In the final co-main event, Alistair Overeem and Augusto Sakai tangle in a heavyweight bout at UFC on ESPN+ 34 Saturday at the UFC’s APEX Facility in Las Vegas. The prelims kick off at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+, followed by the main card set for 8 p.m. ET.
Overeem (46-18) is coming off an impressive second-round KO/TKO of Walt Harris May 16 in Jacksonville, Fla., and three of his past four wins have come via knockout. In fact, each of his past six fights, and 10 of his past 11 have been decided by KO/TKO, going 6-4 in those bouts. You might never know who is going win during an Overeem fight, but you know there will be some heavy hits and a likely knockout result. In fact, since landing at the UFC level back on Dec. 30, 2011, when he knocked out Brock Lesnar, just three of his 18 fights have gone the distance. Each of the 15 to finish inside the distance have been KO/TKO results, too, going 8-7.
Sakai (15-1-1) enters 4-0 since arriving at the UFC level. Plus, he’s on a six-bout win streak since his last setback at Bellator 179 against Cheick Kongo in May of 2017. The orthodox-stance Brazilian picked up a split-decision win against Blagoy Ivanov last time out on May 30. While Sakai doesn’t have as many quick fights as Overeem, his resume is pretty impressive. Four of his past six professional fights have finished inside the distance, going 4-0 via KO/TKO.
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Alistair Overeem vs. Augusto Sakai betting odds
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 5:53 a.m. ET.
Overeem (-173) is a great fighter and likely a future Hall of Famer who will be missed one day when he finally rides off into the sunset. His fights are always thrilling, and you’re certainly to see someone eating a lot of punches. SAKAI (+140) is cut from the same cloth, and he can really make a name for himself if he can fell the big timber from the Netherlands. Sakai is a great value at this price.
If you want to get winner specific, SAKAI BY KO/TKO, DQ or SUBMISSION (+225) pays rather handsomely on the 5-way line. If you want to play it more conservatively, avoid picking a winner and just roll with the fight finish being a KO/TKO/DQ (-189). It’s almost a certainty that someone is going to get knocked out here. In addition, UNDER 2.5 ROUNDS (-118) is worth a roll of the dice.
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Also see:
- UFC on ESPN+ 34 predictions (MMA Junkie)
- 5 burning questions heading into ESPN+ 34 (MMA Junkie)
- MMA Junkie – The latest UFC/MMA coverage
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