Here are our top Al Iaquinta v Donald Cerrone betting tips. The Canadian Tire Centre welcomes professional Mixed Martial Arts as the Ultimate Fighting Championship offers it’s UFC Fight Night 151 show on Saturday 4 May. The Ontario, Canada venue will be packed by a sell-out audience. UK fans can follow all the action live on BT Sport, with the main event expected at around 01:00 GMT.
This will be the UFC’s second visit to Ottawa; this follows the successful MacDonald v Thompson fight night back in the summer of 2016. It’s a bit of a surprise it has taken this long to bring top level MMA back. The fighters involved will be eager to put on a show and the fans determined to do their bit to ensure we see more shows staged in Canada in the coming years.
Followers will be treated to an action-packed card; this is headlined by the much-anticipated meeting of Al Iaquinta and Donald Cerrone; the latter is a fans’ favourite following his time served as a former UFC lightweight champion. That bout is sure to have fight fans settled into their seats early. However, there’s also enough on the undercard to hold your attention.
The Main Card pairs Derek Brunson and Elias Theodorou at middleweight as well as Cub Swanson and Shane Burgos at featherweight. Brad Katona takes on Merab Dvalishvili at bantamweight; there’s also Walt Harris v Sergey Spivak at heavyweight and Marc-Andre Barriault v Andrew Sanchez from the middleweight division.
Pick your Winners
Outside of the Main Card and the sports’ enthusiasts can catch up on the progress of Sarah Moras; Aiemann Zahabi; Arjan Bhullar and Mitch Gagnon when keeping pace with the Preliminary Card that’ll be shown on a number of platforms, including ESPN.
A crammed night for lovers of all things UFC and there’s plenty designed to hold the attention of casual fans too. Bookmakers allow us the chance to increase our enjoyment with a bet on their many exciting matches and markets.
All the evening’s major bouts are covered; you can have your say on the winners, putting them together in a useful accumulator; or you could pick through the value of the method of victory market.
Here you are asked to predict which fighter will win and how they will achieve the result – points, submission or KO/TKO? There’s more work involved with this bet, of course; however, the rewards are far greater. Do your research, study the form of both fighters involved and you could give your betting balance a well-deserved boost.
Bigger Fights Ahead for the Winner
We focus on the main event of the evening where Al Iaquinta and Donald Cerrone look to settle a score under the bright lights. The winner of this one will catapult themselves towards bigger and better things, moving into contention for major fights and increased pay cheques, while the loser will be sent tumbling down through the rankings, left to contemplate what the year ahead could hold before we’re into the summer months. This is a real crossroads bout for both and the desperation to win will ensure it makes for great viewing.
32-year-old American Al Iaquinta fights out of Garden City in New York, representing the Serra-Longo Fight Team. He has a background competing in kickboxing, wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and that makes him the well-rounded fighter we see today, a man comfortable with all aspects of the game. His amateur MMA record saw him win all his 14 bouts before those talents were noticed and he was invited to move to the professional ranks.
Since trading trophies for pay days, Al Iaquinta has won 14 of 19 outings, with seven of his victories coming by way of knockout, six by decision and one by submission. He has suffered four losses to date and those are made up of three submission defeats and one decision, there’s also a draw on his record. The latter came back in 2009 when Al was deducted a point for fence grabbing, although it failed to derail his progress.
Winning Run of Form
Iaquinta arrives at the venue for fight night having won six of his last seven, the spare coming against Khabib Nurmagomedov on points on UFC 223 with the UFC lightweight championship on the line. There’s no shame in losing to an opponent of that quality, of course, and the beaten man that night had little trouble bouncing back to form.
He was last seen beating Kevin Lee on points over five rounds in Milwaukee on UFC Fight Night December 2018, an effort that saw him make a timely return to winning ways while picking up a performance of the night award. The perfect way to announce his intentions for the year ahead and if we take the loss to Khabib out, Al is undefeated in five years. He’s a man who believes he deserves to be mixing it at the top level of MMA and will be determined to prove it by adding another victory to his record.
Bookies expect him to do just that and have Al Iaquinta priced as favourite for the win on Saturday, although there really isn’t a lot in the betting with value available to those shrewd enough to predict the outcome. The jolly is top price 4/5 with Bet365 and, if you fancy a pop, that’s where you should back him as he’s 8/11 with most other firms. Three of his last four bouts have gone the distance and a points cheer makes sense in the method of victory market.
Cowboy Can’t be Taken Lightly
Donald Cerrone, affectionately known as Cowboy in the fight game, is a 36-year-old from Denver Colorado who has experience competing in both the lightweight and welterweight categories. His style is heavily reliant on his Muay Thai, Brazilian Jui-Jitsu and Gaidojutsu background and he comes into this challenge from his New Mexico base where he represents the BMF Ranch team. A man not to be taken lightly.
Cowboy had one professional boxing bout earlier in his career but lost, knocked out by Geoffrey Spruiell inside two rounds. He has had plenty more success in the octagon, winning 35 of 47 pro bouts, 17 by submission, 10 by knockout and eight thanks to the judges’ decision. Of his 11 losses he has dropped six by decision, four knockout and one submission.
Cerrone goes into this clash having won each of his last two fights, scoring the double since losing on points to Leon Edwards in Singapore over five rounds last summer. He got back on the bike with an eye-catching victory over Mike Perry, claiming the submission and performance of the night in Denver, before delivering the knockout of Alexander Hernandez back in January before an appreciative New York audience, scooping performance of the night and fight of the night.
Cerrone Competitively Priced
Cerrone goes in as betting underdog to win three-in-a-row and that will catch the eye of many shrewd backers. Unibet are offering out an impressive 11/10 – market best price at the time of checking – and that won’t go unnoticed on the run-up to the first bell.
There’s enough in that price to merit an interest as a super single, but there’s more to be had if you fancy Cowboy to win inside the distance, as he has done in each of his last two. There are a number of specials available too, including the fight not to test the judges at 1/2 with Ladbrokes or you can predict which round the bout will be won in.