UFC 259 Picks and Predictions

March is here and the UFC is giving us a banger of a card. Three title fights are here and all of them are sure to be good. Israel Adesanya vs Jan Błachowicz is a true pick'em fight in my eyes but should put him up there with Conor McGregor as having one of the quickest ascents to the peak of the UFC. Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling are both top bantamweights who have equally strong claims as the best bantamweights in the world. Top to bottom there are great fights to catch with legends and strong prospects. Let's get into my bets for the night.

Amanda Nunes vs Megan Anderson

First off, I want to commend Amanda Nunes for having two titles and actually defending both. Conor McGregor never returned to featherweight and Daniel Cormier never returned to light heavyweight after moving up in weight and winning titles. For this, Nunes is the only true dual weight champion in my eyes, but I digress. Megan Anderson is a good fighter. She had a lot of hype coming into the UFC after her impressive run as Invicta champion and was seen to be the one to challenge Cyborg. That fight never happened because Anderson lost to Holly Holm and Nunes beat the living crap out of Cyborg. Nunes is the greatest women’s MMA fighter of all time and really eventually put together a resume to put her in the conversation of greatest MMA fighters period. There’s not really much value here with Nunes being -1000 but just know you won’t lose any money.

Nunes: -1000

Askar Askarov vs Joseph Benavidez

Hate to see it happen. Joey B was for years one of the most underrated fighters in the 125 and 135 pound divisions with his only losses being to Demetrious Johnson and Dominick Cruz, the literal greatest fighters of their divisions history. Recently he’s had ACL tears and turned 37 so he’s been on the wrong side of some finishes and I see that trend continuing. Askarov can crack like a mofo and Joe doesn’t have the best striking defense in the world. Askarov is also a gold medalist freestyle wrestler. There’s really nowhere where I see him at a disadvantage and -120 is practically a steal.

Askarov: -120

Thiago Santos vs Aleksandar Rakic

I’m not betting on either to win. I’m betting on one to finish the other. These are two big guys who love to bang. Rakic hasn’t been finished himself but he hits hard and has had some spectacular knockouts. Santos almost only ever ends his fights in a finish whether he’s knocking someone out or getting finished himself. I don’t see this one getting to the scorecards. I'm just not sure who’s getting their hand raised.

Not going the distance: -200