The UFC 276 brings two title fights, one in the middleweight division and the other in the featherweight. Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier is the night’s main event, while the co-main event is the third clash between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway.
Both events are more than interesting and promise good fun. In general, the main card is explosive, but we will only bring a preview for the two most important events.
Stay tuned with BetXchange and see our preview with picks and odds.
Preview
Adesanya VS Cannonier
Izzy is the most dominant middleweight since Anderson Silva, and on top of that, he is very attractive inside the octagon, bringing show and excitement. So far, he has lost only one bout in his career, which was against Jan Blachowicz, for the lightweight title, and so far is undefeated in the middleweight.
Adesanya has won over Marvin Vettori and Robert Whittaker in the most recent two fights, both via unanimous decision. He was already better than these two guys in the past, against Vettori via split decision and vs. Whittaker via KO, once he took the title.
On the other side, we have Jared Cannonier, who started his adventure as a heavyweight, then dropped to the light heavyweight division, before flourishing in the middleweight, where he has only one loss, which was against Whittaker. Shortly after that one, he bounced back, beating Kelvin Gastelum and Derek Brunson.
Cannonier is a one-punch-KO guy whose main weapon in the octagon is vicious power in his hands, mixed with explosiveness. He is massive and far bigger than the majority of the rivals in the division, which presents a huge advantage for the 38-year-old.
But despite that, Adesanya is a big favorite here. He is quicker than Cannonier, knows how to control the distance with his length, and also has enormous punching power when he gets a shot at the rival. We aren’t underestimating the challenger, but he is at a far lower level than his rival. Adesanya will win here without any problems.
Pick: Adesanya Wins 0.22 at BetXchange
Volkanovski VS Holloway
These two guys put up a memorable show in the second battle, but the judges ruined all that. Why? Well, a split decision win for Volk was, at least say, controversial. It appears that only the scoring judges saw his win. But that is archived now, and they both have had two fights each since.
Volkanovski was better than Brian Ortega via unanimous decision, and he KOd Chang Sung Jung, beating the hell out of the Korean Zombie. On the other side, Max was better than Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez in two very enjoyable fights, which earned the Fight of the Night Bonuses. Both wins were via unanimous decision.
Volk is a reactive fighter who likes to counter and keeps the distance with his jab and leg kicks. Max is the most gifted boxer in the division and one of the most entertaining fighters in the UFC. He showed in the second fight that there he knows how to stop Volk and creates an edge, but still, the champ for sure made certain adjustments.
Our pick here would be to bet on Max to regain the belt. Volk showed some signs of struggle against Ortega, and was on the verge of a stoppage loss but got through that. Max prepared well in the last two fights, choosing both Yair and Kattar specifically to prepare for Volkanovski.
