VIP Betting Tips & Predictions for UFC 197 – Jones vs St-Preux

UFC 197 is a great card for betting, which means we’ve got 5 solid betting tips for this event. Each of the fighters we’re betting on hold significant advantages over their opponents and I am expecting to make a big profit from these bets. Don’t forget to hop into our Live Betting Tips Chat Room during UFC 197 to take advantage of our highly lucrative live betting tips. We’ve made almost 50 units of profit over the last 4 UFC events in live betting and we’re looking to keep this incredible run going by making even more money on saturday night… [divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″][private]

Jon Jones vs Ovince St-Preux Betting Tip Prediction

Click here to read our betting tip for the fight between Jon Jones and Ovince St-Preux
OUR BETTING TIP: 10 Units [10% of your bankroll] on Jon Jones to win at odds of 1.13 | -769 | 13/100 [divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

Demetrious Johnson vs Henry Cejudo Betting Tip Prediction

Henry Cejudo is a good fighter, but he’s not a great fighter and in order to beat a guy like Demetrious Johnson, good or great isn’t enough. To beat a guy like Demetrious Johnson, you have to be truly elite and Henry Cejudo just isn’t at that level yet. Last year Bethe Correia was given a title shot against Ronda Rousey because there was no one else left for Ronda to fight. Bethe bypassed all the top contenders like Cat Zingano, Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes and was easily beaten by Ronda in the 1st round. Henry Cejudo is obviously a much better fighter than Bethe Correia, but he’s in the same position as Bethe because he’s been fast tracked into a title shot and bypassed all the top contenders at Flyweight, because there is no one else left for Demetrious Johnson to fight. Henry Cejudo is a decent fighter, but I’m not even sure if he’d be able to beat guys like Joseph Benavidez, John Dodson, Justin Scoggins and Kyoji Horiguchi, let alone Demetrious Johnson who is quite possible the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Getting fast tracked into a title shot is never a good idea, because fighters need time to develop and measure themselves against the best fighters in the world. Cejudo’s wins in the UFC have come against Chico Camus, Dustin Kimura, Jussier Formiga and Chris Cariaso. None of those guys are anywhere near the level of Demetrious Johnson and Cejudo didn’t look impressive against any of them. Right now we have no idea how good Cejudo really is. I have personally been very underwhelmed by his performances so far in the UFC. To me he seems like a fighter who is stuck in an awkward position. He’s too big and too slow to compete with the best fighters in the Flyweight division, but he’s too small to compete at Bantamweight. Many people are giving Cejudo a legitimate chance of winning this fight because of his Olympic calibre wrestling, but I feel like this opinion is very short sighted. I’m not trying to dismiss Cejudo’s achievement’s, but there’s no money in wrestling. When you leave the Olympics you are often broke. Most Olympic level wrestlers go on to become High School gym teachers or Personal Trainers. If Olympic calibre wrestling was that much of an advantage in MMA, every division would be packed full of Olympic wrestlers in the top 10 rankings. We have never had an Olympic Gold Medallist wrestler win a UFC title because MMA and wrestling are two completely different sports. Henry Cejudo’s wrestling will help him in the Octagon, but it doesn’t automatically mean he’s going to have a shot at beating a guy like Demetrious Johnson, or even get the better of the grappling exchanges. Henry Cejudo obviously has excellent wrestling, but like many high level wrestlers, he doesn’t have the best top control when they transition into MMA. I’m sure he’s very good at holding people down in straight up wrestling competitions, but getting punched in the face and dealing with BJJ changes everything. Demetrious Johnson has excellent wrestling, excellent takedown defence and he’s like a spring when he gets taken down. If Cejudo does take Johnson down, I expect Johnson to stand right back up and this can be exhausting for a guy like Henry Cejudo who won’t be used to guys being able to do this. When high level wrestlers take guys down and then the guy they take down stands right back up, it often screws with their head and has a big impact on their confidence and cardio. Cejudo doesn’t strike me as a guy who can grind relentlessly for 25 minutes without significantly slowing down, which means I don’t see his wrestling as being that much of a factor in this fight. If Cejudo couldn’t take Chico Camus down and control him on the ground, I don’t see what he’s going to be able to do differently against Demetrious Johnson. Henry Cejudo said on the UFC embedded videos that he has trained really hard for this fight and he probably believes that he has. The reality is that he hasn’t. He hasn’t trained anywhere near as hard as he needs to for Demetrious Johnson because he’s still training in a small gym in his hometown with his brother as his wrestling coach and a 50 year old guy no one has ever heard of as his Boxing coach. Cejudo might have trained harder than he ever has done before, but it won’t be enough. Training hard would have involved moving to a camp like ATT or Jackson’s, where his coaches would have been able to prepare him for the kind of intensity he is going to experience fighting a guy like Demetrious Johnson. In order to get ready to fight at the pace that Demetrious Johnson fights at, you need to experience it first hand and Cejudo isn’t going to gain that experience training in a small gym in his hometown. I’m not being disrespectful, I’m just being realistic. Iron sharpens iron and beating Jussier Formiga by split decision isn’t going to help you get ready for what you will experience in a 5 round fight against a guy like Demetrious Johnson. Demetrious Johnson has elite skills in every single aspect of MMA, but his biggest strengths are his speed and cardio. No matter how hard you make him work he never gets tired and he doesn’t slow down. It’s almost impossible to prepare for a guy like this unless you have first hand experience fighting him. Cejudo might think he can beat Johnson by sticking to the basics, but it’s not so easy when Johnson will be constantly in his face for 25 minutes throwing kicks, punches and elbows from a wide variety of different positions and angles. There’s a short clip on UFC embedded of Cejudo watching footage and breaking Johnson down. He said he saw patterns in Johnson’s fighting style which he can exploit. That may be true, but even if you know what’s coming, it’s hard to consistently shut it down for 25 minutes. Johnson will put it on Cejudo at a relentless pace from the first second of the fight to the last second of the fight and no amount of hard training or watching fight footage will prepare you for how that is going to feel. I believe Johnson will win this fight easily by outworking Cejudo in any area that this fight takes place. If it stays standing, Johnson will land more strikes and he’ll also land the more significant strikes. If it goes to the ground, I expect Johnson to pop right back up. I also believe there’s a very good chance we’ll see Demetrious Johnson outgrapple Cejudo, particularly later on in the fight when Cejudo starts to get tired. Johnson should win this fight easily.
OUR BETTING TIP: 7.5 Units [7.5% of your bankroll] on Demetrious Johnson to win at odds of 1.28 | -357 | 7/25 [divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

