Lovers of all things mixed martial arts have a fascinating evening in store as the latest offering from the Ultimate Fighting Championship comes to us on Sunday 20 January. UK fans are able to watch the action live from midnight. Here are our best Henry Cejudo v TJ Dillashaw betting tips.
The main event has a 5.00am advertised start time; however, that shouldn’t put too many off with a bumper audience expected to stay up late to catch Henry Cejudo v TJ Dillashaw. The world-famous Barclays Center in New York plays hosts and there will be a sell-out crowd in attendance for what promises to be a thrilling start to the year.
As well as Henry Cejudo v TJ Dillashaw headlining the card, there’s also plenty to enjoy from the support acts making up the Main Card with Greg Hardy v Allen Crowder meeting at heavyweight; Gregor Gillespie v Yancy Medeiros at lightweight; Joseph Benavidez v Dustin Ortiz flyweight; Paige VanZant v Rachel Ostovich women’s flyweight and Glover Teixeira taking on Ion Cutelaba in the light heavyweight category.
Some of the names scheduled to show on the Preliminary Card, shown live on ESPN, are Donald Cerrone, Alexander Hernandez, John Lineker, Dennis Bermudez, Belal Muhammad and Randy Brown.
Plenty to Bet On
As well as a star-studded show throwing up plenty of evenly matched contests, bookmakers have done the ground work to ensure there’s also enough for sports punters to get stuck into, helping make the evening a little more enjoyable. UFC cards always bringing excitement but there’s nothing quite like the satisfaction that comes from calling the winner and making a profit into the bargain. Betting means you can cash in on your knowledge of sport.
Have your say on the winner of the main event or pick a few predictions and club them together in an accumulator, gifting players the chance to win big for a small stakes bet. You can also push your luck a little further and play the method of victory market.
This carries a little more risk as you must correctly predict who will win the fight and how they will do it – knockout, submission or points – so it’s double the job, but the rewards are far greater, and many see them well worth shooting for.
Doing your research is something we always advise before making your bets and its amazing just how often a big fight, match or race will follow the trends. It’s worth knowing who the form fighter is and how his recent results have gone. Is he a big hitter with knockout power in his stand-up game? Back him to win by KO/TKO. Perhaps the favourite is more of an MMA all-rounder who prefers it on the mat. Take a chance on him impressing the scoring judges and winning by decision.
Viper on a Winning Run
TJ Dillashaw is a two-time and current UFC bantamweight champion fighting out of Denver, Colorado. The 32-year-old, nicknamed The Viper, has a professional MMA record reading 16 wins from 19 contests with eight of those victories coming by way of knockout. There are also five decisions on the card with another three submission results. On the other side of the fence his CV shows three defeats, two by decision and one KO reverse.
A genuine all-rounder, Dillashaw brings a style collecting his past experiences fighting Muay Thai, wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and that ensures he’s comfortable both on his feet or with is back to the mat. That shows in his results with TJ winning each of his last four. Since losing to Dominick Cruz via a split decision on UFC Fight Night Boston in 2016, a result that cost him the UFC title, he bounced back to record wins over Raphael Assuncao by decision on UFC 200; John Lineker decision UFC 207; Cody Garbrandt TKO UFC 217 and the same man by the same method on UFC 227 in August of this year before an appreciative Los Angeles audience.
Betting Favourite
Bookmakers have wasted no time in throwing their support behind TJ Dillashaw to continue his winning ways; punters looking to do the same thing will find the form American marked at no better than the 8/15 offered by Bet365. That’s a tad tight, perhaps; however, it’s current market best price and makes a bit more appeal when learning some of the competition are as short as 4/9 on the same outcome.
The specials make for interesting reading and we have even money trading about this contest being settled inside 4.5 rounds, with over 4.5 quoted at 7/10 at Bet365. Both bets stand regardless of who is announced winner. Will the fight go the distance? That’s another option. Coral are 7/10 we don’t hear the final buzzer, 11/10 the scoring judges are called into action.
Cejudo Targets an Upset
Henry Cejudo may enter the arena on fight night as an underdog; however, he’s one that carries plenty of bite into this contest and he’ll fancy his chances at springing a surprise and turning the tables on his doubters. The 31-year-old Californian is a decorated Olympian, winning Men’s Freestyle Wrestling gold at Beijing 2008 and carried his success into the octagon, winning 13 of 15, eight by decision and five by KO/TKO.
The Messenger lost two-in-a-row but fought back to claim each of his last three. He beat Wilson Reis by KO on UFC 215; Sergio Pettis decision UFC 218 and Demetrious Johnson by split decision UFC 227 when bagging the UFC flyweight championship and fight of the night.
Despite that, bookies have Cejudo priced as outsider, with Coral traders confident enough to offer a market best price of 15/8. Be careful who you get your money on with, however, as many firms give just 13/8 on the same bet and you’d be foolish to settle for two points less.
There will be an obvious size difference on the night and although we wouldn’t put anyone off a bet on Cejudo, if that was their preferred pick, we’re advising a punt on Dillashaw to win by submission.
Our Tip: Dillashaw to win – 8/15 at Bet365
Don’t forget to check out more top tips and our best MMA betting strategies.