Ufc Fight Night 152 Predictions

The Octagon returns to the state of New York for UFC Fight Night 152 this Saturday, May 18th.

• Ufc Fight Night 150 Predictions Prelims
• Ufc Fight Night 152 Predictions Straight Up
• Ufc Fight Night 152 Predictions

1. Full fight card predictions for UFC Fight Night 152 on May 18th including: Dos Anjos v Lee, Eubanks v Ladd, Cummings v Giles, and Dawson v Trizano.
2. For every UFC event our MMA handicappers will offer predictions and the free UFC betting tips for UFC Fight Night 152 can be found below. So far, our MMA handicappers have made 1332 free picks. (767 straight fight picks, 253 parlays and 312 props).We also have 290 paid picks, which you can find on the buy UFC.

UFC Fight Night 152 is set for Saturday, May 18, and features an exciting welterweight fight as the main event of the evening. Rafael dos Anjos will clash with Kevin Lee in a 170-pound headline fight that has title implications.

The event takes place in Rochester, New York, and the main card has a total of six fights. Antonio Carlos Junior and Ian Heinisch will go head-to-head in the co-main event not long after Megan Anderson is set to welcome Felicia Spencer to the women’s featherweight division.

Before checking out our best bets and analysis ahead of the UFC Fight Night 152 main card, make sure to read our Rafael dos Anjos vs. Kevin Lee betting guide.

Let’s get started.

Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Ian Heinisch

Saturday, May 18 – 11:00 pm (ET) / 3:00am (GMT)

Antonio Carlos Junior (better known as “Shoeface”) has worked up a five-fight winning streak since 2016 and now moved to 7-2 in the UFC. Four of his last five victories have come by way of rear-naked choke and he’s now secured three submission victories in a row. Interestingly, Carlos Junior hasn’t competed since April 2018 after bouts with Derek Brunson and Elias Theodorou fell through due to various injuries.

Ian Heinisch also steps into this co-main event on the back of some winning efforts, including four consecutive wins and a recent win over Cezar Ferreira to get his UFC career started. Competing for Legacy Fighting Alliance before joining the UFC, Heinisch captured the LFA Interim Middleweight Championship in May last year to gain attention from UFC matchmakers.

There aren’t many fighters harder to get a decent read on than Antonio Carlos Junior. We all know that he’s a top-level grappler with outstanding back takes and rear-naked choke submissions, but it remains to be seen if he can get decent fighters down and keep them there over time. Most of Carlos Junior’s wins have come against low-level competition and Heinisch doesn’t fit into that category.

Even then, Carlos Junior ‘s stand-up isn’t terrible in the same way that Ben Askren and Demian Maia are known to have limited success on the feet. There’s a chance that he can land powerful strikes and change the fight up at any moment.

But overall, Heinisch is the real value play in this head-to-head market because this one is a lot closer than the bookmakers currently have it set.

Bet on Ian Heinisch to win: 2.50 at Mybookie

Megan Anderson vs. Felicia Spencer

Saturday, May 18 – 10:30 pm (ET) / 2:30am (GMT)

It’s incredible that Megan Anderson vs. Felicia Spencer is a notable bout mostly because it’s a genuine matchup between two real featherweight fighters and not those who could realistically compete in the smaller bantamweight division.

Megan Anderson is a former Invicta FC interim featherweight champion and is now 1-1 in the UFC after losing to Holly Holm in her debut and then picking up a somewhat crazy first-round TKO victory against Cat Zingano. Fans will recall that Anderson attempted a high kick and her toe caught Zingano in the eye, causing temporary vision impairment. Zingano wasn’t able to continue fighting and Anderson picked up her first win in the UFC.

Megan Anderson’s one of the few women in the UFC who need to cut massive amounts of weight just to make the 145-pound limit. She’s particularly vulnerable on the mat and a strong wrestler and jiu-jitsu practitioner will likely have an easy pathway to victory against her. However, as much as Spencer has taken down opponents in the past, it’s not obvious whether she’ll have the ability to get Anderson down in this one.

Anderson has the advantages across the board and we’ll be betting accordingly.

Bet on Megan Anderson to win: 1.56 at BetVictor

Derrick Krantz vs. Vicente Luque

Saturday, May 18 – 10:00 pm (ET) / 2:00am (GMT)

Vicente Luque was supposed to finally get his shot against a well-known opponent in Neil Magny but now misses out after Magny was flagged by the United States Anti-Doping Agency in the lead-up to the fight.

