We hit on two out of three betting tips in UFC 226 last month for a profitable event. UFC 227 will be held this Sunday AEST live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles and is headlined by a massive Bantamweight title fight between T.J Dilshaw and Cody Garbrandt. We take a look at some of the key fights of UFC 227 and give our betting tips below.
UFC 227 Betting Tips
T.J Dillashaw (C) vs Cody Garbrandt
Bantamweight Title Fight
T.J Dillashaw won the Bantamweight title from Renan Bareo in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history back in July of 2015. He defended his title successfully twice against Joe Soto and Baao again before losing it to Dominick Cruz in January of 2016. Since then, he has fought on just three occasions, due mostly to injury, and won all three fights including a November 2017 matchup against Garbrandt to win back the Bantamweight title.
Garbrandt was undefeated throughout his first 10 fights in the UFC before eventually winning the Bantamweight title off Crus in December of 2016. He lost the title to Dillashaw in November of 2017 and while a rematch has been in the works for the majority of this year, injuries to both men have stalled the fight until now.
When the two fighters met for the title in UFC 217, it was one of the more interesting fights in recent UFC, even if it did end in the second round. At one point, Dillashaw looked out of the fight when one of his opponents counters landed, however, the Round 1 bell rang and Dillashaw was able to compose himself and come out swinging in Round 2, eventually catching Garbrandt and ending him in the eighth minute.
The rematch will be an interesting one to say the least. Garbrandt has the better fight ending striking ability and will need to get a little lucky but Dillashaw is just the smarter fighter in my opinion. With over eight months to prepare for this fight, it’s hard to see Dillashaw coming in unprepared for this fight. I think the fight goes longer than the November edition did, but Dillashaw claims the win by TKO/KO in the late rounds.
Dillashaw to win by KO/TKO
$3.15
Demetrious Johnson (C) vs Henry Cejudo
Flyweight Title Fight
Demetrious Johnson first won the UFC Flyweight title in September of 2012. Since then he has successfully defended the belt on 11 times and is now the UFC record holder for the most ever title defences. He has been completely untouched in the division for the better part of six years and will now be having his second crack at Henry Cejudo, whom he defeated via TKO back in UFC 197 in 2016.
Cejudo was impressive in his MMA career in the lead up to his big shot at Johnson in 2016, winning his first 10 fights, the first four of which all came via TKO. However, after losing the title fight to Johnson he suffered another loss to Joseph Benavidez in 2016 before winning both of his fights last year to set up a rematch with Johnson.
Cejudo provides probably the toughest test that Johnson has had to face in the his last few title defences. At 31 years old, it’s almost a life or death fight for Cejudo here. If he loses, he will have no where else to go in the Flyweight division, having climbed to the top on two occasions only to lose the title fight. His background as an Olympic gold medallist in freestyle wrestling will throw something different at Johnson. In the past, Johnson has been so skilled at taking anyone in the Flyweight division to ground, however, with Cejudo’s grappling skills, it’s likely we see this fight stay upright for the majority.
Sooner or later the king has to fall. While Johnson is definitely still the favourite for this fight, I think Cejudo definitely has the best chance of any of the last few contenders to come across Johnson, and we are picking an upset here.
