Three prime bets for the fight sports activities weekend

A busy fight sports activities weekend looms as on Saturday, Gervonta Davis places his WBA light-weight title on the road in opposition to undefeated challenger Frank Martin and UFC Vegas 93 takes place with a high-profile flyweight matchup between top-15 opponents Alex Perez and Tatsuro Taira.

With a lot taking place this weekend, we broke down our three favourite bets for the weekend. All odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

Photograph by Al Bello/Getty Photos

Gervonta Davis by Resolution or Technical Resolution (+260)

Davis is an elite counter-puncher within the mould of Floyd Mayweather Jr. He’s received good imaginative and prescient and protection, and a preternatural sense of vary, permitting him to attract out punches on the finish of vary and land his energy photographs, notably his left hook. That left hook, plus a dedication to physique work early and infrequently, makes Tank a superb finisher with 27 of his 29 wins coming by the use of stoppage.

As such, this can be a huge step up for Martin. Martin is quick, technical, and defensively tight, with good footwork. He’s not an enormous quantity boxer, however he’s good at blocking incoming artillery after which ripping the physique in response. The issue is he’s not an enormous puncher, and he’s going through somebody who’s. That makes the margin for error a lot smaller.

I like Martin as a fighter, however he’s going through an uphill battle on this one. That being mentioned, I do suppose he has a very good probability to make this a struggle. Davis just isn’t a quick starter and Martin is so fast and defensively that on the very least he’s going to make Tank work for it. Add in that Tank’s been out of motion for over a 12 months, and I believe this one goes lengthy in a bout that may not be probably the most thrilling to observe.

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Tatsuro Taira To Win By KO/TKO/DQ or Submission (+100)

The UFC primary occasion this Saturday is about as much as be the arrival of Japan’s greatest MMA prospect. Taira is barely 24 years previous and has all the trimmings of a future champion. The Okinawa native is an elite athlete, deadly grappler, and growing striker with pure energy. Taira has dominated in his 5 UFC fights which is why he’s getting this shot at a top-five opponent.

Alex Perez has been a staple of the UFC’s flyweight division since 2017, even difficult for the title in 2020. Issues didn’t go effectively for Perez that night time, which has form of been the story of his profession: shedding each time he faces one of the best opposition. That is Perez’s second shot to rebuff an rising wunderkind (he misplaced to Muhammad Mokaev in March) and to show he’s nonetheless within the combine for title competition.

This must be an easy win for Taira. He’s the superior grappler and the much better athlete, and might compete on the ft, if not win outright there. The principle questions is how will he win? Traditionally, when Perez loses it’s by submission, and whereas that appears to be the most definitely end result, I’m not ruling out Taira displaying off his bettering fingers.

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Joshua Van (+170)

Initially this was going to be a guess on Ikram Aliskerov, however late on Thursday, Aliskerov was pulled from the occasion this weekend to step in on brief discover and struggle Robert Whittaker at UFC Saudi Arabia subsequent Saturday. In gentle of that, we’re pivoting to a prelim underdog.

Van takes on top-15 flyweight Tagir Ulanbekov within the featured prelim struggle of on Saturday. Solely 22 years previous, this can be a large step up for the tremendous prospect however one he’s received a sensible shot at successful. Ulanbekov is an enormous, skilled flyweight who has solely misplaced to top-shelf competitors, however he’s not probably the most dynamic fighter. Van has that in spades. Furthermore, Van has proven good takedown protection and good scrambling potential when he does get taken down, which means Ulanbekov shouldn’t completely have his manner.

If Van can proceed to point out the form of speedy enchancment he’s proven the previous few instances out, a brand new contender will emerge on Saturday.

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