UFC Fight Night 176: Overeem vs. Sakai Betting Preview

Augusto Sakai will face his toughest test yet in the UFC when he takes on Alistair Overeem in the main event of UFC Fight Night 176 (UFC Vegas 9). Sakai has won four straight fights with the promotion since joining from Belator, while Overeem is one of the most seasoned heavyweights in the division. Overeem recently beat another up-and-comer in Walt Harris in Jacksonville back in May, so he is seen as a decent favorite per the MMA betting odds at BetOnline.

UFC Fight Night 176 will be broadcast in its entirety on ESPN Plus. It will be held at the UFC APEX center in Las Vegas, Nevada with the preliminary card starting at 5 p.m. ET, and the main card kicking off at 8 p.m. ET.

UFC Fight Night 176: Overeem vs. Sakai Betting Odds

Alistair Overeem -155

Augusto Sakai +135

Coming into this bout, Overeem is ranked three spots ahead of Sakai in the UFC heavyweight rankings. The former hasn’t fought for the title since September 2016, but he has essentially been the division’s gatekeeper since beating Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 in December 2011. This will be Overeem’s 66^th professional fight, and his 19^th with the UFC. He is 11-7 with the promotion, and all but three of his fights have been decided by knockout.

Sakai is 15-1-1 as a professional fighter with 11 of his victories coming by knockout. He looked good in knockout wins over Chase Sherman and Marcin Tybura since joining the UFC, but he had to settle for close split decision victories over Andrei Arlovski and Blagoy Ivanov.

Neither one of these fighters is a submission specialist, so expect a lot of stand-up fighting. Overeem is the better option given his experience.

Alonzo Menifield -129

Ovince Saint Preux +109

Former CFL standout Alonzo Menifield bulldozed his first nine opponents after becoming an MMA fighter. No one was able to last longer than six minutes in the ring with Menifield until he suffered his first defeat at UFC 250. Veteran Devin Clark survived the first round, and then used his honed skills to get the better of Menifield, winning by unanimous decision.

Ovince Saint Preux is one of the most unique fighters in the UFC. He isn’t a great fighter with a career record of 24-14, but his unorthodox style makes him a difficult opponent. After losing three of his last four bouts, Saint Preux is an underdog coming into this fight, but he is smart enough to avoid Menifield’s power for the first round and then beat him on the mat in the second and third rounds. That makes Saint Preux a great play as an underdog per the MMA betting odds.

Michel Pereira -115

Zelim Imadaev -105

After losing his last two fights, Michel Pereira is only a slight favorite coming into his bout with Zelim Imadaev. Both these fighters have been unimpressive since joining the UFC though with Pereira posting a 1-2 record and Imadaev losing his first two fights with the promotion after joining from FNG. Pereira does have something of a ground game though, so he is the play at this price.

Brian Kelleher -210

Kevin Natividad +180

Kevin Natividad is making his UFC debut this weekend. Natividad racked up a 9-1 record as a professional before joining the promotion, and his one loss was a ‘blink, and you’ll miss it’ nine-second knockout. Kelleher is much more experienced, as this will be his 10^th fight in the UFC. He has a 5-4 record, but he did earn Fight of the Night or Performance of the Night in three of his victories. It’s a decent amount of juice, but experience is already the better call in these fights.

Thiago Moises -152

Jalin Turner +132

We have seen Thiago Moises alternate wins and losses since joining the UFC two years ago. He made a name for himself at Dana White’s Contender Series in Brazil, and he earned a submission victory over Michael Johnson back in May. Jalin Turner has alternated wins and losses too, and his last fight was a victory, so something has to give in this match. Turner is more likely to go for the knockout, while Moises is content to stay on the ground and let this go to the cards, so live betting might be the play in this one.

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