UFC Shanghai predictions: Full picks, best bets for the entire card

Bad week at the office last week, but there’s no crying in cage-fighting.We move on to UFC Shanghai with 13 fights expected on a fun card, but it boasts a terrible start time.The Chinese card begins at 3 a.m.

ET on Paramount+, so you’re going to need to be a night owl in order to catch the beginning of this card live.The main card is slated to begin at 6 a.m.ET, and of the 13 fights on the card, nine are projected to end early — although the co-main and main event are expected to go the distance.Song Yadong is at home here in China against Umar Nurmagomedov, who has been talking quite a bit about fighting Merab Dvalishvili again.

Nurmagomedov should really be focusing on the fighter in front of him, as Yadong is no slouch either.Nurmagomedov has the best pedigree in the UFC, a true blue-chip-level fighter with an elite camp and coaching behind him.The Russian comes in as high as -600 odds, but that’s a really high number that I don’t think he will be able to cover and be that dominant in the process.Yadong beat the breaks off Deiveson Figueiredo last time out in May and, oddly enough, Nurmagomedov could not finish Figueiredo, winning by unanimous decision.Nurmagomedov will probably be able to grapple his way to victory for five rounds if he really wants to, but that assumes that he doesn’t get rocked before that.Yadong has never been submitted and his only TKO loss was a doctor’s stoppage due to cuts on his face.He’s tough as nails and worth a wager at this long price, as Nurmagomedov, as good a prospect as he is, has not shown the killer instincts to get finishes – and I don’t think he will be able to dominate in the grappling as this line projects.Yadong +5.5 on the scorecards is the play, meaning if he doesn’t get finished, wins, or loses better than 49-46 on the scorecards, your bet cashes.THE PLAY: Yadong +5.5 (+125, DraftKings) | Small bet on Yadong by decision (8.3 percent, Kalshi) Yan Xiaonan comes into this fight as a pretty big favo...