UFC 298, Feb 17, California

Rumor has it that he had a bad camp, that’s why the line moved

3 rounder I’ll probably take a shot on cejudo. I mean who is playing merab at -250? Lol
Won't play him but I think Merab will look like that price makes sense. Maybe Henry lands something that hurts him, otherwise I can't see him keeping Merab off him. Pressure, volume, pace. Henry obviously has the wrestling pedigree but keeping from being pushed again the cage seems unlikely. The relentlessness Merab showed vs Yan was insane. Yan might have broken the record for takedowns defended iirc and it made zero difference. Because Merab doesn't get frustrated or tired, he simply keeps pushing forward. Keeps clinching, throwing volume, level changing. Nonstop.
Honestly, it's so tough for me to see Cejudo win a decision that I think I'd prefer his KO line at +500 vs his ML at +200.
 
Rumor has it that he had a bad camp, that’s why the line moved

3 rounder I’ll probably take a shot on cejudo. I mean who is playing merab at -270? Lol
The line has gotten way out of hand

When have we ever seen cejudo get outclassed to warrant a line like that? He almost beat aljo after an almost four year layoff.

Going to be on some dogs here. Sure haven’t bet any favorites

I've seen a lot of people saying Henry has an injury?
 
Won't play him but I think Merab will look like that price makes sense. Maybe Henry lands something that hurts him, otherwise I can't see him keeping Merab off him. Pressure, volume, pace. Henry obviously has the wrestling pedigree but keeping from being pushed again the cage seems unlikely. The relentlessness Merab showed vs Yan was insane. Yan might have broken the record for takedowns defended iirc and it made zero difference. Because Merab doesn't get frustrated or tired, he simply keeps pushing forward. Keeps clinching, throwing volume, level changing. Nonstop.
Honestly, it's so tough for me to see Cejudo win a decision that I think I'd prefer his KO line at +500 vs his ML at +200.
If that fight with yan never happens where is the line?

Yan was supposedly dealing with some injuries for that fight

Everybody is on merab here. Havent played anything but merabs decision line was almost evens when I checked
 
What people dont seem to remember about the Merab vs Yan fight is that Merab beat the brakes off of Yan in the process of crowding him, pushing him around, pressuring, non stop takedown attempts to initiate scrambles and clinches… Yan is elite fighter and very well rounded yet he was bullied and didn’t have an answer. His face looked bad after it was all said and done.

One of the best performances in recent history of MMA. That’s why I’m big on Merab. Older Henry whos been through surgeries and injuries, fought once in the last four years or so… He’s up against it.

If he does manage to pull it off it will be one of those big performances á la GSP vs Bisping
 
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Yan likes to make lot of reads. Its just the way he operates. I think Merab did take Yan by surprise at least little bit by cornering him so heavily. But he still hit 50-45 over Yan with help of shooting billion takedowns and that is mad. I dont know how Cejudo would prepeare for scenario like that but if anything I think Merabs work on the striking side will be the deciding facor here. Im not sure how this plays out, probably Merab via volume dec? I dont blame taking shots at Henry even if they seem a bit blind.
 
If that fight with yan never happens where is the line?

Yan was supposedly dealing with some injuries for that fight

Everybody is on merab here. Havent played anything but merabs decision line was almost evens when I checked

Probably Merab -140ish? Hard to say. But the fight with Yan did happen, and what that fight was more than anything was confirmation that yes, Merab CAN literally push an insane pace all night and suffocate anyone even if he can't get his TD game going.
Feels like fighters are almost always dealing with some sort of injuries, especially after they lose. Not saying Yan wasn't but I never know how much stock to put in it (unless they immediately go have a major surgery or something).


Merab's ML now at -270...nah. No value. Decision line at evens has more value imo. Cejudo ML no value either, if he wins I think it's because he somehow times a combo and stuns Merab and gets a TKO.
 
Best PP/Underdog plays imo:

PP:
Maverick over 50.5 sig strikes--this is by far the best line imo

Lemos over 75.5 Fantasy score (if she wins, this is basically a guaranteed cover but there's chance she could cover even in losing if for example Dern spams bad TD's and Lemos gets a bunch of takedowns defended plus lands a decent amount of strikes).

Hernandez over 2.5 takedowns--BOL has this set at 3 (though it is +115 for over), and UD has it 2.5 but only at .85x payout so they favor the over as well. PP is where the value is if you think Fluffy can get 3 or more TD's.

