Fight fans are pumped for UFC 302, and with good reason! The card is packed, the atmosphere will be electric, and Dustin Poirier gets a shot at a title.
Get the live odds and best bets for Saturday, June 1. below! Best of luck with all of your plays and enjoy this massive event!
Main Event Play: Makhachev/Poirier OVER 2.5 Rounds (+125) (DraftKings)
At 35 years of age, this could very possibly be the last time Dustin gets a shot at the title. It is no real fault of his own, as the lightweight division is just absolutely loaded with up and comers right now. While he is a pretty heavy underdog here, and rightfully so, we are relying on the fact that he will try to make the most of his opportunity here.
On the feet, Dustin’s striking is a bit stronger than Islam’s. However, on the ground, it will not be a real contest. Islam’s grappling is 2nd to none. Dustin will need to avoid the takedowns and more importantly, he needs to fight the urge to jump into a guillotine which he seems to have a habit of doing against fighters that like to shoot.
Against Oliveira and his 1st fight with Volk, Islam went over this total number of rounds. Dustin did the same against Chandler and Oliveira. He got finished by Gaethje and then stopped St Denis early in the 2nd, but we expect him to be more calculated here against Islam and try to keep distance during his striking combos.
Either way, this play will allow us to hopefully enjoy a great fight here in the later rounds. That said, Dustin by KO/TKO at around 7:1 is decent value as a sprinkle play.
Main Card Top Underdog Play: Michal Oleksiejczuk (+220) (BetMGM)
Let us not get this twisted, we respect Kevin Holland immensely. However, he has lost back-to-back fights as a favorite to Michael Page and Jack Della Maddalena. He also lost to Stephen Thompson as a favorite.
On the contrary, Michal has won 3 of his last 5 fights, with his only 2 losses coming to 2 of the best in the division currently. His 2 losses were to Borralho, who has won 13 straight and is 16-1 overall, and Pereira, who has won 8 straight and likely in line for a title shot.
We believe Holland is being overvalued here due to his name recognition while Michal has a legitimate shot to get this win. Take the live dog!
Main Card Top Method of Victory Play: Strickland/Costa method = KO/TKO/DQ (-175) (DraftKings)
This fight has been one of the hardest for us to handicap in quite a while. Initially you would think that Strickland should be motivated to get this win and hopefully then get a chance to regain his title.
However, he has seemed extremely annoyed that he was not given an immediate rematch. It is anyone’s guess as to where Strickland’s head is at currently. For Costa, he has lost 3 of his last 4 fights with his only win coming over a retiring Luke Rockhold.
11 of Costa’s 14 career wins have come via KO/TKO. If he is going to win this one, we see it coming via KO because of a lack of motivation from Strickland.
Other Leans for all remaining fights
Jailton Almeida (-260 Caesars)
Randy Brown (-175 DraftKings)
Cesar Almeida (-110 Caesars)
Grant Dawson (-390 FanDuel)
Phil Rowe (+135 Caesars)
Niko Price (+200 Caesars)
Bassil Hafez (-320 FanDuel)
Joselyne Edwards (+170 Caesars)
Mitch Raposo (+180 DraftKings)