Anthony Pettis vs Edson Barboza Betting Tip Prediction

Anthony Pettis and Edson Barboza are two high level strikers who both have a base in Tae Kwon Do. To the untrained eye, this might look like it could be a very close contest, but there are slight differences in the way both guys fight which will give Anthony Pettis a huge advantage in this matchup. Anthony Pettis is a 3rd degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, whilst Edson Barboza is only a 2nd degree Black Belt. This different level in technical ability shows itself in the fighting styles of both guys because Edson Barboza has big holes in his technique that aren’t present in Anthony Pettis’ skillset. Edson Barboza has huge weaknesses in his style that play perfectly into the strengths of Anthony Pettis. So what are these weaknesses? It all boils down to Edson Barboza’s bad striking defence. This guy just takes way too much damage. On average, against less technical strikers, Barboza has absorbed an average of 3.5 significant strikes per minute. This is way too high to compete at the highest level of the sport and way too high to survive against a dangerous technical striker like Anthony Pettis. On average, fighters in the Lightweight division tend to get knocked out after absorbing an average of 26 significant strikes, which means Edson Barboza is going to be badly hurt by the 7-8 minute mark in this fight. Another big difference in this matchup will be the hand speed and Boxing of both fighters. Edson Barboza and Anthony Pettis are both known for having incredible kicks, but you very rarely hear people talk about their Boxing. If you go back and watch any of Edson Barboza’s fights you’ll see that his Boxing is not very good at all. His striking skillset is heavily based on his kicks. This means that Barboza doesn’t really land much with his hands and he’s not very good at blocking punches either. Barboza uses good footwork to stay on the outside, but he’s very easy to punch. It’s almost like his experience at competing in Tae Kwon Do has left him vulnerable to eating punches, because Tae Kwon Do is a very kick orientated Martial Art. Anthony Pettis’ Boxing and striking defence is excellent. So much so that Pettis has never been finished in 22 pro MMA fights. Pettis’ offensive striking is also superb. He has the ability to land 3-4 punch combos, before most fighters have even had a chance to react. Pettis landed several Boxing combos on his last few opponents that a guy like Edson Barboza will not be able to take without getting knocked out. I believe that Pettis’ fast hands and deadly combos will be a huge factor in this fight. Anthony Pettis is one of the best fighters in the world. He hasn’t looked great in his last couple of fights, but that’s largely down to the fact that almost all of his opponents try to take him down and grind on him. His last 4 opponents were Rafael Dos Anjos, Eddie Alvarez, Gilbert Melendez and Benson Henderson. All of those guys tried to shut Pettis down by grinding on him. Anthony Pettis is primarily a striker and it’s been a long time since he has been able to let his hands go. Pettis hasn’t fought someone who will stand and strike with him since he fought Donald Cerrone back in 2013 and he won that fight by TKO in the 1st round. It’s been a long time since we have seen Pettis face an opponent who will allow him to do what he does best. This is a classic striker vs striker matchup and Pettis is clearly the better striker. He has better technique, better defence and more weapons. He also has a chin from hell and he can fight comfortable from both stances. I expect Anthony Pettis to get his career back on track with a big win over Edson Barboza at UFC 197.
OUR BETTING TIP: 2 Units [2% of your bankroll] on Anthony Pettis to win at odds of 1.59 | -169 | 59/100 [divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