Merab over 61.5 sig strikes

Garry under 93.5 Fantasy score--even if he wins, it's likely a decision where he wins via striking from distance. Neal won't shoot TD's and allow Ian to score Fantasy points via takedowns defended. Garry won't score any way other than landed strikes. No TD's, sub attempts, etc. If he finds a KO then he'll cover, if not and he wins by decision (and assuming no knockdowns, TD's, sub attempts etc) he would need to land about 115 sig strikes to cover this FS. Possible, but unlikely IMO. Especially because Garry will need to be more cautious than he was vs say Magny given Neal's power.

UD:
Merab under 70.55 Fantasy Score (I got it at under 72.55 but it's dropped since then). The math doesn't add up. The fight is heavily favored to go the distance. So assuming Merab wins by decision, that's 10 points. His sig strike line is at 62.5 on UD. Say he gets 70, that's 35 more points (.5 per ss landed on this site). Takedown line is set at 3.5, so let's say he gets 5 takedowns, that's 25 more points. He's still at 70 and doesn't cover, as this site doesn't give points for TDD etc. Merab attempting a sub is very unlikely, as is him knocking Henry down. And even with his pace, I think it's somewhat unlikely that Merab covers both his TD and sig strike line. Probably one or the other, but not both. I can easily see a fight where he's pressuring Henry and holding him against the cage for long stretches which easily win him rounds but score him nothing on this site and he wins 30-27 across the board and doesn't come close to covering this FS. (Obviously if Henry pulls the upset, this will cash).

(These final 2 are in the "rivals" section where the site gives handicaps):

Merab -9.5 sig strikes vs Cejudo sig strikes. Line should be much wider imo. Merab has easily covered this in every fight in the UFC since his first one (in other words, in 10 consecutive fights he's outlanded his opponent by 10 or more sig strikes). There's absolutely zero reason to think he won't land a ton more sig strikes than Henry. He's busier, never slows down, will be the one pushing the pace. Barring Henry clipping him and finishing within 2 rounds, this should easily cover imo. (You obviously cannot play this in a parlay with Merab under FS, so you'd need to choose/mix and match which one you'd play).

Maverick -3.5 sig strikes vs Lee sig strikes. Maverick has covered this in each of her UFC wins (in her 5 wins outlanded her opponent by 4 or more ss). She's a 2-1 favorite, and likely the one to get top position via takedowns if any happen. In WMMA, they count sig strikes from top position far more than they do the men (no idea why, but they do). If Maverick takes Lee down, she will likely land plenty from top position and cover this easily. She may well cover easily even if it stays standing the whole time.

That's all I've got. GL.
 
-I like Ilya to KO Volk or win a decision. I think it's his time. Volk aint necessarily old either. Ilya is just that good imo. If Volk wins I think he turns tables in third but then again Ilya had a grueling 25 min battle with Emmet but Josh never even had a chance to turn it around. One time I thought he was starting to look a little tired he immediately turned the tables on Bryce himself and submitted him.

-Rob by decision. I kinda expect little too late performance from Costa. 29-28 with Costa winning the last round.

-Garry's performance reliability is better than Grant's so I gotta back him up. But I wouldnt be shocked either way. Garry is natural born winner. He might get in tough situation or two but pulls out the win anyway.

-Dvalisvili by dec through volume striking.

-Kopylov via body shot after Hern tries to close the distance too fast and recklessly.

Shit picks, just who I think will win now from top of my head. 0-5 completely possible but I'm actually very high on Ilya so maybe 1-4 or sumthing.
 
I'm leaning
Volk
Whittaker
Garry
Merab
Lemos

I'm pretty confident that, as long as their chins haven't expired, that Volk and Whittaker got this.
I like Garry at range, but to be honest I wouldn't be surprised one bit if Neal closes the distance and ends the hype train. I might add a hedge on this one.
If CCC doesn't get steamrolled then I think there will be ample time to livebet on that one at good odds. (I got in before it went crazy in Merab's favor) I do think he gets steamrolled though.
I feel like Lemos can replicate what Andrade did against Dern, however Lemos looked rough at the weigh ins and Dern actually looked pretty good. So I might have to livebet my way out of that one too haha.
 
That Yan vs Devilwashyourwillie is hard to look past. I'll say that Henry is indeed quite a bit better at level changing and underhooking than Yan and can initiate scrambles more like Simón was able to do. Plus I think Henry has faster feet than anyone Merab has faced so he can be opened up to taking Wilson Reis straight right while he gets up. Not gonna make much money playing Merab.

