Ricky Dimon
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The UFC continues to go full steam ahead, with UFC 172 action set to take place on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Men and women are highlighting both the main card and the undercard, so there is plenty to choose from.
Here is our best three-fight parlay for this weekend, which pays out +628.
Odds correct as of Friday via BetMGM Sportsbook. Get up to a $500 risk-free first bet at BetMGM Sportsbook today when you use this link to create a new account or see more offers and sportsbook reviews for the best online sportsbooks.
Marvin Vettori (-225)
The co-main event at UFC 172 on ESPN 10 features Vettori and Karl Roberson in the middleweight division. Vetorri is 14-4-1 in his MMA career with a UFC record of 4-2-1. His last two fights have resulted in wins by unanimous decision. Vettori, who has never lost by anything other than a decision, prefers to take fights to the ground–where he has eight submission wins in his career. He averages 1.7 take-downs and 0.75 submission attempts per 15 minutes. As far as striking goes, he averages 3.75 significant strikes per minute and absorbs 2.89 such strikes per minute. Roberson has also won his last two fights, one by submission and the other by decision. Roberson averages 1.08 take-downs and 0.81 submission attempts per 15 minutes. His take-down defense is only 53 percent, however, so this is an area that needs improvement when fighting Vettori. Take Vettori with a fair amount of confidence.
Tyson Nam (-125)
The third preliminary fight at UFC 172 pits Nam against Zarrukh Adashev in bantamweight action. Nam was originally scheduled to fight Ryan Benoit, but Benoit pulled out. Thus it is Adashev who will make his UFC debut on Saturday. Nam is a respectable 18-11-1 in his MMA career with 10 victories by either KO or TKO, so he does wield plenty of power. Adashev accepted this fight on very short notice and will be looking to pull an upset in his UFC debut. His 3-1 record is a small sample size, and all of those victories have come at Bellator events (two by KO/TKO, one by decision). Nam will likely give Adashev a rude introduction to UFC competition.
Hannah Cifers (+180)
How about one upset pick as part of the parlay? At +180 in the final preliminary fight of the night (women’s flyweight division), there is strong value on Cifers against Mariya Agapova. Cifers is a solid 10-5 lifetime in MMA (2-3 UFC) and has finished five contests in her career by either KO or TKO. Agapova, meanwhile, is making her UFC debut. She is not much of powerful striker and it is worth noting that she had been preparing to face Melissa Gatto, but Gatto was sidelined by visa issues and replaced by Cifers.
Be sure to check out the rest of our UFC expert picks for Saturday, as well.
