UFC Fight Night 182: Santos vs. Teixeira Picks

The end of the year is always a lull for the UFC. No fights that really set the world on fire and we're all just waiting for the end of the year pay per view which is typically stacked. While the card is short on excitement, there's some great opportunities to cash in here.

Claudia Gadelha vs. Yan Xiaonan

This is the kind of fight I love to see on a UFC card; a fighter who should be a far larger favorite than the odds make her. Yan is going to win, comfortably. She’s a high volume striker who has an array of tools at her disposal. Other than a freak accident, I don't really see Claudia winning this. Consider Xiaonan by decision to be the easiest bet of the night.

Xiaonan: -155

Andrei Arlovski vs. Tanner Boser

This is one of those new school vs. old school match ups that makes me sad to see. Former champ Arlovski going up against the young Tanner Boser. The last five years have been, let’s say, tumultuous for Arlovski. Losing 10 of his past 14 fights, Andrei is clearly well past his prime. Tanner Boser is a karate black belt and relatively quick for a heavyweight. I fully expect him to knock out Andrei and continue his KO streak.

Boser: -300

Thiago Santos vs. Glover Teixeira

This is Santos’s return fight after fighting light heavyweight GOAT Jon Jones to a close decision over a year ago. There are valid questions as to how well Santos will perform against Glover. He’s coming off a gruesome injury where he tore literally every ligament in his knee and will experience some ring rust having not fought in over a year. I fully expect to see the return of the Thiago Santos that had a three fight knockout streak prior to his fight against Jones. Glover is on a win streak of his own but his only real path to victory is to take Santos down and control him there. Unfortunately for Glover, every fight starts standing, and Santos will knock him out early. Santos by knockout to set up a rematch against Jan Błachowicz for the light heavyweight title.

Santos: -240