Ready to make UFC Vegas 92 even more exciting? We can help! Our betting preview covers the live odds, best bets, and our top parlay for Saturday, May 18.
Parlay: Emily Ducote ML AND Tom Nolan ML AND Adrian Yanez ML +102 (Bet365)
For our parlay this week, I'm going to go with a rare three-leg moneyline play since this is a tricky betting card, in my opinion. These three should take advantage of the step downs in competition.
Ducote was thrown into the deep end of the women's strawweight division after her debut win. She dropped losses to Angela Hill and Loopy Goodinez but recently got back on the winning side with a unanimous decision win over Ashley Yoder.
She's a good kickboxer and can throw power punches in combos at her opponents, and she'll take on Vanessa Demopoulos, who is very hittable. I see Ducote avoiding most of Demopoulos's takedown attempts to add another decision win to her record.
Tom Nolan is coming off a debut loss after getting caught a minute in by the more seasoned fighter Nikolas Motta. Clearly, the UFC still believes in Nolan, as they gave him a matchup with Victor Martinez, a fellow fighter who lost his debut by TKO.
I don't think Martinez is UFC level. His striking hasn't looked good, and he was TKO'd by Jordan Leavitt, who only had 1 TKO on his record at that point. Nolan is the more explosive, dynamic striker, and this feels like a spot for him to shine as the UFC still believes in the Australian prospect.
Last in our parlay will be the hard-hitting Adrian Yanez. Yanez also gets a step down in competition after dropping two straight. Vinicius Salvador will make his debut at 135 after going 0-2 at 125. Salvador is also a hard hitter and will not shy away from throwing with Yanez.
Yanez had a 5 fight-win streak going with 4 TKOs before dropping 2 in a row to tougher competition. This could be an exciting fight, but Salvador's style should be a perfect setup for Yanez to get back on track. I'll go with Yanez to take care of the newcomer at Bantamweight.
Angela Hill by Decision +110 (Bet365)
A side of me wanted to go the opposite way in what should be a fun matchup when Hill takes on the Brazilian Luana Pinheiro to start the main card this week.
Hill is an experienced vet who has faced almost everyone the women's strawweight division could offer. She has great cardio to go along with her excellent striking and high-level Muay Thai skills to do damage in close.
Pinheiro is an aggressive striker and has good judo to take fights to the mat. However, her cardio has been her main issue, with her looking visibly slower as fights go longer. She's also struggled at kickboxer range and that should be her downfall here.
I wouldn't be shocked to see Pinheiro look good early before Hill takes control late. I don't see Pinheiro having success taking Hill down, and if she does, she hasn't shown enough top control time to prove that she can keep Hill down.
If that proves to be true, Hill should dominate at kickboxer range, mixing her strikes until Pinheiro inevitably slows down. Unless Pinheiro completely gasses out, Hill won't have the power to stop her, so look for the vet to score another signature decision win.
Khaos Williams ML -125
The hard-hitting Khaos Williams will look to add another TKO to his record on Saturday when he takes on Carlston Harris in the co-main. Although Harris has had some recent success, I don't think his resume matches up to Williams'.
Harris is primarily a grappler who shoots early on his opponents. If unsuccessful, he can throw a decent jab straight at range, but he can get sloppy with his combinations when exchanging. That will land him in some trouble with the hard-hitting Williams.
Half of Williams's wins have been by TKO, and I think he has a strong advantage over Harris when it comes to striking. I see him combining his power punches with his good takedown defense to finish Harris for his 9th stoppage win.
Edson Barboza ML +130
Let's take a shot on the experienced veteran in the main event against the undefeated prospect Lerone Murphy. Murphy is a good striker with some grappling skills, but I don't see him as much of a finish threat as his 7 TKOs suggest.
The majority of those finishes were in the regional scene, and his 2 in the UFC have been from some nasty ground-and-pound strikes and a knee that caught Makwan Amirkhani when he was shooting for a TD. Around that, he fought to a draw in his debut and owns 1 split and 2 unanimous decisions on his UFC record.
Barboza is undoubtedly a step up in competition for Murphy, even in his old age. He made his debut with the company in 2010 and has fought a high level of competition to this point. He's currently on a 2 fight win streak after dropping 2, and just recently went 5 rounds with Sodiq Yusuff for a unanimous decision win.
On the feet, these two could easily be equal, with Murphy maybe having the edge since he will be the younger of the two. Much has been said about Murphy not having 5 round experience, but he hasn't looked gassed in his fights, so I wouldn't weigh that heavily in this matchup.
The difference between these two should be the grappling. We haven't seen Barboza use much of it lately, but he did score 3 takedowns in his fight with Yusuff, and takedown defense is a major problem for Murphy. Both Gabriel Santos and Amirkhani were able to take Murphy down 5 times each in their fights. I wouldn't be shocked to see Barboza shoot early with this on film in an effort to drain Murphy for the late rounds.
If Barboza is unsuccessful with the grappling, I still give him a good chance in a pure striking match. He has elite kickboxing and the ability to take punches as well. I see more paths to victory for him here, or at least enough to feel comfortable in taking him at dog odds.
