Okay MYBookie MMA betting buffs, it’s going down on Saturday night when former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem takes on MMA veteran Aleksei Oleinik in the headline bout of UFC Fight Night 149. With a half-dozen fights making up the main card of the UFC’s latest event, let’s find out who’s in the octagon and who’s looking good against their respective MMA betting odds.
UFC Fight Night 149 Odds, Predictions & Picks
Overeem: He’s a great guy. He’s a friend of mine. That being said, I’m here to kick some ass. I’m in phenomenal shape.
It’s going to be action-packed. It will be a great fight.
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) April 19, 2019
- UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Oleinik will take place live from St. Petersburg, Russia on Saturday, April 20 at Yubileyny Sports Palace.
Main Card
Alistair Overeem (44-17-1 NC) vs. Aleksei Oleinik (57-11-1)
38-year-old Englishman heavyweight Alistair Overeem stands 6’4” with a 80-inch reach. He comes into this bout off a stunning first round KO win over Sergey Pavlovich at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Ngannou in November that snapped a two-fight losing streak, ironically, against the headline heavyweights on that card. Overeem has racked up 22 career KO wins, 17 via submission and five by way of decision.
41-year-old Russian Aleksei Oleinik stands 6’2” with a 80-inch reach. He comes into this affair having won two straight and four of five, including a first round submission (rear naked choke) win over Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Oleinik in September. Oleinik has recorded just eight KO wins in his career, while racking up a mind-boggling 45 victories via submission and four more, by way of decision.
Oleinik hasn’t won a fight without a submission victory since 2016, but I like the Sambo and jiu-jitsu specialist to get the big win in this one by submitting the often underachieving Alistair Overeem in this one.
Pick: Aleksei Oleinik Via Second Round Submission
Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan – Lightweights
27-year-old Islam Makhachev (16-1) has won four straight fights and comes into this affair off a first round submission win over Kajan Johnson at UFC on Fox: Alvarez vs. Poireir 2 in July. 22-year-old Armenian lightweight Arman Tsarukyan has a 13-1 record, with wins over former UFC fighters Felipe Olivieri, Junior Assuncao, and Takenori Sato.
To make quick work of my pick on this intriguing pairing, I’m going to urge you to back the more experienced Islam Makhachev simply because his opponent in this affair is making his UFC debut and has never been on a stage of this magnitude. Makhachev enters this bout with a little bit more desperationg than his opponent as a loss here could derail his chances of reaching a title fight in the near future. I’m thinking this one goes the distance.
Pick: Islam Makhachev Via Unanimous Decision
Here are the remaining matches on the UFC Fight Night 149 card.
- Sergei Pavlovich vs. Marcelo Golm
- Ivan Shtyrkov vs. Devin Clark
- Roxanne Modafferi vs. Antonina Shevchenko
- Krzysztof Jotko vs. Alen Amedovski
