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Jesse Petruzzelli

UFC ON ESPN 23

With a card loaded with plenty of unknown young talent, this Saturday is sure to be filled with a lot of upsets! The main event is headlined by two fighters heading in opposite directions. Dominick Reyes is set to square off against the rising young star Jiri Prochazka. Reyes has not found himself in the winners circle in over two years while Jiri has not lost a fight in six years. Not only in Prochazka undefeated since 2015 he has won eleven straight fights with ten of them ending by TKO/KO (not to mention the only fight that went to judges was only a 2 round fight). With two fighters looking to make a splash in the Light-Heavyweight division, what does the line look like:

MONEYLINE: Prochazka -120 Reyes +100 TO GO THE DISTANCE:

Yes +275 No -400 METHOD OF VISTORY:


Prochazka by TKO/KO +130 Prochazka by Submission +2200 Prochazka by Points +700 Reyes by TKO/KO +230 Reyes by Submission +1700 Reyes by Points +460 Jiri Prochazka has proven to the MMA world that he may very well be the next star of the Light-Heavyweight division. Prochazka's talent did not go unnoticed and he was actually offered an opportunity in the UFC over two years ago but declined because he wanted to make sure he was fit and ready to make his run at the title. Finally Jiri decided he was ready for the big leagues and made the move from Rizin Fight League to the UFC. He started his UFC career with a bang scoring a brutal knockout victory over Volkan Oezdemir. In his debut he showed elite striking but also left himself vulnerable to a couple counter shots. The entire fight was a slug fest and it was really all about who would land the shot first.



Dominic Reyes currently finds himself in a very unfamiliar spot, a losing streak. Prior to his controversial loss to Jon Jones for the title, Reyes never experienced a loss. He started his MMA career a perfect 12-0 with seven of his victories coming first round TKO/KO. After dropping a hard fought decision to Jones, Reyes was gifted another chance at the vacant title against Jan Blachowicz, but Jan had other ideas. Reyes was hindered from the start of the fight by lethal body kicks that bruised his ribs the second they made contact. Shortly into the second round a hurt Reyes was dropped and would once again let a huge opportunity be missed. With the almost a year passing and coming off back-to-back losses can Dominic finally get back to his winning ways?


So how do I see this event going down: MONEYLINE: Reyes +100 With odds basically set as a pick em' I don't think you'll ever have an opportunity to get Reyes again at such a low line. Vegas puts a ton of stock into fighter's overall record and especially their last couple bouts, and with Reyes losing two straight the odds reflect this. This fight will be a complete slugfest from start till someone is pulled off by Herb Dean. I believe Reyes has better overall striking than Jiri and with Jiri still somewhat unproven against top tier talent I believe a desperate Reyes finds a way to walk out victorious.



TO GO THE DISTANCE: No -400 I believe there is little to no chance that this fight goes the distance, especially being a 5 round fight. With odds this heavy though there is no way to have a good net return on it so I would avoid this line.

TOP BETS FOR THIS CARD: GOOD ODDS OPPORTUNITY:

Randa Markos / Luana Pinherio Not to Go the Distance: +165

Cub Swanson / Giga Chikadze Not to Go the Distance: +120


PARLAY OPPORTUNITY:

Andreas Michailidis (-240) / Loma Lookboonmee (-400) Odds Combined: -120 MONEYLINE: Ion Cutelaba / Dustin Jacoby Cutelaba -120


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