Eagle FC 46 main card picks & top value bets – Friday, March 11

Two former UFC veterans will be featured in the main event of Eagle FC 46 this Friday night in Miami, Florida, when Kevin Lee fights Diego Sanchez in a welterweight bout. Here’s a look at that fight and the rest of the main card, which also includes a heavyweight title match between Rizvan Kuniev and Anthony Hamilton.

Welterweight: Kevin Lee (-800) vs Diego Sanchez (+500)

Kevin Lee (18-7-0) opened his professional MMA career with an impressive 16-2 run that included a 9-2 record in UFC bouts before going just 2-5 over his last seven fights with the promotion. Diego Sanchez (30-13) saw his time in the UFC come to an end in September of 2020 after an underwhelming 9-11 run since 2009.

All five of Lee’s losses towards the end of his UFC run came against top-tier opponents. He’s still just 29 years old and is very likely to return to the UFC someday. Sanchez, meanwhile, is 40-years-old and hasn’t been a real threat in about a decade. This is a pretty clear cut squash match to give Lee the chance to make his EFC debut with a bang.

Heavyweight: Rizvan Kuniev (-500) vs Anthony Hamilton (+375)

Rizvan Kuniev (10-2-1) is a perfect 8-0-0 over his last eight fights with four of his last six wins coming by knockout. Anthony Hamilton (18-10-0) fizzled out of the UFC with four straight losses back in 2017. He won three straight matches in smaller MMA promotions before losing his EFC debut in September by knockout to Vladimir Daineko. He can expect another knockout loss to the far superior Kuniev with the EFC Heavyweight Championship on the line on Friday night.

Bantamweight: Ray Borg (-700) vs Ricky Bandejas (+450)

Ray Borg (15-5-0) went 7-5 over a UFC career that spanned from 2014 to 2020. Borg is 8-0-0 in his eight professional fights outside of the UFC including a decision win over Cody Gibson in his EFC debut in January. Rick Bandejas is set to make his Eagle FC debut on Friday and will enter the promotion with a 4-5 record over his last nine fights in Bellator and Combate Global. It’s difficult to find any real reason to believe in the underdog in this spot.

Catchweight: Handesson Ferreira (-600) vs Zach Juusola (+400)

Handesson Ferreira (17-3-1) is set to make his EFC debut coming into the promotion off of three straight wins in GFC and UAE Warriors competition. Zach Juusola (12-7-0) is set to make his promotional debut with less fanfare having lost four of his last five fights. As the betting odds suggest, this is another lopsided contest.

Welterweight: Raimond Magomedaliev (-160) vs Impa Kasanganay (+130)

The main card’s opening fight between Raimond Magomedaliev (9-1-0) and Impa Kasanganay (9-2-0) figures to be the most competitive matchup of the night. Magomedaliev is 4-0 over his last four fights including a first-round knockout win over Anthony Njokuani in his EFC debut in January. Kasanganay meanwhile went 1-2 over his last three fights in the UFC after opening his professional career with an 8-0-0 record. This should be a good fight, but Kasanganay’s two knockout losses and Magomedaliev’s edge in power have us leaning towards the favorite as he is clearly more likely to earn a stoppage win.

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