Best bets for UFC 250 in Las Vegas
The UFC 250 pay-per-view card at the UFC Apex facility Saturday will be co-headlined by a women’s featherweight title fight between Felicia Spencer and champion Amanda Nunes and a bantamweight bout between Raphael Assuncao and Cody Garbrandt.
But UFC handicapper Lou Finocchiaro has his eyes on the bantamweight fight between Aljamain Sterling and Cory Sandhagen. “It’s probably the most competitive fight on the card,” said Finocchiaro (@GambLou), who likes Sterling as one of his two best bets.
Aljamain Sterling (-115) over Cory Sandhagen
“While Sandhagen is a more apt striker, Sterling’s striking is decent enough, and he’s the more complete fighter,” Finocchiaro said. “Sterling is a wrestling-based fighter, and Sandhagen only has a 26-percent takedown defense, which is really not good.
“Sandhagen has only had five UFC fights to Sterling’s 13. The fact that he’s been here before and has more experience is why I’m going with Sterling here.”
With the winner expected to be given a shot at the UFC title, Finocchiaro also expects Sterling to have a greater sense of urgency to win this fight.
“He has had to claw, scratch, bite and kick his way through the rankings of a deep bantamweight division to get this opportunity again,” he said. “He must take advantage of it.”
Anthony Rocco Martin (+110) over Neil Magny
Neither fighter is ranked among the UFC’s top 15 welterweights, but Finocchiaro expects the winner to make the jump there.
“It’s a really important fight, and these guys are evenly matched,” he said. “Magny comes in with a lot of momentum, and Martin is giving away some of the numerics. But Martin’s previous competition is better than Magny’s. He’s an effective striker and kickboxer and can effectively work a strong kicking game against Magny, who’s long and tall but very skinny in the legs.
“I also believe in Martin’s interest to fight Magny up close and personal and put this fight to the ground, where Martin has superior grappling. The grittier Martin is going to be able to get close, and I think the smaller cage allows not only Martin, but Sterling as well, to have more potential for engagement.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.