UFC 267 Betting Preview
After a long wait for a numbered event, and some tough Fight Nights in the interim, UFC 267 is finally upon us. This card is the first of consecutive numbered events, and we get two truly high end cards back to back.
UFC 267 comes to us from Fight Island in Abu Dhabi and kicks off at 1030AM EST this Saturday. The card features 15 stacked fights, headlined by a pair of title fights. Cory Sandhagen and Petr Yan square off for the interim bantamweight strap in the co-main event. The main event has Jan Blachowicz putting his title up against Glover Texeira. More on the co-main later, as we will have a wager on that fight. I do want to touch on the main event and how it might play out.
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Blachowicz vs Texeira Preview
Blachowicz is a -300 favorite, and I feel this line is too wide. Both fighters bring a very well rounded skill set to the octagon. The favorite Blachowicz is on an incredible run with five straight wins, the most recent two being title fights. Wins over Dominick Reyes and Israel Adesanya are impressive, but the wins leading up to the title shot do not carry much weight for me. It started with a KO of the chinless Luke Rockhold, and that is where the myth of the “legendary Polish power” of Blachowicz got started. Where was this legendary power from 2014 to 2019 when the KO count was exactly zero? He followed that win up with wins against Jacare and Corey Anderson, both no longer fighting in the UFC. That leads us to where Blachowicz notched an impressive KO win against Dominick Reyes to win the vacant title. He followed that up with a decision against undersized Israel Adesanya.
Glover Texeira has taken the longest possible road to a title shot. The 42 year old is entering his 40th fight and finally getting a crack at the title. His most recent wins over Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith made him the clear cut option for this title shot. Texeira has done well to reinvent himself and learned how to better literally roll with punches, and not take as much damage when he is hit. He is a sound enough striker but he will be at a disadvantage in the stand up in this fight. He will likely want and need to get the fight to the mat, where he is the better of two very high end grapplers.
I do not see Blachowicz getting an easy KO as some are suggesting. Jan’s power is now vastly overrated. Even with that being the case, he is the better striker, and will likely only need to keep the fight standing to get to a win. That outcome however is no given, as Texeira is quite seasoned and while Blachowicz has sound takedown defense, he is nt immune to being put on the mat. Either fighter is live enough for a KO, but I do not view it as probable for either. Texeira is the better grappler and the fighter live for a ground finish, but a decision would not be overly surprising here. It is a fight to sit out of from a betting perspective, but if you are needing main event action, the value lies with the underdog on a slightly too wide betting line.
The 15 fight UFC 267 card brings us five betting plays. Now that we have covered the details and the main event, on to our UFC Picks.
Click the links below to read our bets and analyses.
Petr Yan vs Cory Sandhagen
Alexander Volkov vs Marcin Tybura
Amanda Ribas vs Virna Jandiroba
Albert Duraev vs Roman Kopylov
Shamil Gamzatov vs Michal Oleksiejczuk
Other UFC 267 Fight Predictions
Jan Blachowicz via decision over Glover Texeira
Islam Makhachev via decision over Dan Hooker
Khamzat Chimaev via KO over Li Jingliang
Magomed Ankalaev via decision over Volkan Oezdemir
Zubaira Tukhagov via decision over Ricardo Ramos
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos via decision over Benoit Saint Denis
Makwan Amirkhani via decision over Lerone Murphy
Andre Petroski via decision over Hu Yaozong
Magomed Mustafaev via decision over Damir Ismagulov
Tagir Ulanbekov via decision over Allan Nascimento