UFC on ESPN 13 main card betting picks & odds

UFC on ESPN 13: Kattar vs Ige Latest Odds & Fight Info
UFC betting odds	Kattar -290 at Bovada | Ige +245 at Bovada
When	Thursday, July 16 – main card from 6am GST
Where	Flash Forum – Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Watch Live	ESPN, UFC Fight Pass, UFC.com

Diehard UFC fans are in for quite the treat this week with three fight nights over a span of just eight days. The action on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi kicked off with UFC 251 on Saturday, continues on Wednesday with this UFC on ESPN 13 card, and then keeps the fights coming with a UFC on ESPN+ card scheduled for Saturday night. Here’s a look at the card leading up to Wednesday night’s Calvin Kattar vs Dan Ige main event.

Flyweight: Tim Elliott (-130) vs Ryan Benoit (+110)

Tim Elliott (15-11-1) and Ryan Benoit (10-6-0) both come into this bout in desperate need of a win. Elliott has lost each of his last three fights and five of his last seven, while Benoit has lost five of his last nine bouts. Benoit’s bread and butter is his power with eight of his 10 career wins coming by way of knockout, and Elliott happens to have a strong chin with only one of his 11 career losses coming by KO. It’s hard to trust a fighter with Elliott’s inconsistency, but he seems to match up well against Benoit with his sturdy chin and superior ground game. 

Featherweight: Jimmie Rivera (-135) vs Cody Stamann (+115)

This should be an exciting bout between two solid fighters with similar styles. Jimmie Rivera (22-4) has lost three of his last four fights, but those losses all came against upper-echelon featherweight contenders in Marlon Moraes, Aljamain Sterling, and Petr Yan. Can Cody Stamann (19-2-1) prove himself to be a legitimate contender as well with a win in this one? In a matchup that looks too close to call on paper, it’s hard to pass up on the underdog value on Stamann’s side.

Featherweight: Molly McCann (-125) vs Taila Santos (+105)

Talia Santos (15-1) entered the UFC with a perfect 15-0 record as a professional before losing by split decision to Mara Romero Borella at UFC Fight Night 144. She’ll have the reach advantage in this bout against Molly McCann (10-2), but the Liverpudlian fighter has historically had no trouble closing the gap to eliminate her opponent’s reach. We still don’t know what to expect from Santos at UFC level; she could earn herself a nice win here, but we’ll go with the fighter that has won three straight and looked good doing it.

Welterweight: Abdul Razak Alhassan (-335) vs Mounier Lazzez (+275)

Abdul Razak Alhassan (10-1-0) returns to the octagon after a 22-month layoff dating back to UFC 228 in September 2018. The knockout specialist has earned all 10 of his professional wins by way of first-round KO and is a split-decision loss in 2017 away from owning an undefeated record. Lazzez (9-1) is making his UFC debut and has earned eight of his nine professional wins by knockout. Both of these fighters will be throwing haymakers on Wednesday night, but look for Alhassan’s to be the last one that lands.

UFC on ESPN 13 preliminary card

Middleweight: Khamzat Chimaev (-335) vs John Phillips (+275)

Featherweight: Ricardo Ramos (-155) vs Lerone Murphy (+135)

Light Heavyweight: Modestas Bukauskas (-230) vs Andreas Michailidis (+190)

Featherweight: Jared Gordon (-145) vs Chris Fishgold (+125)

Women’s Flyweight: Diana Belbiţă (-165) vs Liana Jojua (+145)

Bantamweight: Jack Shore (-700) vs Aaron Phillips (+500)