UFC 232: Kieran’s Top Tips

UFC 232: Kieran’s Top Tips

By Kieran Cobley 

UFC 232 takes place on Saturday, and after all the late venue change and Jon Jones “doping” drama, I’m here to give you my betting tips for the event.

This week, I’m looking at a four fold accumulator, that I believe has a fantastic chance of coming in.

My first pick is Nathaniel Wood to beat Andre Ewell by KO/TKO or by decision at 11/10.

I’ve backed this for a very good reason, Nathaniel Wood is red-hot right now, and I believe he’s the next British UFC Champion.

With a 14-3 record, Wood’s stats only back this up, with nine of his wins coming via KO/TKO and only two of his wins coming via decision, and while Ewell has never been KO’d, he has been beaten via decision twice, and I personally believe that Wood will be going for a KO throughout the fight.

The double chance bet allows for Wood to win via KO and if he fails to do this, you are covered for the decision.

The second leg of this accumulator is Chad Mendes (18-4) to win outright at 8/13.

Mendes comes into this fight as the clear favourite as evidenced by his odds, and we all know that Mendes can win any and every way when he steps foot in the cage, given his fantastic wrestling pedigree and his striking ability.

Mendes is put up against Alex Volkanovski in this fight, and while Volkanovski is going to be a tough test, evidenced by the fact he has a 18-1 record and 13 finishes, I believe Mendes has the skill and ability to overcome him.

My third pick is probably the riskiest selection of this accumulator, and that is Carlos Condit (30-12) to beat Michael Chiesa (14-4) outright at 6/4.

“The Natural Born Killer” hasn’t had much luck in his recent fights, with four straight losses and his last win being in 2015, but there is a good reason I have picked him.

This fight is at welterweight and Condit has more experience fighting at 170lbs that Chiesa does, who is jumping up in weight following a string of tough weight cuts at 155lbs.

The experience Condit has of fighting at this weight will be the game changer here, as he knows how to fight at a welterweight pace and even if he does get taken to the ground by Chiesa, his record of 13 submission wins shows that he is more than capable of fighting off his back.

For that reason, I’m backing Condit to get the job done on Saturday night.

My final pick on this accumulator, is for Cris “Cyborg” Justino to finish her fight against Amanda Nunes at 10/11.

“Cyborg” is the most dominant female fighter in the UFC right now, with a 20-1 record, with 17 wins via KO/TKO, and a win against Amanda Nunes, the next most dominant female fighter in the UFC with a record of 16-4, could make her the greatest female fighter of all time.

I firmly believe this is Cyborg’s fight to lose. Nunes is jumping up to featherweight for this fight, and women’s MMA has shown time and time again that fighters who jump up in weight often struggle to compete.

You also have to take Cyborg’s style of fighting into account, with her fantastic stand up skills and the ability to smash her opponent to piece with deadly ground and pound, the only chink in her armour is her submission defence, with her only loss coming via tap out, but I don’t think Nunes will be given any opportunity to lock a submission in.

So my picks are: Four fold accumulator

Nathaniel Wood via KO/TKO or decision at 11/10
Chad Mendes at 8/13
Carlos Condit at 6/4
Cris “Cyborg” Justino to win in rounds 1-5 at 10/11

This bet has odds of 15.19/1, with a £20 bet landing you £323.81 (including returned stake).

So those are my tips for UFC 232, but who are you backing? Let me know on Twitter by tweeting me @Cobleyreporting.