UFC 330 predictions: Full fight card picks, best bets Saturday
Live from Philadelphia, it’s an excellent fight card for UFC 330.Two title fights should be plenty interesting to top the marquee Saturday with a 12-fight card to dive into.As the UFC books fights with finishes in mind, we’re again projecting the majority of fights to end inside the distance.Nine of the 12 fights are expected to end by KO/TKO or submission, although the main event and co-main event are two of the fights expected to go the distance.The entire card begins at 5 p.m.
ET on Paramount+, followed by the main card at 9 p.m.ET.Machado Garry is a talented fighter and should have a size advantage when he steps into the octagon with Makhachev, a former lightweight champion.While the Irishman is undoubtedly talented, he’s a bit of an enigma as well.
He constantly prefers to play things safe rather than take chances and go for it.Against Shavkat Rakhmonov, we watched Machado Garry drop the first two rounds, win the third, and then bizarrely accept bottom position for the entire fourth round.That lack of fight awareness is very troubling, though I think the talent is undeniably there.Machado Garry is a strong counter puncher with good takedown defense and will not be a fish out of water when he is inevitably taken down by Makhachev,As a big +290 underdog, you could do worse than wager on Machado Garry because you know the skills are there and, in theory, he will be the bigger man.Machado Garry does this strange body triangle from the bottom position when he gets taken down, which stops his opponents’ movements but also forces him to lose minutes and rounds.If he does this against Makhachev, he will probably lose by decision, though the rest of his skills are good enough to win.I do not expect Machado Garry to be submitted by Makhachev under any circumstances, but could see his usual lack of urgency to do anything of significance as a major factor in him losing minutes at a high clip.
Still, the odds are too far off for me.I could end up looking stupid h...