UFC Betting Sites – The Best MMA Online Bookies

Professional Fighters League (PFL) just got a bit more talent for its women’s Flyweight division after signing up-and-coming prospect, Melissa Balic, to a multi-fight, multi-year contract to fight inside the Smart Cage.

Balic will be making her promotional debut — as well as pro — as early as this summer, telling MMA Junkie that she hopes to participate at the UFC Uncasville event on June 13, 2024, which recently announced its lineup (see it here).

“It kind of made sense to me because I knew something really good was coming,” Balic said about the signing. “I could feel it. … With PFL now, I’m very excited to make my debut. From there, let’s just see where the path takes me. I’m interested.”

Balic is 3-1 as an amateur and has kickboxing experience, as well, training out of Tiger Schulmann’s Mixed Martial Arts in New York. She was previously fighting under the Flex Fight Series promotion as an amateur, where she won the 125-pound title.

Now, Balic will look to make an immediate impact on the division that got a bit deeper over the past few months with the acquisition of Bellator MMA, bringing over the likes of Liz Carmouche, Juliana Velasquez and Kana Watanabe, just to name a few.

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For all the latest PFL news and notes click here.

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

The upcoming UFC St. Louis fight card just received a major boost.

Ranked Welterweight contender Joaquin Buckley hails from “Mound City,” and he’s been telling anyone who will listen that he wants a part of the UFC St. Louis card, which is scheduled for Sat. May 11, 2024. Specifically, he was requesting a main event opportunity, but instead UFC CEO Dana White announced he’ll get a co-main slot against Nursulton Ruziboev.

It’s a bit of a funny match up, one that’s only happening because Buckley crashed the UFC 300 press conference just a couple weeks ago to demand his St. Louis opportunity. The monkey paw curled!

On one hand, Buckley gets to fight in his hometown like he wanted. At the same time, Buckley is riding a solid win streak and coming off the best win of his career over Vicente Luque (watch here), and his reward is a dangerous, relatively unknown finisher who stands NINE inches taller than him! Buckley dropped down to Welterweight because the height and reach advantages of his opposition were too severe … and now he’s going to fight a 6’5” longtime Middleweight riding a 10-fight finish streak.

Is it a little bit of revenge from the UFC CEO? Really, that depends on the outcome. If Buckley is victorious, he continues his march up the ladder, adds to the highlight reel, and earns an extra paycheck in front of his fans. If he loses, his Welterweight momentum goes up in smoke.

As for Ruziboev, he’s 2-0 in the Octagon thus far, scoring two quick knockout wins. He’s earned a step up in competition, but it’s interesting that he’ll drop to Welterweight for the opportunity. He hasn’t fought at 170-pounds since January 2021 and seems big for Middleweight, so weigh-in day will be interesting as well.

Who ya’ got?!?

Insomnia

How many injuries can one take before calling it a career? Dominick Cruz is a gamer but is the juice worth the squeeze at this point?

Khabib Nurmagomedov is a proven team player if nothing else.

An MMA fight feels like a wedding or a funeral depending entirely on the outcome.

Anthony Smith, loser of three of his last four, thinks champion Alex Pereira wants to fight him for some reason.

Arman Tsarukyan deserves a full camp for his well-earned title shot.

The Max Holloway effect is going global.

My biggest takeaway from all my wrestling training: never stop moving.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

I wrongly assumed based on his crouched stance that the man in blue trunks was about to eat the knee …

Shot the choke arm deep and committed to the gator roll very quickly!

Establish the low kick then go high — as classic as classic gets.

Random Land

I laughed out loud.

Midnight Music: Rock, 1982

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

Get a detailed breakdown of the betting lines for UFC Vegas 91, which is set to hit UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, this weekend (Sat., April 27, 2024), including best bets, underdogs, favorites and much more!

After the UFC’s biggest blockbuster of 2024, the promotion returns to its usual haunt inside the UFC Apex this weekend (Sat., April 27, 2024) when Matheus Nicolau vs. Alex Perez headlines UFC Vegas 91 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is a decidedly less-than-stellar fight card, and our typical UFC betting advisor Patrick Stumberg is moving forward to greener pastures. I’ll be filling in, aiming to help readers pull a profit out of this dumpster fire of a fight card.

Let’s dig in …

What Went Wrong at UFC 300?

Jalin Turner

Turner started off his bout versus Renato Moicano as most expected, shucking off takedowns and stunning the Brazilian badly in the first. Then, he tried to score a walk-off knockout, the finish didn’t materialize, and Moicano rallied in the second with his grappling prowess. Maybe the bet hits if “The Tarantula” follows Moicano to the floor throwing bombs?

What Went Right?

Stumberg walked away with a major win at UFC 300! Seven of his eight bets came to fruition.

• Jessica Andrade edged out Marina Rodriguez en route to a close decision win.
• Diego Lopes overwhelmed Sodiq Yusuff almost immediately for an early finish.
• Bobby Green beat up Jim Miller, and the over 2.5 rounds prop bet hit.
• Jiri Prochazka rallied in the second to stop Aleksandar Rakic, and Zhang Weili dominated Xiaonan Yan for a successful parlay.
• Kayla Harrison’s submission win over Holly Holm together with Alex Pereira’s successful title defense equaled another successful parlay.
• Aljamain Sterling dominated Calvin Kattar but he didn’t finish, so that’s another over 2.5 rounds prop bet success story.
• Finally, Aljamain Sterling plus Zhang Weili was a winning combination.