Rafael Natal vs Robert Whittaker Betting Tip Prediction

Australian fighters aren’t famous for their wrestling or takedown defence but Robert Whittaker has extremely good takedown defence having defended 92% of all takedown attempts across 8 fights in the UFC. This is very impressive when you take into consideration the fact that Whittaker has fought some strong wrestlers such as Court McGee, Colton Smith and Clint Hester. This fight will come down to whether or not Whittaker can keep this fight standing. If he can keep it standing, he’ll absolutely murder Natal. If Natal ends up getting the fight to the ground, Whittaker runs the risk of losing a decision. After watching all of Whittaker and Natal’s recent fights, I feel extremely confident that Whittaker can keep this fight standing because Whittaker has excellent takedown defence. He also does a really good job of doing damage whilst stuffing takedowns. You’ll often see him land big counters as his opponent’s shoot in on him and you’ll also see him swarm guys when they fail to take him down. Whittaker does a very good job of punishing people for trying to take him down, which is a very effective style of fighting because it acts as a deterrent. Whittaker really makes his opponent’s pay for shooting in on him. Whittaker’s opponents run the risk of taking taking significant damage everytime they try to take him down, which means they become more and more reluctant to try and take him down as the fight goes on. This means that Whittaker has an incredible ability to put wrestlers into a defensive shell. It’s also worth noting that Robert Whittaker won’t be in that much danger if he does get taken down. Rafael Natal is sold as being a high level Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt, but he favours position over submission and very rarely comes close to finishing his opponents. This is backed up by the fact that Natal only has 1 win by submission in 14 fights in the UFC. This is significant because Whittaker can afford to lose the 1st round and still have a great shot of winning this fight. This is a significant factor to take into consideration because Natal has poor cardio and slows down considerably the longer the fight goes on. He may have a decent chance of getting Whittaker to the ground in the 1st round, but I really doubt he’ll have the energy to do it in the 2nd and 3rd. Natal has to try and find a way to finish this fight in the 1st round and if he doesn’t he’s in big trouble. Natal has improved his striking a lot in recent years, but he still has nothing for Whittaker standing up. If this fight stays standing I expect Whittaker to dominate. I believe Whittaker will win this fight by using his counter striking to deter Natal from shooting for takedowns. From there Whittaker will be able to use his fast hands and powerful combos to chip away at Natal. I expect Whittaker to win this fight by knockout which Natal starts to gas out.
OUR BETTING TIP: 5 Units [5% of your bankroll] on Robert Whittaker to win at odds of 1.30 | -333 | 3/10 [divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

