UFC 234 Betting Preview & Picks

UFC 234 heads down under for its next big event on February 10, as the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, will host the card. The main event is a UFC Middleweight Championship bout between Robert Whittaker, who currently holds the belt, and challenger Kelvin Gastelum. The co-main event is another middleweight bout between Israel Adesanya and Anderson Silva. We have the entire card for you, as well as our MMA betting thoughts on several of the fights scheduled for Sunday.

UFC 234 Betting Preview & Picks

Main Card (PPV)

• Robert Whittaker vs Kelvin Gastelum (UFC Middleweight Title Bout)
• Israel Adesanya vs Anderson Silva (middleweight)
• Rania Yahya vs Ricky Simon (bantamweight)
• Montana De La Rosa vs Nadia Kassem (women’s flyweight)
• Jim Crute vs Sam Alvey (light heavyweight)

Preliminary Card (ESPN)

• Devonte Smith vs Dong Hyun Ma (lightweight)
• Shane Young vs Austin Arnett (featherweight)
• Kai Kara-France vs Raulian Paiva (flyweight)
• Teruto Ishihara vs Kyung Ho Kang (bantamweight)

Early Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)

• Lando Vannata vs Marcos Rosa (lightweight)
• Callan Potter vs Jalin Turner (lightweight)
• Wuliji Buren vs Jonathan Martinez (bantamweight)

Robert Whittaker (20-4, -245) vs Kelvin Gastelum (15-3, 1 NC, +205) gives us the first Australian champ in Whittaker, who missed a chance to defend his title at UFC 221 due to injury. Whittaker has had his ups and downs, including a disappointing loss to Stephen Thompson. After beating Mike Rhodes and moving up to middleweight, though, he has remained undefeated. In 2017, he took down Ronaldo Souza, a win that put him on the map as a potential title contender. He defended his belt twice against Yoel Romero, weathering the storm of strikes that marks Romero’s style. He faces Gastelum, who emerged with a big win over Uriah Hall at the end of Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter, and then he beat Rick Story and Jake Ellenberger. Some health issues related to weight sent him to the hospital, but once Gastelum adjusted to fighting at the middleweight level, he has taken down Vitor Belfort and Michael Bisping, putting him in the role of challenger. In this fight, Whittaker has the edge, as Gastelum rarely enters a fight with a specific plan, and Whittaker is skilled at avoiding takedowns (which would neutralize Gastelum’s wrestling background). Whittaker also has better cardio and stamina, so he is the solid pick here. UFC 234 Betting Prediction: Whittaker wins via knockout Israel Adesanya (15-0, -650) vs Anderson Silva (34-8, 1 NC, +475) takes place almost a year after Adesanya’s debut in UFC. In his opener, he fought Rob Wilkinson, who has more of a grinding style. Wilkinson controlled things for almost two rounds until Adesanya turned things around and finished things quickly. Adesanya has shown skill at evading takedowns, as his win over Derek Brunson showed. If he can beat Silva, it looks like he would get a title bout. Silva spent the first seven years in UFC winning 16 straight fights, finishing opponent after opponent. He followed those up with two losses to Chris Weidman, which marked the end of an era. Silva had an ugly leg break in the second loss, and since then he had a win over Nick Diaz taken away when both fighters failed drug tests. He lost to Michael Bisping and Daniel Cormier after that before beating Brunson on the cards. After that came yet another drug suspension, and so now he comes back in at the age of 44. Given the power Adesanya shows now, I don’t think this fight will last very long. UFC 234 Betting Prediction: Adesanya wins via knockout Rani Yahya (26-9, 1 NC, +105) vs Ricky Simon (14-1, -125) features an underrated fighter in Yahya, who has solid wrestling skills and has a sneaky way of bringing submission finishes. He is looking to extend his win streak to four with a victory over Simon. Simon has only had two UFC fights. Simon’s debut against Merab Dvalishvili had a most unusual finish, as Dvalishvili looked like he had held on for the win, but the referee said that he had lost consciousness in the guillotine, giving Simon a submission win. Then Simon took down Montel Jackson. If Simon can last through the first two rounds, he should outlast Yahya for a decision. However, if this goes to the ground, Yahya could earn the finish. UFC 234 Betting Prediction: Yahya wins via submission