his eight victories via KO/TKO and only lost because he got caught in a scramble and tapped out to a rear-naked choke on his MMA debut. Sadykhov has clearly learned from that poor first professional outing and has been faultless ever since.

McKinney still possesses clean striking and has won eight of his fights via submission too. His jiu-jitsu skill and smart boxing always give him a chance, but either way, with just one of their combined 27 fights going the distance, this one will end before the judges' scorecards are needed.

Other UFC Fight Night Bets to Consider

SportsbookOddsProp Bet
FanDuel Sportsbook +200 Viktoria Dudakova to beat Istela Nunes on points
Unibet Sportsbook +195 Melsik Baghdasaryan to beat Tucker Lutz on points
DraftKings Sportsbook +320 Melquizael Costa to win by KO/TKO against Austin Lingo
BetMGM Sportsbook +130 Evan Elder to beat Genaro Valdez by KO/TKO