UFC Vegas 66 Wrap-up And Betting Guide Recap

UFC Vegas 66 Wrap-Up and Betting Recap



UFC Vegas 66 was headlined by Jared Cannonier Vs. Sean Strickland. While the main event did leave a lot of action to be desired, the co-main of Arman Tarukyan Vs Damir Ismagulov was a technical masterpiece between two future title-contenders early in the rank-climb. Alex Caceres delivered a highlight reel KO of Julian Erosa right after Drew Dober and Bobby Green spilled blood and spirit for 7 minutes. Let's look at some standout fights that may go under the radar, as the main event and co-main are rightfully being talked about plenty today. 

Rinat Fakhretdinov defeats Bryan Battle by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-27)

    Rinat is one of the worst fighters to face on short notice. His relentless grappling style and unique ways he chains sequences means if you don't have a camp to prepare for him, you're likely going to be treated like a seminar student. Battle is a fun fighter that should hold a UFC roster spot as a measuring stick, but got demolished by the refined game of Rinat. Rinat needs a step-up in competition to keep sharp and not become complacent with cruising to dominant control victories. Chiesa would be a great dance partner to see where his grappling really stands. If Rinat has major holes in his stand-up, Chiesa can find success. If Rinat mows down Chiesa like he did Battle, he's off to the races. 

Manel Kape defeats David Dvorak by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

    My vibe for this fight was very incorrect. Dvorak seems to have regressed a bit since the Nicolau fight, while Kape continues to improve. While I still favored Kape, I thought Dvorak was good dog odds. Dvorak's recurring issue is straying away from the straights he finds success with, and accepting having his back against the cage. Both were prominent in the fight, as Kape really made Dvorak uncomfortable with the forward pressure and as Dvorak got desperate, the looping shots followed. Kape looks to be the cream of the crop for tier 2 flyweights, a fight with Alex Perez would be a lot of action and very useful for rankings. 

Vibe-Based Betting Recap

    I wasn't able to release a full betting-guide on the event, but the vibes weren't too off. The two bets I felt comfortable in based off of prior knowledge were:
  • Jared Cannonier 1 Unit To Win (+110 time of bet, -135 fight night): Cashed 1.1 Units💰
    • Cannonier was the more versatile fighter in the contest. Strickland got stuck head-hunting without ever really landing flush, while Cannonier took a page from Izzy's book and really controlled the fight with leg kicks and body shots. Plenty of people were unhappy with the fight overall, and some were even upset with the decision. I thought this would a staring content until it wasn't and got violent, but instead was never a true staring contest but never really risked a lot either. Cannonier has a big asterisk on him going forward, as he's looking worse and worse from Brunson fight to now. Even in Whittaker fight when he dropped Rob, Cannonier did not push down on the pedal. Bet cashed though. 
  • Drew Dober .5 Units To Win (-175): Cashed .29 Units  💰

    • The read on Dober being a much sharper striker turned out to be correct. I did not expect Green to get finished so violently, but I did expect Dober to land with straight shots and punish the lack of defense Green has when throwing. Good performance by Dober, and a good cash. 


    Total: Bet 1.5 Units To Win 2.39 Units. Profit: .89 Units (59%)


UFC Goes On A Three-Week Break, What To Expect?

    That's right, three weekends of no UFC, not even filler fight-night cards. They Return Jan 14th with Gastelum Vs Imamov in what's expected to be a bloody and cardio exhaustive scrap. In the meanwhile, I'll have two standalone pieces. 

  • Top UFC Prospects To Watch For In 2023
    • Either unranked and expected to enter rankings, or someone at the bottom poised to climb to the top. Emphasis on younger fighters, so more bang for buck out of learning about them. 
  • How To Score A Fight (According To The Unified Rules of MMA)
    • People act like it's a big mystery how to score a fight, it's not. There can be varying ways to view the fight and applying your lens to the criteria, but the rules are clear. 1500 words on judging specifics? This how you know I'm not doing this for the clicks.

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