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UFC 218: Max Holloway vs. Jose Aldo Odds and Prediction

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UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway defends his title belt against the man he won it from. Blessed is set to face Jose Aldo a second time this year at the main event UFC 218 at Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, Michigan on December 2nd, 2017.

Second Chance

Aldo gets a second chance at beating Holloway after Frankie Edgar withdrew from the event with an injury. It can be recalled that Aldo lost the UFC featherweight belt to Holloway via third round TKO and he has since talked about pursuing a career in boxing after finishing his UFC contract.

Scarface was scheduled to fight Ricardo Lamas on December 16th but he will now have to cut his camp short by two weeks to face Holloway. Aldo has never lost a rematch in his entire MMA career but he may be facing an even tougher Max Holloway this time around.

Holloway’s remarkable winning run has put him on top of the heap. Since losing to Conor McGregor in 2013, Holloway has been a machine piling up win after win in impressive fashion. He is without a doubt the most exciting featherweight to watch and perhaps the most dangerous man in the business.

Not The Same Aldo

The champion Holloway is favored at – 325 while former champion Aldo is the underdog at +265. This is the second fight between these combatants and it’s hard to forget that Holloway knocked out Aldo during their first encounter at UFC 212.

Aldo is still probably the greatest featherweight champion of all-time but the times have changed. After his long reign was ended by Conor McGregor at UFC 194, Aldo has not been the same fighter. Sure, he beat Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 but he didn’t look like the Jose Aldo we used to know. Sure enough, when he defended the belt against Holloway last June, Holloway dispatched him like a has-been fighter.

Aldo claims he wasn’t motivated enough for that fight but what makes him think he’s motivated for this one? Holloway has risen from the ranks and has now won a remarkable 11 consecutive fights. Not only does he have the momentum on his side, but he also has the tools to beat Aldo and he’s going to show that on fight night.

More Firepower

Holloway has a four-inch height advantage and he lands at least two significant strikes per minute than Aldo. Aldo’s a low risk counter punching genius but Holloway is just going to swarm him with his pressure style. As in their first bout, he’s not going to keep pace with the younger, faster and more accurate striker.

Aldo’s got superb takedown defense but Holloway isn’t going to take this fight to the ground. He’s going to fight fire with fire and the bad thing for Aldo is that Blessed has more firepower. At this stage of their careers, it Holloway who’s younger by six years. Aldo is still good but he’s looked old recently. Expect Holloway to come out firing and be more aggressive again. There may be no knockouts here but Max Holloway is going to win this fight convincingly, via unanimous decision.

UFC 206: Max Holloway vs. Anthony Pettis Odds and Prediction

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UFC 206 lost its original main event after light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier pulled out of the event with an injury. Good thing UFC 206 already had a marquee featherweight bout as co-main event. That featherweight scrap is now promoted to main event status, and it may even turn out to be a better fight than Cormier vs. Johnson.

Interim Title Bout

With Conor McGregor relinquishing (or getting stripped, whichever you want to believe) the title he won with his 13-second destruction of Jose Aldo last year, the UFC has promoted the Max Holloway – Anthony Pettis showdown to an interim title bout. And for Max Holloway, it’s getting the title shot that he’s earned through the years.

After starting his UFC career with a modest 3-3 record, Holloway has blossomed into one of the most dangerous fighters in the UFC’s 145-pound weight class. Since losing to Conor McGregor in 2013, Holloway has racked up an impressive 9-consecutive wins to become the division’s 2nd ranked contender. During this winning run, “Blessed” has beaten Top 10 contenders Cub Swanson, Charles Oliveira and Jeremy Stephens.

Second Lease on Life

Anthony Pettis, meanwhile, has found a new lease on his UFC life at a new weight class. Following three straight losses to Rafael Dos Anjos, Eddie Alvarez and Edson Barboza, “Showtime” bounced back with an impressive 3rd round submission win in featherweight debut against submission master Charles Oliveira. The win immediately put Pettis at #5 in the UFC’s official Featherweight rankings and put him in a position to fight for the title.

The stakes are high for this bout, as the winner will face newly promoted champion Jose Aldo for the undisputed UFC Featherweight title sometime in the near future. And if you’re looking for a dog fight, it can’t get any better than this.

Blessed Over Showtime

Holloway opened as a -185 favorite against Pettis’ +145 when the betting lines for this bout opened. As of the latest UFC 206 odds (12.2.16), Pettis has narrowed the gap at +130 for him and -160 for Holloway. The odds are -160 that this fight goes the distance while it’s +160 that it doesn’t. These make Pettis-Holloway a tough fight to fight to predict, but it’s definitely going to be a exciting striking battle between two of the sport’s premier strikers.

Pettis has excellent Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Taekwondo background. He is good with his hands as he is with his feet. His unique and uncanny striking ability makes him an exciting fighter to watch. Holloway too is adept on his feet. Blessed knows how to pick his shots and when he lands, he does so cleanly and effectively. Just watch his UFC 199 bout against Ricardo Lamas and you can see how good Holloway has become. With both fighters preferring to fight on their feet, this could end up as one of the better fights of the year.

Pettis has a three inch reach advantage while Holloway is an inch taller and four year younger. Offensively, Holloway lands 3.07 more strikes lander per minute but absorbs 1.36 more per 60 seconds. Pettis’ 57% striking defense may be too lax against a surging Holloway. Pettis looked good against Barboza in his featherweight debut but we don’t know what the long term effects of the weight class drop would be. Holloway’s been at featherweight forever and he will be more effective in a five round war. We’re picking Max Holloway to win by unanimous decision or late stoppage.

UFC 206: Anthony Pettis vs. Max Holloway Odds and Preview

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After calling out each other last month via Twitter, Anthony Pettis and Max Holloway are headed for a high level featherweight showdown at UFC 206.

The UFC announced the fight on October 26th:

Moving Down To Featherweight

Pettis is coming off an impressive featherweight debut at UFC on Fox 21 last August, where he submitted submission master Charles Oliveira in three rounds. Prior to that, Showtime lost three fights in a row at lightweight. That losing skid forced the former UFC Lightweight champion to move down in weight and fight at 145 pounds.

The win over Oliveira moved Pettis from #5 in Lightweight to #6 in Featherweight. It also installed him as one of the favorite contenders in the weight class whose title belt has been held hostage by reigning champion, Conor McGregor.

On A Hot Streak

On a nine-fight winning streak, Max Holloway certainly deserves a crack at the featherweight title. Holloway is coming off a decision win over Top 5 featherweight Ricardo Lamas at UFC 199 and has beaten the likes of Jeremy Stephens, Charles Oliveira and Cub Swanson during his winning run. The last time Holloway lost was in 2013 and that was to Conor McGregor.

Holloway would have loved to avenge that loss but McGregor is busy fighting for the Lightweight belt at UFC 205. With interim champion Jose Aldo busy with his squabble with the UFC, ‘Blessed’ said that he was willing to settle for Anthony Pettis instead. Pettis responded to that challenge by alluding to a UFC 205 bout but while that was denied, the two are headed to the co-main event of UFC 206 in Toronto.

Who The Odds Are Picking

Holloway has opened as a slight -160 favorite over Pettis, who comes in at +125.

Blessed’s impressive winning run has certainly left a good impression on him. Also, Holloway is the more experienced guy in this weight class, having fought here throughout his UFC career. Though Pettis proved he can make weight and beat a contender like Oliveira, he remains untested against the regulars of his new weight class.

Betting odds at sites like Bovada are also giving this fight a -245 for going over 2.5 rounds and a +175 for ending in less than 2.5 rounds which means that Pettis and Holloway are likely to go the full route.