James Vick vs Glaico Franca Betting Tip Prediction

Glaico Franca is one of the new type of fighters who has only managed to get into the UFC because they appeared on a reality TV show. Franca won the most recent season of the Ultimate Fighter Brazil, but he’s not a UFC level fighter. Franca has a very basic set of skills like most of the guys coming out of the regional TUF shows. His striking is basic and awkward and his grappling is nothing special. He’s not a particularly strong wrestler and his BJJ isn’t that dangerous. Franca, like many low level fighters, opts to use a grinding style of fighting to mask the massive holes in his striking skills. This means that Franca will do whatever he can to close the distance and pin his opponent against the cage. Problem is, he doesn’t really do anything when he gets his opponent against the cage. He’s not very good in the clinch, his takedowns are weak and his technique is very poor. James Vick is known primarily for being a striker, but his wrestling and ground game is actually very good. He also has excellent takedown defence and he’s solid in the clinch. Franca will undoubtedly look to grind on Vick and pin him against the cage, but this is a dangerous game to play because Vick is a significantly better grappler than Franca. I expect Vick to win this fight by being better than Franca in all areas. Franca will look to initiate grappling exchanges and from there Vick will be able to use his superior grappling to put Franca in bad positions. Franca showed on the Ultimate Fighter and in his UFC debut that he has a very low level ground game. And for that reason it’s ironic that he utilizes a grappling heavy style of fighting. I believe Franca will get involved in grappling exchanges with Vick, which will ultimately end up in him getting exposed and submitted. This should be an easy fight for James Vick.
OUR BETTING TIP: 3.5 Units [3.5% of your bankroll] on James Vick to win at odds of 1.59 | -169 | 59/100 [divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

Prop Bets for UFC 197 – Jones vs St-Preux

All of these Prop Bets were placed at Paddy Power. You can place most of these bets at 5 Dimes if you cannot open an account with Paddy Power. The odds on Prop Bets vary a lot between different betting websites, so the odds published below may be very different to what you will find on your own betting website of choice. [box type=”error” align=”alignright” ]Some of my VIP members follow my betting tips to invest their money and make big profits. Other members follow my betting tips to make watching MMA more exciting. My Prop Bets are for my VIP Members who want to place bets on every fight, to make watching UFC events more fun. The variance on Prop Bets is very high and you should not bet on them if you are serious about making money. I can’t guarantee that you will make money from placing bets on all of my Prop Bets. Please only bet on these Prop Bets for fun and make sure you keep your bets small.[/box]

Jon Jones vs Ovince St-Preux

Jon Jones to win in round 1 at odds of 2.62 | +162 Jon Jones to win in round 2 at odds of 4.33 | +333

Demetrious Johnson vs Henry Cejudo

Demetrious Johnson to win by unanimous decision at odds of 2.29 | +129 Demetrious Johnson to win in round 4 at odds of 13.00 | +1200 Demetrious Johnson to win in round 5 at odds of 15.00 | +1400

Anthony Pettis vs Edson Barboza

Anthony Pettis to win by KO in round 2 at odds of 10.00 | +900 Anthony Pettis to win by KO at odds of 4.00 | +300

Rafael Natal vs Robert Whittaker

Robert Whittaker to win by KO at odds of 2.00 | +100 Robert Whittaker to win by KO in round 3 at odds of 9.50 | +850

Andre Fili vs Yair Rodriguez

Andre Fili to win by decision at odds of 4.00 | +300 Yair Rodriguez to win by decision at odds of 2.60 | +160 Yair Rodriguez to win by submission at odds of 7.50 | +650 Yair Rodriguez to win in round 3 at odds of 17.00 | +1600

Chris Kelades vs Sergio Pettis

Sergio Pettis to win by decision at odds of 2.62 | +162

Danny Roberts vs Dominique Steele

Danny Roberts to win by KO at odds of 2.87 | +187

Carla Esparza vs Juliana Lima

Carla Esparza to win by decision at odds of 2.37 | +137

Glaico Franca vs James Vick

James Vick to win by submission at odds of 4.50 | +350 James Vick to win in round 3 at odds of 12.00 | +1100

Efrain Escudero vs Kevin Lee

Kevin Lee to win by decision at odds of 2.10 | +110 [divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

UFC 197 Picks

[box type=”error” align=”alignright”]Please do not bet on all of these picks. Please only place bets on our recommended betting tips. We only post these Picks because we fully research every fight and a lot of our VIP Members want to know who we think will win some of the fights that we don’t recommend betting on.[/box]

Ovince St-Preux	vs	Jon Jones	Jones to win
Demetrious Johnson	vs	Henry Cejudo	Johnson to win
Anthony Pettis	vs	Edson Barboza	Pettis to win
Rafael Natal	vs	Robert Whittaker	Whittaker to win
Andre Fili	vs	Yair Rodriguez	Fili to win
Danny Roberts	vs	Dominique Steele	Roberts to win
Chris Kelades	vs	Sergio Pettis	Pettis to win
Carla Esparza	vs	Juliana Lima	Esparza to win
Glaico Franca	vs	James Vick	Vick to win
Cody East	vs	Walt Harris	Harris to win
Clint Hester	vs	Rodrigo De Lima	Hester to win
Efrain Escudero	vs	Kevin Lee	Lee to win

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