Fight Coverage
UFC 276 Best Bets On DraftKings Sportsbook
Tim Finnegan Of DraftKings Breaks Down UFC 276 And Gives Bets To Consider On DraftKings Sportsbook.
UFC International Fight Week is taking place in Las Vegas this week, and the week is headlined by the 2022 UFC Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, along with a stacked UFC 276 card. The main event of UFC 276 is a middleweight title bout between champion Israel Adesanya and challenger Jared Cannonier. Adesanya, who is one of the top strikers of his era, has nearly cleaned out the division and enters this fight as a big favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook. The second title fight on the card is a trilogy fight between featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and former champion Max Holloway.
Other notable names on the UFC 276 card include rising star Sean O’Malley, top-five middleweight Sean Strickland, and elite kickboxer Alex Pereira. Pereira is best known for beating Israel Adesanya twice in kickboxing matches. If Pereira can get past Sean Strickland, he could enter the title picture and potentially fight Adesanya again, this time in the UFC.
Order UFC 276: Adesanya vs Cannonier | How To Watch In Your Country
DraftKings is hosting a big fantasy UFC 276 tournament that pays out $800,000 in total prizes, including $200,000 to first place. Enter the contest for only $25 here.
Below, we examine some of the UFC betting offerings for the event by DraftKings Sportsbook and give bets to consider.
Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier
Main Event Preview | UFC 276: Adesanya vs Cannonier
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Main Event Preview | UFC 276: Adesanya vs Cannonier
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Cannonier used to fight at heavyweight and will have a longer frame than Adesanya’s most recent opponents at middleweight. Cannonier’s 77-inch reach is the longest reach Adesanya has faced at middleweight since he fought Anderson Silva in February 2019. Adesanya has had at least a six-inch reach advantage in each of his last six fights at middleweight, and he will only have a three-inch reach advantage for this fight. Cannonier’s longer arms will give Adesanya less room to work at range.
The best path to beat Adesanya is through takedowns and top control. Jan Błachowicz executed this game plan in his win over Adesanya in March 2021, but that fight was at light heavyweight. Błachowicz enjoyed an extra 20 pounds of bulk, which helped make takedowns and top control far easier. At middleweight, Adesanya has been difficult to take down and hold down for long. Adesanya has been taken down four times in each of his last two fights, but was able to get back to his feet without giving up much on the ground.
MORE UFC 276: Fight by Fight Preview | Fully Loaded | Significant Stats | Fighters On The Rise | Five Reasons To Watch UFC 276
Cannonier does not have the elite wrestling background to keep Adesanya on his back, which strongly limits his ways to win. Cannonier has recorded only two total takedowns in 13 UFC fights, which is a paltry rate of 0.23 per 15 minutes. That should turn this into primarily a striking match, where Cannonier will be badly overmatched by Adesanya. Adesanya is one of the best strikers in the entire sport.
Cannonier has been knocked out twice in his UFC career and was dropped by strikes in his most recent fight against Derek Brunson. Without having to worry excessively about the threat of a strong takedown, Adesanya is in a good position to utilize his elite striking and win this fight by KO/TKO.
Pick: Israel Adesanya To Win By KO/TKO/DQ (+165)
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Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway
Holloway and Volkanovski are two of the toughest fighters in the UFC. Holloway and Volkanovski have only been finished a combined two times in 54 total fights, and neither fighter has been finished recently. Volkanovski’s last loss via finish came in 2013, with Holloway’s last loss via finish coming in 2012. Holloway has an iron chin and his ability to eat punches without it affecting him is remarkable.
Neither Holloway nor Volkanovski are particularly big finishers themselves, either. Holloway’s last six fights have gone to decision, and four of Volkanovski’s last five fights have gone to decision. Between the two, 10 of their last 11 combined fights have gone to decision.
Two of those fights were head-to-head matchups. Each of those fights went to decision, and this fight has the makings of another close affair that goes the distance. In 50 combined minutes between Holloway and Volkanovski, there have been zero submission attempts and zero knockdowns.
Pick: Exact Method of Victory: Decision (-200)
Sean O’Malley vs. Pedro Munhoz
Munhoz is very tough. In 27 career fights, he has never been finished—all seven of his losses are by decision. Munhoz also has alarming striking metrics. Munhoz has absorbed over six significant strikes per minute, a big number. He has a negative strikes landed to absorbed ratio, which is also a red flag.
UFC EMBEDDED: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3
O’Malley has elite striking metrics, landing over eight significant strikes per minute, a massive number. His striking differential is the best in UFC history, landing over five more strikes per minute than he has absorbed.
O’Malley is significantly longer and will have a large seven-inch reach advantage. O’Malley is in an excellent position to pick Munhoz apart from distance with his superior volume striking and win a decision.
Pick: Sean O’Malley To Win By Decision (+175)
DraftKings Fantasy UFC
Max Holloway is one of the biggest volume strikers in the history of the UFC, which gives him an extremely high fantasy ceiling on DraftKings. Holloway has landed a total of 2,848 significant strikes in his UFC career, which is easily the most in the history of the UFC—nobody else is within 1,000 significant strikes of Holloway. Holloway’s striking stats are also elite on a time-adjusted basis, landing about 7.4 significant strikes per minute, eighth-best in UFC history.
Max Holloway | Crowning Moment
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Max Holloway | Crowning Moment
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Holloway’s striking volume has led to explosive fantasy production in each of his last two fights, scoring an obscene 209 DraftKings fantasy points (DKFP) two fights ago and 153 DKFP in his most recent fight.
Holloway has not been able to launch heavy volume in either of his previous two fights against Alexander Volkanovski, but the possibility for heavy striking volume still exists, especially since this fight has the makings of another five-round battle. The fight going the full 25 minutes gives Holloway extra time to land striking volume and score fantasy points.
MORE: Adesanya: 'I Want To Do Something Spectular' | Holloway Expects The 'Performance Of A Lifetime' | Uriah Hall Is Far From Being Done | Cannonier Wants To Be One With Everything
Holloway is the underdog in this fight on DraftKings Sportsbook, but he isn’t that big of an underdog (+155), and he has a realistic chance to win. At $7,200, Holloway is the fifth-cheapest fighter on the slate and is worth plugging in as a value play with big upside.
The main DraftKings fantasy UFC tournament has a massive prize pool of $800,000 this week, with the winner getting $200,000. Enter the contest for only $25 here.
UFC 276: Adesanya vs Cannonier took place on Saturday, July 2, 2022 live T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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