UFC Best Bet: UFC 276, Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Halloway

The trilogy fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Halloway is finally here, and it takes place this Saturday night at UFC 276. These two Featherweights have already faced each other twice back in 2019 and 2020, and the Australian was able to get decision victories both times. Will we see more of the same in this one or will Max Halloway be able to turn it around?

UFC 276 Best Bet: Volkanovski vs Halloway

• Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Halloway: Volkanovski to Win by Decision/Technical Decision

Odds as at 12:00 pm July 1st 2022. Odds may now differ.

Volkanovski vs Halloway Best Bet

The UFC Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski looks to make his 4th title defence in a row and earn his 22nd MMA victory in a row. Volk suffered just 1 loss in his entire MMA career, and it was a TKO way back in 2013. He is mostly known as da dominant decision fighter, but he also has 12 KO/TKO victories under his belt. He is also coming off a TKO win against the Korean Zombie at the start of April.

He has been improving by leaps and bounds in the last few years, and I’m most impressed by his fundamentals. His jab, leg kicks and movement are elite, and he is a fighter with very few weaknesses. At 33 years of age, he is at the peak of his prime, and he was very impressive in his bouts against Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung. His combinations are getting more deliberate, more technical, quicker and more deadly. Volk lands 6.63 strikes per minute, whilst boasting a takedown defence of 70%, whilst landing 1.95 takedowns per 15 minutes.

But Max Holloway is no pushover in the division, having beaten impressive names like Calvin Kattar, Jose Aldo, Frankie Edgar and Brian Ortega. After losing the 2 bouts against Volk, Max has bounced back nicely and is now on a 2 fight winning streak and coming off an absolute brawl victory against Yair Rodriguez. Now, he is looking to retain the Featherweight after losing it to Volk in late 2019, and you can definitely expect a very deadly version of Max Halloway this Saturday night.

Max is known in the UFC Featherweight division as an elite boxer, if not the best in the division, but also his incredible durability. Despite absorbing 4.69 strikes per minute, he has never been knocked out in his MMA career and even though Volk landed 294 significant strikes in their 2 fights, he was still within arms reach of victory. Grappling has never been his cup of tea, with only 0.31 takedowns per 15 minutes and just 2 career submission victories, and this is something that could be a big weakness

As far as the fight goes, Volkanovski is the favourite to win at 1.50 odds, whilst Halloway is valued at 2.70. With 94% of bettors backing the champion tonight, there’s little value in betting on him in the Moneyline. But if we take a look at the match-up, we can expect another decision victory for Volk. He is by far the more complete fighter in this one, and simply has a lot more tools to get the job done. That said, he wasn’t able to put Max away in 50 minutes in their two fights, and I have to rely on Max to stay alive until the end. The first half of the fight should be somewhat close, but I expect the champ to get a couple of takedowns whilst avoiding getting into long boxing exchanges. The trilogy ends in the same manner it started, decision win for the Aussie.

• Selection: Volkanovski to Win by Decision/Technical Decision
• Best Odds: 2.20 (Bet365)
• Stakes: 5/10

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Odds as of 12:00 pm July 1st 2022. Odds may now differ.

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