Without an opponent, the UFC scrambled to find a suitable candidate to compete against Luque. They found one in Derrick Krantz, a fighter who has won all four of his last fights on the regional circuit and scored wins in seven of his last eight bouts.

Luque is quite the challenge for any welterweight mixed martial artist and not just a newcomer to the world’s largest MMA promotion. He’s won all four of his last fights via stoppage and managed to defeat Bryan Barberena by TKO in the third round at UFC on ESPN 1 to get his 2019 started in a big way.

While Magny vs. Luque would have been a far superior fight for betting purposes, there’s still a whole lot of value to extract from this one.

Krantz has a ton of losses on his record already (10) and seven of those are by way of stoppage. We’re expecting Luque to get a relatively easy win against Krantz and it’s more than likely that it comes inside the distance.

Bet on Total Rounds: Under 1.5 – 1.69 at BetVictor

Charles Oliveira vs. Nik Lentz

Saturday, May 18 – 9:30 pm (ET) / 1:30am (GMT)

Charles Oliviera now has the most submissions in UFC history and has a chance to make it five in a row when he meets Nik Lentz at UFC Rochester. Oliveira has always proven to be a challenge in the lightweight division but has had most of his success against low-ranked and unranked 155-pound competitors. With his anaconda choke finish against David Teymur, Oliveira has now strangled each of his last four opponents.

Nik Lentz is the man who is tasked with stopping Oliveira’s submission streak this weekend. Having won three of his last four fights and each of his last two, Lentz has managed to defeat Scott Holtzman and Gray Maynard in the last eight months.

Charles Oliveira vs. Nik Lentz is a fun rematch that comes over four years later than their original matchup at UFC Fight Night 67. Oliveira is a wild fighter who has all kinds of aggressive striking techniques in his arsenal. These can be great at times but they often leave him exposed against composed and patient fighters who are capable of working Oliveira’s weak spots; that’s why we’ve seen him lose to Paul Felder, Anthony Pettis, Max Holloway and more.

Nik Lentz is an underrated, tough fighter who is now in a great position to score a major upset victory this weekend. He’s capable of hanging around whether on the feet or on the mat and can push the pace enough to take Oliveira deep into rounds two or three.

Oliveira is a deserving favorite, but not by this much. Take Lentz to win.

Bet on Nik Lentz to win: 3.70 at Bovada

Best Bets for UFC Fight Night 152

I’ve been trading wins and losses recently, which is frustrating – but an expected part of the long-term game. I’m not in this for a feminine giggle and some ‘expert status’ validation, I want hardcore amounts of cash and nothing else.

Hopefully I can cash some bets on UFC Fight Night 151 and get some positive momentum rolling. Here are my breakdowns of the fights where I have action.

Charles Jourdain vs. Desmond Green

Canadian prospect, Charles Jourdain, is still young in his career at 23-years-of-age and the kid clearly has potential. His striking style straddles the line between aggressive and reckless, with steam behind every shot thrown. He has good leg kicks and throws powerful punches on the inside, but there is a definite rawness to his approach.

The big problem for Jourdain is his takedown defense and ground game. While he won his fight last month against a French journeyman who is predominantly a striker, Jourdian was taken down numerous times and didn’t show much off his back – so it’s unlikely he’s made gigantic improvements in such a short period.

Jourdain is also a natural featherweight and as we know, size plays a major factor in MMA grappling. His opponent, Desmond Green, also fought at featherweight at one stage, but has found lightweight to be his ideal weight class now that he’s in his athletic prime at 29-years-of-age.

Green’s striking has improved substantially under the tutelage of Henri Hooft and he possesses a 4-inch reach advantage in this contest. He is somewhat lackadaisical on the feet and can suffer from a lack of output, but he is technical and has crafty counters (which could be useful against a guy that throws nothing but bombs).

I think Green will go back to his NCAA Division I wrestling background and put the young Canadian on his back early and often. Green is the hometown fighter and the UFC are blatantly giving him a favorable match-up.

I try to avoid playing juiced lines, but in this case I feel it’s justified. I have Desmond Green to close a parlay at -400.

Felicia Spencer vs. Megan Anderson

This women’s featherweight contest is intriguing, since both fighters have significant strengths as well as glaring weaknesses.

