UFC 235 Odds & Betting Predictions

UFC 235 Odds & Betting Predictions

Written by on February 28, 2019

UFC 235: Jones vs Smith will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday. The main event is a fight for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship between Jon Jones, the two-time champ, and challenger Anthony Smith. The co-main event is also a title bout, as UFC Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will defend his belt against Kamaru Usman, who won The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs Blackzilians in the welterweight division. The main card will be available on pay per view, with the preliminary bouts on ESPN and the early preliminaries on UFC Fight Pass. We have the full card for you as well as our UFC betting predictions for several of the tilts on tap.

UFC 235 Odds & Betting Predictions

Main Card (Pay Per View)

  • Jon Jones vs Anthony Smith (UFC Light Heavyweight Championship)
  • Tyron Woodley vs Kamaru Usman (UFC Welterweight Championship)
  • Robbie Lawler vs Ben Askren (Welterweight)
  • Tecia Torres vs Weili Zhang (Women’s Strawweight)
  • Cody Garbrandt vs Pedro Munhoz (Bantamweight)

Preliminary Card (ESPN)

  • Jeremy Stephens vs Zabit Magomedsharipov (Featherweight)
  • Misha Cirkunov vs Johnny Walker (Light Heavyweight)
  • Cody Stamann vs Alejandro Perez (Bantamweight)
  • Diego Sanchez vs Mickey Gall (Welterweight)

Early Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)

  • Edmen Shahbazyan vs Charles Byrd (Middleweight)
  • Gina Mazany vs Macy Chiasson (Women’s Bantamweight)
  • Polyana Viana vs Hannah Cifers (Women’s Strawweight)

Jon Jones (23-1) vs Anthony Smith (31-13)

This one gives us a bout involving Jones that is actually about what takes place inside the cage instead of outside. There’s not been a lot of noise, like there has been when he has fought Daniel Cormier, no failed drug tests. Jones has gotten into occasional trouble, but his striking game, his grappling skills, his stamina and ability to adjust within the fight have made him virtually unbeatable. His last fight was a rematch with Alexander Gustafsson, which he won easily. He has changed from using his athleticism to overwhelm opponents to using strategy to wear down his opponents. Smith is making his second run through UFC. His first time was not anything noteworthy, but when UFC took on Strikeforce, they brought his contract back. His power and range are impressive, but he does not do much to defend himself, and when pressure comes, he has a way of caving. However, over time, he found ways to put together a patient plan that would allow him to stay back and wait for opponents to wear themselves out or make a mistake, so that he could move in and take a finish. He moved down to light heavyweight after losing to Thiago Santos in 2018, and he beat Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua before coming back to take down Volkan Oezdemir, and now he is the challenger for the title. But will a patient plan work against Jones? Smith is more likely to try and run over Jones, because Jones will pick him apart if he is patient — and Jones’ wrestling skills would likely overwhelm Smith’s iffy takedown defense. The moneyline is accurate here — and for good reason. UFC 235 Prediction: Jones wins via stoppage

Tyron Woodley (19-3-1) vs Kamaru Usman (14-1)

Tyron Woodley has had an intriguing UFC career to this point. He began by taking down Robbie Lawler in just over two minutes. Then he defeated Stephen Thompson (a big striker) and Demain Maia (a solid wrestler). He beat Darren Till in September to show how his athleticism really hasn’t reached its ceiling yet. For the first round, he sat back and countered instead of pushing the offense, but then in the second round, he brought the fight to Till and used his grappling skills to get a submission. Usman delivered a knockout over Sergio Moraes in 2017, and he has beaten Maia and rafael dos Anjos with relative ease. His striking still seems a little forced, as he does more planning than spontaneous punching, but his game plans have been solid so far. If Usman can get the wrestling up and running, he will have his best chance of winning. However, if Woodley keeps the game upright and uses his striking game, he should deliver a finish. UFC 235 Prediction: Woodley wins via knockout