Greg Hardy and Yorgan De Castro square off in a heavyweight bout on the main card at UFC 249 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The card kicks off Saturday at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+, with the main card on pay-per-view.
Hardy (5-2-1), the former Dallas Cowboys player, has had mixed results since making his UFC debut Jan. 19. 2019 in a disqualification loss to Allen Crowder. He has knockout wins over Juan Adams and Dmitri Smoliakov, but also a no-contest against Ben Sosoli and a unanimous-decision loss against Alexander Volkov last time out at UFC Fight Night on Nov. 9, 2019.
Hardy has been involved in eight professional fights, but he has neither won or lost via submission, so remember that when choosing method of victory in this one. In addition, each of his five professional wins have come via KO/TKO, so you know what you’re getting with Hardy – a brawl. As a favorite he has posted a 1-1-1 record, so not much to glean there.
As far as the 33-year-old De Castro (6-0) is concerned, he made his UFC debut at UFC 243 with a Round 1 KO/TKO win over Justin Tafa on Oct. 5, 2019. De Castro, who hails from the Cape Verde Islands, was a slight underdog in that fight against Tafa. Five of his six professional victories are also by KO/TKO, so like Hardy, he likes to fight upright and try to land big punches rather than ground and pound. Four of his professional victories have come in Round 1.
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Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan De Castro betting odds
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday, May 6 at 6:15 p.m. ET.
Hardy (-200) is the chalk here, and risking two times your potential return isn’t terribly attractive. In addition, he hasn’t exactly dominated in his previous fights, posting rather uneven results. However, he is a brawler, and he is up against a rather inexperienced fighter, especially at the UFC level. You have to figure De Castro is going to walk into a big blow, and it’s over, especially since Hardy holds a ridiculous 6.5-inch reach advantage.
If you look to method of victory, HARDY BY KO/TKO or DQ (+140) is quite attractive. In addition, it’s extremely unlikely the judges are needed for this one, so playing NO (-250) WILL THE FIGHT GO THE FULL 3 ROUNDS? is the way to go. If you are looking to De Castro to spring the slight upset, he is attractive to win by KO/TKO or DQ (+210), while fetching +165 to win on the 2-way line.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on Hardy (-200) to win returns a $5 profit. A $10 bet on Hardy to win by KO/TKO or DQ (+140) earns a $14 profit, while a bet on De Castro to win by KO/TKO or DQ (+210) returns a $21 profit.
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