UFC Fight Night clashes continue this weekend in the early hours of the morning South African time on the 16th of February at the UFC APEX where Jared Cannonier will take on Gregory Rodrigues in the main event. We will look at this bout as well as two additional fights on the card from a betting angle, sharing our bets and a speculative treble.
Click here for betting on the full fight card
JARED CANNONIER vs GREGORY RODRIGUES
Middleweight Main Event:
Jared Cannonier is an American fighter who made his UFC debut over a decade ago. He is a well-known striker who has fought in 3 divisions of the organisation but found his place at Middleweight.
He has fought some big-name opponents in his career, but he has had some tough battles over the last few years leaving with 3 losses and 2 wins across his last 5 fights.
His most recent clash took place in August last year when he stepped in the octagon and despite giving his all he lost to Caio Borralho by decision after 5 rounds.
Gregory Rodrigues, fighting out of Brazil is a man who possesses great skill in the fields of striking and grappling.
He has fought a total of 9 fights within the institute and has experience dating back to the year 2021. He has been on solid form over the past two years, winning 4 of his 5 most recent encounters.
His last meeting was with Christian Leroy Duncan in July 2024 where the fight went the distance with Rodrigues taking down a decision win.
BETTING – click here to bet
Cannonier 2.80
Rodrigues 1.47
PREDICTION:
I believe that Rodrigues is the favourite for good reason and despite a good effort from Cannonier he will beat him by decision.
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CALVIN KATTAR vs YOUSSEF ZALAL
Featherweight Co-Main Event:
Calvin Kattar is an American fighter with a career spanning roughly six and a half years in the UFC but despite this he has not fought regularly and only has 13 fights to his name of which he has won 7 and lost 6.
He has battled to maintain winning form throughout his career and more so recently as he has lost 4 of his last 5 fights although they were against some solid opposition.
His latest clash took place on the UFC 300 card when he went up against former champ Aljamain Sterling and lost by decision after 15 minutes of fighting.
Youssef Zalal is a Moroccan born fighter who possesses a freestyle fighting approach. He has fought just 3 times including his professional debut and he has been impressive in each bout proving he is a talented grappler due to winning all 3 via submission.
Although he lacks UFC experience when compared to Kattar, he has shown he is a dangerous fighter over the past year as none of his fights have even made it to the 3rd round.
He took on Jack Shore in November where he dominated the fight and ended it with a submission just 39 seconds into the second round.
BETTING – click here to bet
Kattar 4.20
Zalal 1.25
PREDICTION:
I think that Kattar comes into this fight guns blazing after his poor performances recently, but he will not be able to overcome Zalal who wins it by round 2 submission.
EDMEN SHAHBAZYAN vs DYLAN BUDKA
Middleweight Fight:
Edmen Shahbazyan, fighting out of America is known for his overall fighting abilities and he has fought 10 times in his career, winning 5 and losing 5. His most recent fight took place in August last year where he lost to Gerald Meerschaert in round 2.
Dylan Budka is a fighter from the USA who has battled to get his career trending upwards, and he has lost both of his opening fights with the first by round 2 TKO and his latest encounter against Andre Petroski resulted in a decision defeat.
BETTING – click here to bet
Shahbazyan 1.28
Budka 3.80
PREDICTION:
I believe that Budka will continue his rough start to the UFC and things will get even worse for him when he loses via decision.
SUGGESTED BETS:
Cannonier vs Rodrigues
Rodrigues by decision at 4.75
Kattar vs Zalal
Zalal by submission at 4.00
Shahbazyan vs Budka
Shahbazyan by decision at 3.70
THE WIN TREBLE
All 3 of my fancies to win works out to 2.20 and you can use this code to populate your betslip 26281600
THE SPECULATOR
All 3 of my bets to arrive works out to a massive 71.00 and here is the code 26281618
Note: All prices correct at time of writing but subject to change.
