UFC 269 Odds: Charles Oliveira to break down Dustin Poirier

The UFC once again blesses our screens this weekend and what a card they have in store for us. The last pay-per-view event of the year will be headlined by Charles Oliveira vs Dustin Poirier, a fight on its own worth paying for, but that action doesn’t stop there. Amanda Nunes vs Julianna Pena, Geoff Neal vs Santiago Ponzinibbio, Kai Kara-France vs Cody Garbrandt, and finally, Raulian Paiva vs Sean O’Malley. And that’s just the main card!

I’ll touch on every fight in detail but for now, let’s go with my three best bets for UFC 269.

‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley is one of the most hyped prospects in the UFC at the moment, and with good reason, he’s been knocking people out left, right, and center. O’Malley currently boasts a record of 14-1-0 in mixed martial arts, the one loss he suffered coming due to a leg injury he sustained in his fight against Vera, which resulted in a TKO finish. Four of Sugar’s last four wins have all come by way of knockout and he’s established himself as one of the hardest hitters in the UFC since he’s come into the organisation.

Considering the American is a 1/3 favourite coming into the fight, I’m surprised to see him as an 11/10 shot to get the job done via a stoppage. Of his 14 wins 10 of them have come by knockout and as we saw in his last fight, Sean desperately wants the highlight reel knockouts in his resume. I still think at this point that O’Malley is underrated and although he’s still got a lot to prove, I think he deals with Paiva fairly quickly and in an emphatic manner.

Here it is, the big one.

Charles Oliveira is currently on a rampage in the UFC winning nine of his last nine fights and only going the distance once in that time and the only reason he went the distance is that Tony Ferguson would rather break his arm than tap out against anyone.

On the other hand, Dustin Poirier is also proving himself as one of the best fighters to ever enter the UFC. It’s hard to look at his recent fights as he’s just faced Conor McGregor twice and The Notorious does not look like the man we’re used to seeing in the UFC. Don’t get me wrong, Dustin has been an incredible fighter over the years and is arguably at the best he’s ever been, but I think Charles Oliveira is something special at the moment.

I’m going for Do Bronx to get a stoppage against Poirier here as I think it’s easily the best value bet of the fight. Charles has won 31 fights in his career and only three of those are decision wins. This man is a finisher, there’s no doubt about it. 19 of his wins have come via submission and I was thinking of backing him to win this way at 7/2, but in his last fight against Chandler, when they were stood up, Charles landed a clean left and put Chandler’s lights out. The Brazilian also has three KO/TKO finishes in his last five fights and whilst it’s not what he’s known for, he must be doing something right to get these finishes. 

I do still think that the submission is definitely on for Oliveira, but to be safe, I’m going for the double chance stoppage bet at 9/5 to make sure all angles are covered.

This fight is going to be nuts. Ryan Hall, although he may be fairly inactive, is one of the best submissions specialists in the MMA world, and Darrick Minner has 26 wins in his career, 22 of them being via submission, need I say anymore?

It’s tough to call a winner in the fight hence why I’ve just gone with the method of victory, I think this could go either way. Last time Ryan Hall was fighting we saw him get overwhelmed by the pure power of Topuria who carried on his unbeaten streak. Ryan was eventually TKOd via punches in the first round. In a similar fashion, Darrick Minner was also TKOd via punches in his last fight against Darren Elkins.
A wise man once said, “Jiu-jitsu is way easier when nobody punches you in the face” and in this fight, I’m fairly sure no one will be getting punched in the face. This will allow much more room for wrestling/grappling and both fighters will be able to show off their high-class Jiu-jitsu skills, which you’d think would end up in one of the fighters eventually locking in a submission.

You can combine the three bets above and go directly to the betslip with the link above. It pays a little under 11/1.

Other fights on the card

I'll just touch briefly on a few of the other fights on the card as there are a fair few, but I think I can give you a decent punt for each fight. 

Kara-France vs Garbrandt - two high-level boxers in the UFC, Cody famous for being a big hitter and I think he could secure a decent KO victory here at 15/8

Cruz vs Munhoz - Dom Cruz may not be the high level champ that we’re used to seeing but his ability and footwork is still as crispy as ever. Munhoz has been on a bit of a bad streak recently and i think Cruz could get the decision win here at 13/8

Ige vs Emmett - Josh Emmett is an absolute machine. This dude hits so hard for his size and in my opinion is the rightful favourite for this fight. He’s a solid price for a KO win at 11/4

Nunes vs Pena - Amanda Nunes has clearly already established herself as the GOAT of women’s mma and there’s no doubting that at this point. She hits harder than most of the men in the 170lb division and I expect a fast finish here. The first round KO is 11/8

This is going to be a banger of a card so enjoy and best of luck with the bets!