UFC 274
UFC 274 is a high end pay per view card that takes place in the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The card brings quality but also brings volume. We are scheduled for 15 fights. The first fighters are scheduled to make the walk at 530PM EST. The card is headlined by a pair of title fights. Rose Namajunas puts her women’s strawweight belt on the line against former champ Carla Esparza in the co-main event. The night is punctuated with a war for the lightweight title between champion Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje.
The pay per view event is first live event in over a month. The Footprint Center in Phoenix will host what promises to be a phenomenal night of fights. It should be noted, with the promotion back out on the road and away from the Apex, the larger octagon will be back in use. The smaller octagon in the Apex tends to favor wrestlers, grapplers and fighters who otherwise want to constantly engage. That will not be the case for this card.
UFC 274 Promo Code
DraftKings has a great promotion for UFC 274. All you have to do is follow the link below to claim the offer. Simply create your account and you can bet $5 to win $150 on any fight on the UFC 274 card. It does not matter how big a favorite, you can lay just $5 to win $150.
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Quick Look Back
On the heels of a perfect 4-0 week, we had a split on the night last week. There were only two betting picks on a fairly terrible card that resulted in a 1-1 result. Grant Dawson did precisely what was expected of him in a submission win over Jared Gordon. Gina Mazany did what was expected of her for a round and a half until she gassed out and quit. The loss on Mazany means we just paid a small amount of juice on the evening.
UFC 274 Fight Card
This is simply a really awesome fight card in totality. The headlining fights are great. The vet matchups are great. The prelims are great. Even the early portion of the card has some awesome fights.
Main Event
The main event for the lightweight championship is a don’t blink type of main event. It is as fun of a fight as we can headline a card with. Both Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira really know how to put on a show. Not only will this be a wildly entertaining fight, we will have a betting pick on it. Much more on this one in a bit.
UFC 274 Co-Main Event
The co-main event of this card brings us a title fight in the women’s strawweight division. Champion Rose Namajunas puts her belt on the line against Carla Esparza. This fight is a rematch from the Ultimate Fighter finale all the way back in 2014. That fight was to crown the inaugural women’s strawweight champion. Esparza won that fight via rear naked choke.
The 2014 fight has little to no bearing on this card. Esparza is an improved fighter since then, but is much closer to her form then than Namajunas is. The fighter Namajunas was back then is not even remotely comparable to the one that she is today. There is probably some level of fun in talking about the narrative of Thug Rose “getting that one back,” but that fight was a lifetime ago and truly means very little.
Advantages
What we have now is a fight that will play out as a striker vs grappler matchup, but that label is certainly too simplistic to be accurate for this fight. Carla Esparza has exactly one large advantage in this fight, and that is her wrestling. Her striking is not subpar, but that is not an area where she is going to win too many fights. She needs to use her wrestling to her advantage and find ground control time to win rounds.
Esparza will get takedowns in this fight, and I believe she gets more than one of them. It would be a bit surprising if Esparza did not at least make rounds close or win a round or two with some top control time. That said, it is far more difficult to envision her true path to victory with the approach. She would have to bring next level cardio to wrestle hard and relentlessly for five full rounds. She would also have to overcome the very good BJJ game of Namajunas. Namajunas finding a submission is not out of the question, and she will be able to use that to return to her feet multiple times.
How The Fight Plays Out
Namajunas on the other hand will want this to play out as a striking matchup. She will be the longer and better striker. She will have more volume. Perhaps most importantly, she will have far more power. There is simply a massive gap between these two ladies when it comes to their respective striking skill sets. Look for Rose to use this advantage as the catalyst to a successful title defense.
While -215 is not a bad price on Namajunas, I do not have full faith to pull the trigger on that play. Namajunas has had enough struggles with the mental side of MMA, and a matchup with an opponent that previously beat her could open Pandora’s Box in that regard. Esparza also does have that wrestling edge that she could press enough if her cardio is fully on point to perhaps edge a 48-47 decision. Sitting out of this one but can’t wait to watch how it plays out.
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Remainder Of UFC 274 Fight Card
There is plenty to be excited about outside of the title fights. The middle spot on the pay per view portion is an absolute banger! Michael Chandler takes on Tony Ferugson in a high end lightweight fight. Chandler is on a two fight skid, but his losses have come to both fighters in the main event title fight. Ferguson is on a three fight losing streak, with his losses coming to the same two opponents, plus Beneil Dariush. This will likely be a stand up banger where each fighter will be tested. Ferguson’s chin will be tested by the power and early fight explosiveness of Chandler. Chandler’s cardio will be tested by the non stop gas tank of Ferguson. This is another one I cannot wait to watch.
The remainder of the pay per view portion is rounded out by veteran matchups. Ovince Saint Preaux takes on Shogun Rua. Right before that, Cowboy Cerrone takes on Joe Lauzon. The promotion is letting us reminisce before getting into the best fights of the evening.
We should get a fun grappling heavy affair between Brandon Royval and Matt Schnell. Andre Fialho will look to build on his impressive KO of Miguel Baeza in a matchup with Cameron VanCamp. Kleydson Rodrigues is truly a high end prospect and should get his UFC career kicked off on the right foot against CJ Vergara. Lastly, in the first bout of the night, Fernie Garcia will try to have his boxing overshadow his lack of head movement in a bout with heavy handed Journey Newson.
UFC 274 Bet Sheet
I hope you came for action, because we have no shortage of it for this UFC 274 fight card. The high end card brings us high end betting volume as well. We will have five betting picks for this card. Enjoy!
Click the links below for a full breakdown with recommended betting picks and analyses.
Charles Oliveira vs Justin Gaethje
Cowboy Cerrone vs Joe Lauzon
Khaos Williams vs Randy Brown
Norma Dumont vs Macy Chiasson
Blagoy Ivanov vs Marcos Rogerio de Lima
Other Fight Predictions
Rose Namjunas via KO over Carla Esparza
Michael Chandler via KO over Tony Ferguson
Ovince Saint Preaux via KO over Shogun Rua
Danny Roberts via decision over Francisco Trinaldo
Brandon Royval via submission over Matt Schnell
Andre Fialho via KO over Cameron VanCamp
Tracy Cortez via decision over Melissa Gatto
Kleydson Rodrigues via KO over CJ Vergara
Loopy Godinez via decision over Ariane Carneloosi
Journey Newson via KO over Fernie Garcia
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