UFC Vegas 33 main card predictions & best bets – July 31, 2021

A slew of injuries and travel issues forcing bouts to be canceled has left this Saturday’s UFC Vegas 33 main card in shambles. But while the quality of fights may not be up to the normal standard that the promotion produces, having a bunch of fighters that casual fans are less familiar with on the card could produce some great UFC betting opportunities. Here’s a look at our predictions for Saturday’s main card.

Bantamweight: Kyung Ho Kang (-130) vs Rani Yahya (+110)

Kyung Ho Kang (17-8-0) has six of his last seven fights including each of his last three. Three of the six wins over that stretch have come by submission while the other three (and the loss) all came by split decision. Rani Yahya (27-10) snapped out of an 0-1-1 slump with a win in his last fight against Ray Rodriguez. Before the loss and draw, Yahya had gone 7-1 over his previous eight fights.

This should be an interesting matchup between two submission specialists. Kang has earned 11 of his 17 career wins by submission, while Yahya has picked up 22 of his 27 professional wins by submission. In what seems to be such an even matchup on paper, we’ve got to take the underdog odds in this spot.

Women’s Strawweight: Cheyanne Buys (-159) vs Gloria de Paula (+139)

Cheyanne Buys (5-2-0) had a four-fight winning streak snapped in her UFC debut in March as she lost to Montserrat Ruiz by decision. She’ll get another crack at her first win with the promotion against Gloria de Paula (5-3-0), who also lost in her UFC debut by decision to Jinh Yu Frey. Buys has been a bit more consistent in her earlier career and is the more highly touted prospect; this is a test that she should be able to pass.

Welterweight: Niklas Stolze (-200) vs Jared Gooden (+170)

Niklas Stolze (12-4-0) was originally scheduled to fight Mounir Lazzez as an underdog on this card. But after Lazzez was forced to pull out of this fight due to visa issues, he was replaced by Jared Gooden (17-6-0), who is 0-2 in the UFC so far with decision losses to Alan Jouban and Abubakar Nurmagomedov. Stolze had won four straight fights before losing in his UFC debut to Ramazan Emeev. This late schedule change will likely help Stolze to avoid an 0-2 start with the promotion.

Flyweight: Ryan Benoit (-138) vs Zarrukh Adashev (+118)

Ryan Benoit (10-7-0) has had an extremely underwhelming career in the UFC with a 3-5 record since 2013 and losses in each of his last two fights. Benoit will try to get back into the win column against Zarrukh Adashev. Adashev (3-3-0) went 3-0 in Bellator action before coming to the UFC and losing his first two fights to Tyson Nam and Su Madaerji. We’ll take Adashev to score an upset in this low-quality bout that probably belongs on the undercard.

Welterweight: Bryan Barberena (-275) vs Jason Witt (+235)

Bryan Barberena (15-7-0) snapped a two-fight losing streak with a decision win over Anthony Ivy in his last fight. Jason Witt (18-7-0) entered the UFC on a four-fight winning streak, but has since gone just 1-2 in the promotion with two first-round knockout losses to Takashi Sato and Matthew Semelsberger. Going up against a hard hitter like Barbarena who has won 10 of his 15 fights by knockout, Witt’s weak jaw will likely be his downfall again.