The BB&T Center in south Florida plays host to the hotly-anticipated octagon action this weekend as the Ultimate Fighting Championship brings us Fight Night 150. Drama is guaranteed here as some of the most ambitious fighters in the game put record and reputation on the line in a bid to claim glory in front of the watching world. Who will come out on top? Here are our Souza v Hermansson betting tips.
The Main Card is packed with talent, led by a bout that has kept fans guessing in the build-up. Ronaldo Souza takes on Jack Hermansson in the main attraction at middleweight; that’s a clash that really could go either way, splitting public opinion right down the middle. The winner of that one will take a huge leap towards getting a shot at the division’s top prize. Fans in attendance and watching the live TV coverage will be settled into their seats early.
UK fans can keep up-to-speed thanks to the live coverage offered by BT Sport; however, it’ll be another late one with the main event expected at around 1.00am GMT. Worth staying up for? We certainly think so; there’s plenty on the undercard that’ll hold your attention as we move into the wee small hours of Sunday.
Interest in the Undercard
Greg Hardy is paired with Dmitrii Smoliakov at heavyweight in a bout billed as the co-main event and that goes after we have sorted through Alex Oliveira v Mike Perry at welterweight, Glover Teixiera v Ion Cutelaba light heavyweight, John Lineker v Cory Sandhagen bantamweight and Roosevelt Roberts v Thomas Gifford lightweight.
Bookies offer competitive betting odds and markets on all the night’s best fights, gifting punters the chance to make their predictions on the winner of each bout and throw them together in an accumulator, or you can seek out the value that exists in the specials. Play the method of victory market and if you can correctly predict who will win the fight and how they will achieve it – points, knockout or submission – you will be rewarded handsomely.
Alligator to Put the Bite on Jack
39-year-old Brazilian Ronaldo Souza is a highly-ranked middleweight fighter who has never won the UFC world championship, but boasts impressive wins over fellow champions, as well as some of the division’s best and brightest. He is approaching the end of his career but has been showing no signs of slowing down in recent outings and has a style that will allow him to remain competitive for as long as he sees fit. No fighter will welcome a match with Souza, that’s for sure.
An all-rounder, he boasts experience competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Muay Thai and Submission Wrestling and that is evident in his MMA style, a capable fighter in all areas of the game, including with his back to the floor. Fighting out of Amazonas in the country of his birth, Ronaldo brings a professional MMA record – having fought under a number of major promotions, including UFC – of 26 wins from 33 contests. Of his victories, he has won 14 by submission – no surprise, given his experience of submission wrestling – eight by knockout and four by decision.
On the flip side of his record, Souza has lost six times to date, with those defeats spread evenly between knockout and decision. He also has one no contest on his card which came back in 2009 when fighting on the Dream 9 scene in Japan for the vacant Dream middleweight championship, the bout called to a premature conclusion due to an illegal kick.
Mixed Bag of Results
More recently, Ronaldo has suffered a mixed bag of results and he will step into the octagon on fight night having three of his last seven, that form showing lose-win-win-lose-win-lose-win. You can seen from that he lacks the consistency needed to really drive himself towards major honours but he did claim the result last time out, knocking out Chris Wiedman in three rounds before an appreciative New York audience. As well as the KO win, Ronaldo was also awarded fight of the night on UFC 230 and that would’ve done wonders for his team’s confidence.
Fight fans were impressed, as were bookmakers who have priced Souza as hot favourite to collect a second win on the bounce. Punters who agree with that call can back the Brazilian at 4/7 with Bet365. Tight, but it’s better than the 8/15 you’ll find with most of the competition and we wouldn’t be surprised to see that prediction pop-up in a number of weekend accumulators.
There’s more to be had in the method of victory market and those looking to take a bit more of a chance can do so by predicting how the jolly will win. If taking a punt at this market you will be interested to learn Souza has claimed each of his last two wins by knockout – stopping Derek Brunson with kicks and Chris Weidman with a heavy-handed punching attack.
Followers of the form will also know five of Ronaldo’s last six, and each of his last three bouts have all been awarded either fight of the night of performance of the night, so we’re sure to get our share of class. Another KO/TKO will be well-supported in the method of victory market and recent form means it makes more sense than the submission or points verdict.
Super Swede Put to the Test
30-year-old Swede Jack Hermansson goes into this bout as one of the hottest properties in the UFC at the minute but will know his progress and form to date will all be for nothing if he doesn’t upset the odds and get the win over Souza.
Adding his opponent’s scalp would seriously boost his record, catapulting him towards bigger and better things and although Ronaldo is a talented operator he will be viewed as little more than a gatekeeper by the underdog, an obstacle standing between him and where he wants to be with his UFC career.
The Joker is a 6ft 1inch orthodox fighter born in Uddevalla and fighting out of Oslo in Norway. Regarded as one of Europe’s premier fighters at the moment, he brings a professional record showing 19 wins from 23 starts with 11 of those coming by way of knockout, five by submission and three by decision. His four losses read two by submission, one knockout and one decision. His last lost came at the hands of Thiago Santos in Sao Paolo back in October 2017 when stopped in the third round following an assault of kicks and punches.
Return to Winning Ways
Since that loss, Hermansson has won each of his three comeback bouts, taking one by TKO and his last two by submission. He was last seen choking out David Branch on UFC Philadelphia in a performance of the night show, that bout lasting less than a round. Punters who sat through that would’ve recognised Jack as one to keep on the right side of.
Odds compilers aren’t holding out much hope for the Swede, however, and have him marked as second favourite with the trading team at Bet365 confident enough to offer up a chunky 6/4. That surprised us and we’re going to have an interest play on that one as we think it’s bigger than it should be. This is a serious step up for Jack but he has the ability to take it in his stride and we’d rather have our cash on the bigger price of the two.