In a light heavyweight title bout, Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz square off at UFC 253 Saturday at the UFC’s Fight Island facility in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The prelims kick off at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+, followed by the main card set for 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view.
Reyes (12-1) stands in two inches taller than his Polish counterpart, but he has a one-inch reach disadvantage. The southpaw has racked up an impressive 4.88 significant strikes landed per minute, while posting a 49.44 significant strikes-accuracy percentage. He has been champing at the bit to get back into the octagon after suffering a unanimous decision loss to Jon Jones at UFC 247 on Feb. 8, a fight he feels he should have won. With a victory over Blachowicz, he can claim the belt he feels he rightfully should be defending right now, as “Bones” vacated the belt in favor of a move to the heavyweight division.
Blachowicz (26-8) could ruin the plan of Reyes, as he looks to win his fourth straight fight. After a third-round knockout loss in the main event on Feb. 23, 2019 against Thiago Santos, Blachowicz bounced back with a knockout win over Luke Rockhold, a split-decision win over Jacare Souza and a KO/TKO victory against Corey Anderson last time out in a revenge rematch. His best bet will be trying to get Reyes down to the canvas, as a toe-to-toe battle cannot be won by the Polish fighter.
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Dominick Reyes vs. Jan Blachowicz betting odds
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 5:40 a.m. ET.
Reyes (-278) will cost you too much on the 2-way fight result line, so AVOID. Instead, Reyes is a better bet on the 5-way line, taking REYES BY KO/TKO, DQ or SUBMISSION (-103) at near even money. Reyes has a chip on his shoulder and there is no way he is losing this belt a second straight time.
As such, I think this is going to be a short fight, too. Reyes is going to fire out of the chute and try to end Blachowicz’s night early. Take UNDER 3.5 ROUNDS (-152), as the prop betting the fight will not go the distance (-223) is just too steep, as is Under 4.5 rounds (-200). In addition, pinpoint the fight finish for ROUND 2 (+400) and ROUND 3 (+650). If the fight ends in one of those two rounds, you’ll lose one, but still be way ahead.
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Also see:
- UFC 253 predictions (MMA Junkie)
- Embedded: Fun and games for Blachowicz (MMA Junkie)
- MMA Junkie – The latest UFC/MMA coverage
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