Training at the wonderfully named Jungle MMA and Fitness, Felicia Spencer is a jiu-jitsu black belt with a legitimate ground game. She has numerous victories by way of rear-naked choke in Invicta FC and actually has an amateur win over an extremely green version of Macy Chiasson (I don’t think we can read much into that).

Despite her prowess on the mat, I’m not whatsoever convinced by her wrestling. She likes to bully opponents against the fence and execute trips in the clinch, but her takedowns in open space are quite bad.

Spencer has a black belt in taekwondo and has some cool spinning kicks in her arsenal, but she is not a fundamentally sound striker. I think she’s going to get chewed up if she can’t get Anderson to the ground.

I also question whether Spencer is at the right weight class. At 5’6 she looks like she could easily make bantamweight and will be fighting a true featherweight that will significantly outweigh her after rehydrating.

Megan Anderson is big, strong and a good offensive striker. She throws powerful combinations with her hands and also has some good kicks and knees. Her defense leaves a lot to be desired, but that probably won’t matter much against Spencer.

The big problem for Anderson is her takedown defense and ground game. Getting wrestled by a kickboxer in Holly Holm is not a good look, and she seemed clueless off her back in that fight. Judging by that performance, I can see why people would want to bet Spencer – but I’m not sure we’ll see a similar outcome here.

For one, Anderson was training wrestling every day in preparation for her fight with Cat Zingano – who is a much better offensive wrestler than Spencer. Although the fight ended in weird circumstances in the first round, Anderson lamented that she wasn’t able to showcase her takedown defense in the post-fight interview.

Another consideration is that Anderson’s takedown defense wasn’t bad against the fence in the Holm fight. Only one takedown occurred against the fence, the rest were in open space (where Spencer’s takedowns are not as good). Anderson also trains under James Krause, who has a fantastic fight IQ and would be looking to improve his pupil’s main weakness.

Anything can happen in MMA and it wouldn’t surprise me if Anderson got grappled to death. However, with her physicality, striking advantage and devotion to wrestling training – I think it’s much more likely Anderson gets the victory this weekend.

Ufc Fight Night 150 Predictions Prelims

I wish I taped this fight earlier and got a better price, because I had to settle for Megan Anderson at -137.

Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Kevin Lee

In a fight between two former lightweights, it’s hard to get a read on how this main event will play out. It’s no surprise that the contest is a pick ‘em in the eyes of the bookmakers.

Rafael Dos Anjos looked good in his first few fights at welterweight, but got decisively beaten by the top contender and current champion in back-to-back losses. The blueprint to beating Dos Anjos is set, but both Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman are gritty chain wrestlers with excellent cardio.

Kevin Lee is also a wrestler, but he’s not the type to get in your face and chain takedown attempts relentlessly. Lee is more of a power double leg kind of guy, mixing in his boxing with the occasional shot.

At lightweight, Lee was cutting a huge amount of weight – walking into fight week around 180 pounds. There is no way that can be healthy and he’s spoken in interviews about fighting the scale as much as his opponents. While Lee’s cardio has been questionable in the past, I wouldn’t be surprised if it improves dramatically when he’s no longer fighting in a depleted state at welterweight.

Ufc Fight Night 152 Predictions Straight Up

Rafael Dos Anjos is the more dynamic striker, but he will be forced to overcome a 7-inch reach disadvantage. I expect Dos Anjos to fire off leg kicks to try and negate this difference, but it could still be a challenge, especially when you consider Lee’s striking has improved dramatically since moving to Las Vegas and training under Dewey Cooper.

I’ve heard people suggest the striking exchanges will be one sided in favor of the Brazilian, but I don’t buy that. Dos Anjos will be nervous of the takedown, which will make him more tentative on the feet. I believe I saw this dynamic play out during his fight with Kamaru Usman.

I’m not confident how this fight plays out, but I’m inclined to side with Lee because he’s eight years younger with less mileage, is on the upward trajectory of his career, has a 7-inch reach disadvantage and could look better than ever with less of a weight cut.

With some apprehension, I’m making a small play on Kevin Lee at -105.

My Main Plays

• 4 units on Norman Parke (KSW) and Desmond Green at -151
• 3 units on Megan Anderson at -137
• 1 unit on Kevin Lee at -105

Ufc Fight Night 152 Predictions

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