UFC 290 Best Bets

UFC 290 is set for Saturday, July 8 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Check out the best bets and picks for the event from Splash Sports Blog's Jacob Schwartz. Also be sure to check out our UFC Betting Trends for every fight, along with UFC 290 Betting Odds and Results.

Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez Best Bets

Both Volkanovski and Yair are talented, balanced fighters. They demonstrate high level of striking in every fight, while also demonstrating their fantastic ground game. It seems that every time that they fight they continue to make improvements as well.

This fight comes down to the experience that Volk has, and beats Yair by unanimous decision.The scorecards should read 49-46 in Volks decision. Even after Yair’s incredible performance against Josh Emmett, his striking and IQ isn't quite on the Volks level.

The main thing to look at is how tailored Volk's camps are, and how that allows him to beat his opponents in their own game. Volk beat Max Holloway in strikes - who is one of the greatest strikers ever and who beat Yair with ease. Overall, the fact that Volk continues to level up each fight leads me to believe he will win this fight.

Best Bet: Volkanovski via Decision +140

Brandon Moreno vs. Alexander Pantoja Best Bets

The flyweight division is a division that is hard to understand and judge from a far. It’s one of those divisions where very few people know all of the fighters, mainly because they don’t have multiple stars like other divisions.

Brandon Moreno is the biggest star in the division, but it feels like he has not fought anyone other than former champ Deiveson Figueiredo for the past three years. This has truly stalled the division and made it hard for people to know all of the names in the division. With all of that said, Moreno is just going to be too much for Pantoja.

Moreno is younger, taller, and weighs more than Pantoja. He has also been tested many times and always comes out on top. His superb ground game will be able to stuff the BJJ of Pantoja and he also has five round experience of which Pantoja doesn't.

Pantoja is tough and will be hard to KO or submit, but I still see Moreno winning as he is better in everything he does. Give me Moreno by Decision.

Best Bet: Moreno via Decision +150

Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus Du Plessis Best Bets

Whittaker and Du Plessis are very similar in style. They fight in a balanced style and aren't great in any one area, but good in all areas. This fight is Whittaker's last hope to get another shot against the champion. So you can bet he has put everything into this fight.

On the other hand, Du Plessis and Izzy have their share of beef, so you can bet he is training extra hard trying to get his hands on gold. It is important that both of these fighters focus on this fight, even though they know what a win in this fight will lead to for them. It's easy to look ahead.

Expect this fight to go the distance. Neither of them has any sort of crazy power nor an amazing ground game, but they'e both durable (even though Du Plessis
might not look like it). I have the more experienced fighter Robert winning this fight.

Best Bet: Whittaker via Decision +215

Jalin Turner vs. Dan Hooker Best Bets

This pick might raise a few eyebrows given how people view Hooker in MMA these days. “Dan is not the same as he used to be”, is the common statement. He lost to
Dustin Poirier, Islam Makhachev, and Michael Chandler. He then moved down to weight classes and lost to Arnold Allen. You can say all you want about losses, but he lost to killers.

His experience against these champions and title challengers is going to give him an upper hand against Turner. Turner is a good fighter and is extremely long and has good striking. He hasn't been tested in the same way that Hooker has however. He doesn’t have the ranked opponent wins like Hooker does nor the cage time. I see this fight being a striking war, but ends up going to a decision.

Best Bet: Dan Hooker ML (+240)

Bo Nickal vs. Val Woodburn Best Bets

Not much explaining to do for this one.  Nickal is a rising star who has all of the skills in the world. Woodburn just got matched against the rising star on one week's notice. Val isn't 100% going to lose, but there is a very good chance this fight ends in the first round.

Nickal is that good, and being placed in on one week notice and winning is very hard to do. Take Nickal here and if you are feeling confident, there is a good chance he will win this fight in the first round.

Best Bet: Fight to End in 1st 60 Second of Round 1 (+275)