UFC 265 Picks and Predictions

José Aldo vs Pedro Munhoz

A real banger of a bantamweight fight here. Aldo is on the downtrend of his career but he’s still elite. Three round Aldo is an animal and really only lost once in a three round fight. While Munhoz is extremely tough, almost nobody at bantamweight can out strike Aldo and Munhoz has little chance.

Aldo: -110

Ciryl Gane vs Derrick Lewis

My initial betting wisdom tells me that Lewis at +270 is too good of odds to pass up. He basically won every fight he wasn't supposed to win for the past few years. More technical strikers and grapplers with excellent cardio have ended up getting one shot knocked out by Lewis. Gane is different. He’s effectively neutralized everyone he’s fought in the UFC to ridiculous efficacy. He didn’t allow talented technical strikers like JDS, Rozenstruik, and Volkov to ever really get going, effectively shutting them out. When it comes to grappling, he’s shown he has great wrestling, clinch work, and submission skills. I think Gane wins either by a decision or out grappling him like Daniel Cormier will. Because Lewis has such a strong history of beating the odds, betting on Lewis by KO at +400 as a hedge is good but I doubt it'll happen.

Gane: -350