UFC 236 occurs Saturday night in Atlanta, and you’ll be able to watch the five-fight principal card live on ESPN+. The card is ripe with exciting struggles throughout the night, however, a majority of fans will probably be most-interested in the event’s final two conflicts for its interim middleweight and lightweight titles.
We have you covered with in-depth gambling analysis on the primary and co-main event…
Max Holloway & Dustin Poirier Rematch for Lightweight Gold
Can Kelvin Gastelum Steal Israel Adesanya’s Spotlight?
… but that doesn’t mean we still can’t learn a thing or two about the night’s additional 11 fights!
What follows is a brief breakdown on every matchup at UFC 236 in an effort to learn enough about every fighter to produce a more educated wager on them if your heart needs.
UFC 236
Interim Lightweight Title Fight: Max Holloway (-205) vs. Dustin Poirier (+165)
Poirier was on a war path since returning to lightweight in April, 2015. Overall, he’s won eight of the last 10 battles and suffered just one loss (KO to Michael Johnson) along with one no competition in his first battle against Eddie Alvarez. Poirier ranks first among busy UFC lightweights in striking differential per minute at +2.69.
The two Poirier (7.11 strikes per second ) and Holloway (6.9) rank among the top-five highest-volume strikers in the entire UFC. Holloway’s quantity is like an avalanche that becomes more-and-more overwhelming as the fight continues.
Holloway’s last fight was arguably the finest championship functionality in UFC history. Overall, his 290 significant strikes at a fight broke the UFC championship album.
Holloway started the week as a -230 favorite, but action has come in greatly on Poirier ever since.
Interim Middleweight Title Fight: Kelvin Gastelum (+150) vs. Israel Adesanya (-185)
Gastelum was able to record at least one knockdown against former champions Jacare Souza, Michael Bisping, Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort during his hellacious run through the middleweight division. His constant barrages of one-two combinations have been difficult for just about all of his opponents do deal with throughout his career.
Israel’The Last Stylebender‘ Adesanya is a former Glory Kickboxing winner who has rung up a 16-0 record to start his mixed martial arts profession. He won’t want anything to do with Gastelum — a country championship wrestler in high school — on the floor, but we have yet to see some come near out-classing Adesanya on the toes throughout his five UFC wins.
Adesanya started the week as a -175 favored, but has since transferred to -185 supporting the public’s support.
Light Heavyweight Fight: Eryk Anders (-200) vs. Khalil Rountree (+160)
Anders played linebacker under Nick Saban in Alabama from 2006-2009 before starting his mixed martial arts career. These three of Anders‘ livelihood losses have come in his last four fights, but those were just two split-decision losses combined with a single TKO loss via referee stoppage during his short-notice light heavyweight introduction against Thiago Santos, who will fight Jon Jones to the branch’s championship in July.
Rountree recorded the biggest success of his career at UFC 226 against long-time championship kickboxer Gokhan Saki, but has been pumped out by rising contender Johnny Walker past November. Rountree’s career striking differential of -0.99 has made it tough for him to win conflicts by any way other than a finish, and he’s accordingly lost both of his livelihood UFC fights that have made it past the first round.
Welterweight Fight: Alan Jouban (-120) vs. Dwight Grant (-110)
Jouban will probably be giving up a five-inch advantage benefit to Grant. This is uncharted territory for Jouban during his 11-fight UFC career, but he’s 3-1 in conflicts with a reach benefit of at least three inches. Meanwhile, Grant is 1-1 at the UFC with a victory over Carlo Pedersoli Jr. (75-inch reach) and a split-decision loss to Zak Ottow (72-inch reach).
The x-factor within this struggle might wind up being volume. Jouban finds himself one of the top-10 welterweights in UFC history in knockdowns landed (No. 4), important strike accuracy (No. 7), strikes landed per minute (No. 3) and striking differential (No. 4).
Light Heavyweight Fight: Ovince Saint Preux (-110) vs. Nikita Krylov (-120)
Krylov has literally had a fight go to the judges in 30 livelihood MMA fights. Including 10 fights inside the Octagon, which were featured three wins by TKO/KO and three by submission in contrast to three declines by submission and one by TKO.
This is actually a rematch from UFC 171, when OSP defeated Krylov by first-round entry. The end featured Saint Preux’s signature entry: The Von Flue choke.
UFC 236 Prelims
Lightweight Fight: Jalin Turner (-140) vs. Matt Frevola (+110)
Turner boasts massive elevation (6-foot-3 vs. 5-foot-9) and reach (77 inches vs. 71) advantages over Frevola, but that advantage could be mitigated if the latter fighter can instigate his takedown-heavy attack. Turner was last observed starching Callan Potter in just 53 seconds back at UFC 234 in February.
Flyweight Fight: Wilson Reis (+130) vs. Alexandre Pantoja (-160)
Reis is presently the UFC’s No. 4 ranked flyweight before his departure with fifth-ranked Alexandre Pantoja. Although Reis has dropped three of his last four fights, they’ve come against a high-level competitors such as John Moraga, current flyweight champion Henry Cejudo and former winner Demetrious Johnson. Both Reis (12:08) and Pantoja (11:58) have average combat times that could indicate we’ll see this battle last into the next round.
Welterweight Fight: Max Griffin (-105) vs. Zelim Imadaev (-125)
Imadaev opened the week with -115 chances. Public support has come in on the undefeated Russian, who has won all eight of his fights by TKO or KO. He’s making his debut within the octagon against Max Griffin, who has dropped four of the last six fights dating back to August, 2016. There is a bit of terrible blood , as Griffin sparred with Imadaev once upon a time and had this to say about his opponent…
„He is an ass, guy. He’s not a good guy… I don’t like the guy… I am looking forward to showing him what it’s like.“
Bantamweight Fight: Boston Salmon (-150) vs. Khalid Taha (+120)
Boston’Boom Boom‘ Salmon has only lost once in seven career fights (by split-decision). Salmon won his last fight against Ricky Turcios about the debut episode of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. He’ll maintain a four-inch height advantage of Taha, who has lost two of his last three fights. Backing Salmon in his ancient -135 odds was one of my favorite bets on the card, but he still offers a little bit of value at his current -150 chances.
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UFC 236 Historical Prelims
Welterweight Fight: Curtis Millender (+115) vs. Belal Muhammad (-145)
Millender fought only last month at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. dos Santos, ultimately losing by entry (rear-naked choke) to Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos. Muhammad continues to be busy, as he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Geoff Neal back in January at UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw. Millender boasts three and four inch height and reach advantages, respectively, although Muhammad continues to be a lot more of a takedown threat throughout his UFC career.
Bantamweight Fight: Montel Jackson (-550) vs. Andre Soukhamthath (+375)
Jackson started the week as a -500 favorite, but has since moved higher. He’s the largest favorite on the card. Soukhamthath is 13-6 as a skilled and has been fed to Jackson, who has dropped just once in eight career bouts.
Women Strawweight Fight: Lauren Mueller (+145) vs. Poliana Botelho (-175)
Both these women have high striking prices and don’t waste their time getting started. This is particularly true for Botelho, who notched the third-fastest finish in the history of the UFC women’s division back in May, 2018.
Bantamweight Fight: Brandon Davis (-170) vs. Randy Costa (+140)
Costa is undefeated in four professional fights, while Davis is just 9-5. Both fighters are making a debut of sorts, as Costa will be within the octagon for the first time in his career, while Davis has seemingly never fought at 135 pounds.
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