In a bantamweight bout in Saturday’s main event, Marlon Moraes and Cory Sandhagen meet at UFC on ESPN+ 37 at the UFC’s Fight Island facility in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The prelims kick off at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN+, followed by the main card set for 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Moraes (23-6-1) steps into the octagon and he’ll see Sandhagen (12-2) towering over him by five inches along with a three-inch reach advantage. The Brazilian striker bounced back with a split-decision win over Jose Aldo at UFC 245 after falling to Henry Cejudo at UFC 238 in a title fight. If Moraes wants another shot at the strap, he’ll need to polish off Sandhagen. His last fight ended up going the distance, but he has seen four of the past five bouts finish inside the distance with three KO/TKO results (2-1) and a submission victory.
Sandhagen has a 6.95 significant strikes landed per minute to 3.53 for Moraes, and 48.94 to 39.28 significant strikes accuracy-percentage advantage. Sandhagen will be looking to bounce back after a submission loss in 88 seconds to Aljamain Sterling last time out on the UFC 250 card. Prior to that loss, he was on a seven-bout winning streak, including 5-0 to kick off his UFC career. In 14 career fights, Sandhagen has won four fights via KO/TKO with no losses while going 3-1 in four submission results.
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Marlon Moraes vs. Cory Sandhagen betting odds
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 5:57 a.m. ET.
SANDHAGEN (-143) is a sharp play as the moderate favorite, as he is much taller with a big reach advantage. He’ll use both of those attributes to keep Moraes at arm’s length, literally. For a bit of a better value, playing SANDHAGEN BY KO/TKO, DQ or SUBMISSION (+195) is worth a small-unit play, as you can nearly double up if he wins inside the distance.
In addition, playing UNDER 4.5 ROUNDS (-173) is a little on the expensive side, but four of Moraes’ past five fights have finished inside the distance and Sandhagen has finishes in six of his past eight pro fights, including four of six at the UFC level.
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Also see:
- UFC on ESPN+ 37 predictions (MMA Junkie)
- UFC on ESPN+ 37: 5 burning questions (MMA Junkie)
- MMA Junkie – The latest UFC/MMA coverage
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