I got a little bit on CCC itd +505

Also not agreeing much on all the Volk action. I could physically give him 1u of my money to get McDonald's and not come back with a bunch of Foster's or whatever they drink is Aus.

Not in the business of better against Dern unless she's gonna be fighting Amanda Nunes.
 
I tried to make the case to bet Neal but couldn't quite get there. He's just been too inconsistent and I don't like that he doesn't seem capable of adjusting mid-fight. I could see him big-brothering Garry but I could also see Garry out-pressuring him and him looking unprepared. Since I'm not betting, I hope Garry wins a decision and I get a chance to fade him next time out.

I don't get all the hype on Topuria at this point. He's definitely a good fighter with a bright future but a decision win over Emmett isn't enough to justify these odds. I think fair odds should be around -150/130. My only bet of size tonight is Volkanovski.
 
Probably Merab -140ish? Hard to say. But the fight with Yan did happen, and what that fight was more than anything was confirmation that yes, Merab CAN literally push an insane pace all night and suffocate anyone even if he can't get his TD game going.
Feels like fighters are almost always dealing with some sort of injuries, especially after they lose. Not saying Yan wasn't but I never know how much stock to put in it (unless they immediately go have a major surgery or something).


Merab's ML now at -270...nah. No value. Decision line at evens has more value imo. Cejudo ML no value either, if he wins I think it's because he somehow times a combo and stuns Merab and gets a TKO.
I’ve made a lot of money off merab. Had him against yan as a few of us in here did. We were on a bit of an island

Im a bit put off by all the cejudo rumors and the amount of people on merab.
 
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I’ve made a lot of money off merab. Had him against yan as a few of us in here did. We were on a bit of an island

Im a bit put off by all the cejudo rumors and the amount of people on merab.
Merab **seems** like a guy who had to figure out how to weaponize his cardio but now thag he has...look out.
 
The problem with Merab is his lack of punching power or any real threat on the feet. I can see Cejudo stealing rounds by landing some really impactful shots that outweigh Merab’s fence stalling in the eyes of the judges. Cejudo came back after a super long layoff and arguably beat a really tricky champ who was much bigger than him. You could tell he was struggling with Sterling’s reach, but that won’t be as much of a problem against Merab. If it were 5 rounds I’d definitely lean more towards Merab, but I think Henry will be able to do enough in 3 rounds to win.
 
The problem with Merab is his lack of punching power or any real threat on the feet. I can see Cejudo stealing rounds by landing some really impactful shots that outweigh Merab’s fence stalling in the eyes of the judges. Cejudo came back after a super long layoff and arguably beat a really tricky champ who was much bigger than him. You could tell he was struggling with Sterling’s reach, but that won’t be as much of a problem against Merab. If it were 5 rounds I’d definitely lean more towards Merab, but I think Henry will be able to do enough in 3 rounds to win.
If you get Mike Bell and Saul D'amato as judges, you have a solid chance.
 
If you get Mike Bell and Saul D'amato as judges, you have a solid chance.
Judges in general have favoured damage over control for a while. Cejudo will almost certainly have moments in the fights where he’ll be able to create some space between himself and Merab, he’s just going to have to make the most of those moments.
 
Man, wild to see people favor Merab over Cejudo so easily. What is Merab's path to victory? Spam takedowns and outwrestle the opponent as usual? Outwrestle an olympic gold medalist? If there is any man who can stop Merab's takedowns it's Cejudo.

Other calls:
Paulo Costa via DEC, insane value at 7.20 odds.
Geoff Neal vs Ian Garry at 2.9 odds, Neal is the better striker and if he can keep it on his feet I think Garry will get TKO'd. I also hedge it with a Garry sub, but i think Neal ML is a very likely scenario.

Mackenzie by sub, her only path to victory.
 
Judges in general have favoured damage over control for a while. Cejudo will almost certainly have moments in the fights where he’ll be able to create some space between himself and Merab, he’s just going to have to make the most of those moments.
Merab out struck Yan, i don't really believe he needs to grapple Henry here. Alja was nearly beaten by Yan razor thin.

Merab should do better than Alja on the feet. My statement about judges is more about power vs volume striking not ctrl. And in that case volume usually wins over low volume power shots, true in boxing as well. Alja won 2/3 judges on volume and in boxing Fury pointed Francis with volume over power.
 
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