Simply put, we like these odds for this fight not to go the distance. Both fighters have been vocal about their desire to find a finish. Alexander Volkanovski is taking this fight on 11 days notice, coming off of an injury. The first fight between these two did go the distance, but it’s important to consider a couple factors. Both fighters had a full camp for that first bout. The fight also took place in Australia, where Volkanovski had an entire arena behind him. This will be a much different environment in Abu Dhabi, highly favoring Islam Makhachev. We see a clear path for both fighters to get a finish. At (-124) odds, our wager is on this fight not to hit the judges.

We are aware that Kamaru Usman has only been finished once in his UFC career. That lone finish came via a round 5 head kick from Leon Edwards that shocked the MMA world. Aside from that, Kamaru has proven to be a very difficult opponent to finish. Usman typically fights in 5 round bouts. This co main event will be a 3 round fight. He is taking this fight on 10 days notice, against arguably the top prospect in the entire UFC with Khamzat Chimaev. Usman is also moving up a weight class, and there has been a lot of reporting surrounding the health of his knees. With a full camp at these current betting odds, we likely would have ended up with a Usman bet based on the value. However, given the circumstances of this fight, we are going to side with Khamzat to win this fight inside the distance.

For those who are not familiar with Trevor Peek, make sure you get in front of a TV for this fight. Peek is coming off of a loss against Chepe Mariscal. No shame in that loss, as Marical is a very talented fighter. He’s 2-0 in the UFC, and just beat a highly tutored prospect in Jack Jenkins. Although Peek did not look to be as skilled and polished of a fighter as Marical, he landed a lot of big shots. Today Peek will fight an opponent who is making their UFC debut in Mohammad Yahya. In Yahya’s 3 career losses, he was either knocked out or submitted in all of them. Yahya got knocked out by a fighter named Hassan Talal, who has lost his last 3 fights (knocked out in his last 2). This looks to be a good bounce back spot for Peek. Our wager is a full unit on the heavy handed, wild throwing, Trevor Peek to get a knockout.

To kickstart UFC 294, the highly anticipated debut of Sharabutdin Magomedov takes center stage. Shara has an undefeated record of 11-0, with 10 knockouts, Shara is a formidable striker, and a polarizing character in the sport. He has one eye, and many believe the athletic commission in Vegas would not have cleared him to fight. That said, the Abu Dhabi commission cleared him. Magomedov is fighting against Bruno Silva, a seasoned stand-up fighter with an impressive 87% finish rate (all of which by knockout). Silva has shown his striking prowess by going the distance with Alex Pereira. In this match, the absence of a takedown threat suggests that the bout is likely to remain on its feet, precisely where Shara thrives. Our pick for this fight is Shara Magomedov to win by finish. While the knockout is far more likely, Bruno Silva has been highly prone to being submitted. Silva has been submitted 7 times in his MMA career. Our wager is on the one eyed prospect to get a finish in his debut.

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