UFC on ESPN 16 main card betting predictions

UFC on ESPN 16: Holm vs Aldana Latest Odds & Fight Info
Main Event odds	Holm -113.64 at Bovada | Aldana -113.64 at Bovada
When	Sunday, October 4 – main card from 7:30am GST
Where	UFC Fight Island – Abu Dhabi, UAE
Watch Live	ESPN, BT Sport (UK), UFC Fight Pass, UFC.com

UFC on ESPN 16 betting preview

UFC’s action on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi continues this weekend with a packed card. UFC on ESPN 16 features some intriguing bouts and UFC debuts leading up to the main event between Holly Holm and Irene Aldana. Here’s a look at the rest of the card.

Yorgan De Castro (-240) vs Carlos Felipe (+200)

Yorgan De Castro (6-1-0) and Carlos Felipe (8-1-0) both suffered the first losses of their professional careers in their last bouts. De Castro lost by decision to Greg Hardy at UFC 249 in his second bout with the promotion, while Felipe lost to Sergey Spivak by decision in his debut at UFC Fight Night 172.

While both men are coming off decision losses, neither had been prone to go the distance in their respective careers. Five of De Castro’s six wins have come by way of knockout, as have six of Felipe’s eight wins. This should be a slugfest that gets decided before the cards and provides a nice appetizer to the main event. De Castro is more likely to pick up the win, but in a first round where both fighters will likely be throwing haymakers and it only takes one  to end it either way, Felipe offers some nice value.

Germaine de Randamie (-140) vs Julianna Pena (+120)

Germaine de Randamie (9-4-0) has proven to be the best of the rest in the women’s bantamweight division. She went the distance against Amanda Nunes in her UFC Women’s Bantamweight title fight at UFC 245, which is no small feat, and carried a five-fight winning streak into that bout.

So it should be a testament to how much the UFC betting sites respect Julianna Pena (9-3-0) that she is such a slight underdog in this one. Pena is 5-1 over her last six fights, with her only loss over that stretch coming to Valentina Shevchenko. She has fought only once since January of 2017, and that fight came over a year ago in a win over Nicco Montano back in July 2019. Now ready to make her full-time return to the octagon after taking some time off to start a family, look for Pena to remind the fighting world how good she is with an upset over de Randamie.

Dusko Todorovic (-325) vs Dequan Townsend (+265)

Dusko Todorovic (9-0-0) is an exciting 26-year-old prospect making his UFC debut on Saturday. Todorovic has scored five of his professional wins by knockout and three by submission, illustrating his versatility. Dequan Townsend (21-11-0) is 0-3 in three fights with the UFC and hasn’t shown us anything to suggest he’s capable of spoiling Todorovic’s debut.

UFC on ESPN 16 preliminary card

Bantamweight: Kyler Phillips (-470) vs Cameron Else (+375)

Welterweight: Court McGee (-135) vs Carlos Condit (+115)

Featherweight: Charles Jourdain (-440) vs Josh Culibao (+350)

Middleweight: Jordan Williams (-140) vs Nassourdine Imavov (+120)

Women’s Strawweight: Loma Lookboonmee (-140) vs Jinh Yu Frey (+120)

Bantamweight: Casey Kenney (-325) vs Heili Alateng (+265)

Lightweight: Jessin Ayari (-115) vs  Luigi Vendramini (-105)