UFC Vegas 72: Three Best Moneyline Bets

UFC VEGAS 72: THREE BEST MONEYLINE BETS – The UFC continues its stint in Las Vegas with UFC Vegas 72: Song vs. Simon. The bantamweight main event bout promises to be exciting, so don’t miss out on my full analysis and picks of Song vs. Simon here. 

With the main event matchup thoroughly analyzed, let’s take a gander at three moneyline wagers that offer terrific values for UFC Vegas: 72.

Hailey Cowan (7-2) vs Jamey-Lyn Horth (5-0)

Cowan

Third time is hopefully the charm for Cowan who has been scratched from two fights over the last two months.

At first it was her fault due to an illness and the second time it was her opponent’s illness. Now the UFC has brought in a newcomer to hopefully ensure Cowan gets to step foot in the Octagon for the first time.

Cowan is a physically imposing opponent with an athletic gymnastics background. Although she has shown solid footwork and distance striking in the past, she looks to utilize her strength to ground opponents and outwork them from on top.

It has gotten her into trouble in the past, but she is looking to fix those aspects of her game. It was a puzzling signing from Dana White to bring her on after an abysmal performance on the Contender Series; however, according to White “there’s something about her,”

Horth

Coming in with a flawless 5-0 record as well as the most recent LFA flyweight champion, Horth makes good on her dreams of making it to the big stage at thirty-three-years-old.

Her combination of aggressiveness and an undefeated record made her hard to pass up, especially considering the circumstances surrounding Cowan.

Horth has very solid kickboxing, which seems to be her base, but an improving ground game where she’s been able to ground opponents and put them away. She has finished all five of her professional wins. She also holds two amateur victories of current UFC fighter, Lupita Godinez. She looks to be a solid addition to the UFC roster, especially considering she brings the finishes.

The Pick

Cowan seems a little too stuck in her physical skill set to improve on her technical skills. I think that could end up being her downfall in this fight.

I expect this fight to be close early, but, as Horth chips away at Cowan and Cowan tries to establish positional dominance, we’ll see Cowan fade.

That will end up with her making a mistake that Horth should be able to capitalize on and pull off the victory. I expect a dominant entry into the UFC from Horth to put the flyweight division on notice, even though this fight is taking place up at bantamweight.

The Pick: Horth -155

Martin Buday (11-1) vs Jake Collier (13-8)

Buday

After a lackluster performance last time out, Buday looks to remind people why he was heavily touted coming off the Contender Series.

He usually goes in there to dominate his opponents in the clinch, wear them down, then finish them late. He is very tough to deal with in the clinch positions given the pressure and output he provides in the form of dirty boxing.

However, it’s his cardio at this size that is a huge advantage in the heavyweight division. With a seemingly endless motor, Buday can drag his opponents in the deep water and drown them.

His durability seems to be on point as well, but it’s his ability to walk his opponents down and never giving them a moment to breath which allows him to pull off his wins.

Collier

I was relatively high on Collier compared to most after her tumultuous heavyweight debut. He managed to pull off a victory in his next bout against Gian Villante that seemed to win some of the betting public back for him.

Unfortunately, since that win, he is now 1-3 and possibly facing a pink slip fight. He has shown he can still throw combinations and strikes like when he used to fight at middleweight.

Grappling has been his approach over his last couple of fights even though they haven’t found him much success. However, he still has the skill set to compete against the lower half of this division, but he really needs a win this weekend.

The Pick

I’m a big fan of both guys, but I think Buday’s style will end up being too much for Collier. Collier has shown bad body language late in fights and that may have ended up being the reason he didn’t get the nod in a couple recent decision losses.

Buday will sniff that out immediately and use it to his advantage. I think so much so to the point that Buday can put together a flurry to put Collier away late. This could be close early, but I expect Buday to pull away in the second round and not make it look close.

The Pick: Martin Buday -110

Waldo Cortes-Acosta (9-0) vs Mracors Rogerio de Lima (20-8-1)

Cortes-Acosta

The former LFA heavyweight champion, Cortes-Acosta, looks to continue his undefeated run in professional MMA by adding a veteran to his win column.

Cortes-Acosta is a former pitcher for the MLB who had a cup of coffee with the Cincinnati Reds. After going through a career-ending elbow surgery, he picked up the gloves and started competing in boxing and MMA.

MMA now has his full attention, especially considering the amount of success he has found in it. He moves well for a heavyweight, but it’s also his consistent output and volume that allows him to get ahead of his opponents.

His grappling defense can still use a bit of work, but if he can learn to keep fights in the striking realm, his cardo, output, and movement will be very difficult for heavyweights to deal with.

de Lima

The 37-year-old, de Lima, has really started putting together complete performances as of late, even when he ends up coming up short.

Many believed he was a round one or bust kind of fighter. However, he has learned to use his skill efficiently to get his hand raised. If he knows he can starch you early and get a quick knockout, that’s what he does. If he believers he has a significant grappling advantage, he utilizes that slow grind to win decisions.

With this newfound fight IQ and his ability to implement game plans, de Lima is carving out a solid spot for himself amongst the top 15 of the heavyweight division.

The Pick

People may be wowed by Cortes-Acosta’s past couple of performances because he is significantly out-landing his opponents and dancing circles around them. However, if we go back to his title-winning effort for the LFA, which was a year ago, we see him struggling with the stronger wrestler in Petersen.

Cortes-Acosta benefitted from having a much better gas tank than Petersen and was able to get the third-round finish that night. I suspect de Lima will have better top control than Petersen, which will allow him to land takedowns and control his opponent for longer periods of time.

It will be scary when this fight gets late as de Lima will be at a cardio disadvantage, but I don’t think so much so that Cortes-Acosta can replicate his performance against Petersen to put de Lima away.

The Pick: de Lima -180