UFC Vegas 91 Odds For The Under Card:

Rani Yahya (+330) vs. Victor Henry (-520)

Austin Hubbard (+140) vs. Michal Figlak (-185)

Don’Tale Mayes (-105) vs. Caio Machado (-115)

Marnic Mann (+250) vs. Ketlen Souza (-360)

Ivana Petrovic (-520) vs. Liang Na (+330)

Gabriel Benítez (-190) vs. Maheshate Hayisaer (+155)

Oh boy, this undercard is fairly grim. I like to bet on fighters I consider to be known quantities, which is much more difficult when we’re talking about newbies with 1.5 UFC fights between them.

Three huge favorites and three more reasonable gaps in odds. Alas, I have no massive upset prediction for you: Na has only historically beaten mediocre opposition and stands 0-3 inside the Octagon, Mann is in a similar situation but has only lost one UFC fight, and the great Rani Yahya is simply too old (age 39) to beat good fighters like Victor Henry.

I do like the odds on Henry vs. Yahya going long, however. Yahya is historically durable, whereas Henry is more of a volume fighter than knockout artist. Over 2.5 at -150 sounds good to me!

I also like a couple of the smaller underdogs here. Firstly, Austin Hubbard is a solid fighter even if his UFC record isn’t the best. He has more UFC experience than Figlak, and his historic problem is getting overwhelmed by superior athletes. Figlak hasn’t proven himself to be a big hitter or dominant wrestler, meaning Hubbard should be able to show off his technical kickboxing edge.

In addition, a small flyer on Hayisaer seems reasonable. He doesn’t have any notable technical advantages, but he’s a decade younger and is facing a smaller opponent. Plus, Benitez’s recent performances have been flat.

UFC Vegas 91 Odds For The Main Card:

Matheus Nicolau (-205) vs. Alex Perez (+150)

Ryan Spann (-210) vs. Bogdan Guskov (+155)

Ariane Lipski (+125) vs. Karine Silva (-155)

Austen Lane (+190) vs. Jhonata Diniz (-265)

Jonathan Pearce (-170) vs. David Onama (+135)

Tim Means (+235) vs. Uros Medic (-340)

It still ain’t much, but the top half of the card is a lot more interesting!

From the top down: Nicolau deserves to be a huge favorite here, and he’s a relatively minor one. The Brazilian is one of the absolute best Flyweights in the world, a well-rounded and skilled counter puncher with great ground skills. Perez, conversely, hasn’t won a fight since 2020 and seems to have lost much of the aggression that once made him a contender.

I wouldn’t advise touching Spann vs. Guskov with a ten-foot pole. Too much power!

Pearce vs. Onama is a good one. Pearce showed that he could handle a really physical and dangerous athlete in his last fight, avoiding the biggest shots of Joanderson Brito in a quality performance … until he slipped up into a guillotine choke. Onama doesn’t have the jiu-jitsu prowess of “Tubarao,” so he’s more likely to end up stuck on bottom for good.

Finally, the veteran Tim Means feels worth a flyer. He’s struggled a bit lately, but “The Dirty Bird” hasn’t been fighting poorly. There are still good performances left in his career! Uros Medic is a quality kickboxer, but he thoroughly broke beneath aggression and pressure of Myktybek Orolbai. Means may not be a grinder in the exact mold of Orolbai, but he knows how to make a fight ugly and take over as his opponents fatigue.

UFC Vegas 91 Best Bets:

• Rani Yahya vs. Victor Henry over 2.5 rounds -150
• Austin Hubbard +140
• Maheshate Hayisaer (+155)
• Matheus Nicolau (-205) and Jonathan Pearce (-170) parlay
• Tim Means (+235)

It’s not UFC 300, but there will surely be some fun fights! Until Saturday, Maniacs.

A day after losing his opponent, Derek Anderson, to a horrible traffic accident the left his leg mangled (see it here if you dare), Cedric Doumbe has a new dance partner for his Bellator debut on May 17, 2024 in Paris, France. The up-and-coming contender will face Jaleel Willis in the co-main event of Bellator, Paris.

Willis hasn’t seen action seen losing to Ramazan Kuramagomedov via first-round knockout in June 2023. He is 3-3 overall inside the Bellator cage, and will look to score a huge upset over the Professional Fighters League (PFL) contender, who is coming off a bizarre loss to Baissangour Chamsoudinov at PFL Europe 1.

Doumbe (31) recently put pen to paper on a new multi-fight, multi-year deal with PFL, which will see him be able to participate for both promotions moving forward. Prior to his loss to Chamsoudinov, Doumbe knocked out Jordan Zebo in just nine seconds at PFL Paris in Sept. 2023 (see it again here).

Bellator Paris has already undergone several changes, losing it headlining bout which was supposed to feature Lightweight champion, Usman Nurmagoemdov, taking on Alexander Shabily. Now, the headlining duties will go to Patchy Mix as he defends his Bantamweight title against Magomed Magomedov.

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For the latest Bellator MMA news and notes click here.