Matthew Lowrimore
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UFC on ESPN 31 takes place on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card will feature a bantamweight division fight as the main event.
We are sharing our UFC on ESPN 31 best bets here, but head over to our main UFC on ESPN 31 predictions page for picks for every fight on the main and preliminary card. Please gamble responsibly when following our MMA picks and predictions.
UFC on ESPN 31 main card best bets
Jose Aldo vs Rob Font ML (-145)
Rob Font comes into this fight with an MMA record of 19-4. He is 9-3 in the UFC, most recently beating Cody Garbrandt by unanimous decision back in May of this year. Font is averaging 5.58 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 43%. He is absorbing 3.57 strikes and has a striking defense of 61%. His grappling is decent as well, averaging 1.20 takedowns per every 15 minutes. His takedown accuracy is 40% and his takedown defense is 53%.
This fight looks somewhat evenly matched, but the edge has to be in Font’s favor. He has won 4 fights in a row, having not lost since 2018. His striking is better as well, so backing Font to beat the long-time veteran looks to be worth a play.
Brad Riddell ML (+105) vs Rafael Fiziev
Brad Riddell comes into this fight with an MMA record of 10-1. He is 4-0 in the UFC, most recently beating Drew Dober by unanimous decision back in June of this year. Riddell is averaging 4.75 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 53%. He is absorbing 3.18 strikes and has a striking defense of 54%. His grappling is also solid, averaging 2.00 takedowns per every 15 minutes. His takedown accuracy is 42% and his takedown defense is 62%.
This fight is very evenly matched, but Riddell looks to be the better play because of the balance he brings. Even though Rafael Fiziev has yet to be taken down in a UFC fight, Riddell has shown more grappling ability than most of Fiziev’s opponents, therefore backing Riddell to remain undefeated in the UFC will be the top play here.
Jimmy Crute vs Jamahal Hill – Fight to end by TKO/KO (-120)
Jimmy Crute comes into this fight with an MMA record of 12-2. He is 5-2 in the UFC, most recently losing to Anthony Smith by TKO/KO back in April of this year. Crute is averaging 4.26 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 56%. He is absorbing 2.71 strikes and has a striking defense of 50%.
Jamahal Hill comes into this fight with an MMA record of 8-1. He is 3-1 in the UFC, most recently losing to Paul Craig by TKO/KO back in June of this year. Hill is averaging 7.50 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 52%. He is absorbing 3.60 strikes and has a striking defense of 45%.
This is a fight where you do have to worry about the grappling ability of Crute. However, he only has 2 submission wins in the UFC compared to 3 wins by TKO/KO. Hill has seen 3 of his 4 UFC fights end by TKO/KO, so backing this fight to end in the same way will be the play.
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