UFC 276: Adesanya vs. Cannonier Takes Place In Vegas On July 02
July is international fight week, and the UFC is starting the month off with a phenomenal paper view card. UFC 276 will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, on July 02 and will two title fights will serve as the Main Event and Co-Main Event. Apart from the title fights, several big names will feature in the early prelims and prelims.
Our MMA experts look at the two title fights and a couple of exciting fights that MMA fans should not miss. If you are looking at betting on UFC 276, keep reading to see the betting odds and what our experts predict.
Adesanya vs. Cannonier – Main Event
Middleweight champ Israel Adesanya returns to the Octagon to defend his belt against Jared Cannonier. Adesanya has been very impressive at middleweight and goes into this fight as the betting favorite with odds of 1.29, while Cannonier is the underdog with odds of 3.75.
Adesanya is the better striker in this fight, but Cannonier has shown that he has a great chin and packs a lot of power behind his strikes. If it remains a striking content for all 5 rounds, we expect Adesanya to beat Cannonier by decision.
Cannonier will need to mix up his game plan and see if he can throw in a couple of takedowns and test Adesanya’s defence. The last style bender showed in his last title defence against Robert Whittaker that he has significantly improved his defence and ground game.
If you put the skills of both fighters on paper, we will give the fight to Adesanya. Cannonier can only win this one if his team comes up with a strategy to exploit Adesanya’s defence and defeat him on the ground. We believe that’s going to be really difficult and will put our money on Adesanya to win.
Volkanovski vs. Holloway 3 – co-Main Event
The trilogy between UFC featherweight champ Alex Volkanovski and former champ Max Holloway will most likely steal the spotlight from the Main Event. Volkanovski has won the first two fights, but many UFC fans believe that the judges should have given Holloway the decision to win.
Volkanovski has run through the competition at featherweight except for Holloway, who many believe is still the unofficial lightweight champ. The bookmakers don’t feel that way, though, as they have Volkanovski as the favorite with odds of 1.53 while the Blessed Express is the underdog with odds of 2.63.
Volkanovski used leg kicks and his takedowns in the last two fights to outpoint Holloway and will once again rely on both these weapons to make it 3-0 and silence his doubters once and for all. Holloway knows that he cannot leave it to the judges once again and will need to either finish the fight or put in a dominant performance that lets him reclaim his light-heavyweight belt.
It’s hard to predict how this fight is going to turn out in the end, but one thing we can tell you is that this will be a banger! Volkanovski has been more active recently than Holloway, who is recovering from an injury. We will back Volkanovski to win this fight and remain UFC featherweight champ.
Pedro Munhoz vs. Sean O’Malley
The Suga Show returns to Vegas as he takes on his biggest test in the Octagon in Brazilian Pedro Munhoz. O’Malley is a fantastic striker who is equally dangerous with his punches as he is with his kicks. He is going to find it tough going as Munhoz has shown that he can take a hard shot and keep coming at you.
A question mark remains over O’Malley’s ground game, and Pedro Munhoz will ask those questions on July 2. If O’Malley can stop the takedowns or quickly get back to his feet, the fight will definitely swing in his favour. If he cannot, Munhoz will likely end up with a submission victory. The bookmakers have O’Malley as the favorite with odds of 1.3, while Munhoz is the underdog with odds of 3. We are going to put our money on Munhoz to win this one!
Miesha Tate vs. Lauren Murphy
Former bantamweight champ Miesha Tate will take on the veteran Lauren Murphy at flyweight. Tate goes in as the betting favorite with odds of 1.59, while Murphy is an underdog with odds of 2.4. If this fight plays out on the feet, it will most likely be pretty evenly matched and will depend on which fighter is willing to take more risks. If it goes to the ground, you got to give Tate the edge.
This is an important fight for Tate as a win her might get her a title shot against Valentina Shevchenko.
Other Exciting Fights
Some of the other exciting fights you should watch out for include Robbie Lawler vs. Bryan Barberena, Sean Strickland vs. Alex Pereira and Jessica Eye vs. Maycee Barber.
