UFC Best Bets For UFC 294

Read on below to find out UFC Best Bets for this weekend’s UFC 294!

Islam Makhachev © vs Alexander Volkanovski – Lightweight Title 

Islam Makhachev comes into this fight against Alexander Volkanovski looking to defend his lightweight championship here at UFC 294. This is going to be a solid back-and-forth fight as these two contenders are both worthy of being the lightweight champion, and both of them could easily pick up the victory in this one and come out of the fight as the lightweight champion. Islam Makhachev was originally slated to face off with Charles Oliveira before Oliveira had to pull out of this fight because of an injury. This will be his second consecutive fight against Alexander Volkanovski, and in the last fight he won in five rounds via decision. He will be looking to get a finish this time around as he looks too, extend his massive winning streak and retain his lightweight championship here on Saturday night.

Alexander Volkanovski will be looking to win the lightweight title here on Saturday night as he looks to avenge his loss to Islam from February of earlier this year. That loss in February was the first loss via decision in his career and only the second overall loss of his career and he will be looking to turn the tables as well as win the lightweight championship and grab the 27th victory of his mixed martial arts career here on Saturday night in this huge lightweight title fight at UFC 294. He is coming off of a victory over Yair Rodriguez, back in July and he is taking this fight on less than two weeks notice, and he will be looking to pick up a huge victory in this one. I expect this fight to go the distance once again, but I do expect the champion to retain with his second victory over Volkanovski.

Kamaru Usman vs Khamzat Chimaev – Middleweight 

Kamaru Usman will be looking for a massive middleweight victory to climb his way back up the rankings and put himself back into title contention. Grabbing a victory in this fight over another one of the top middleweight contenders in the world, would raise his stock to the moon, and would allow him to possibly get an almost immediate title shot the next time he steps into the octagon 6 to 10 months from now. Usman comes into this fight with an overall record of 20-3 in 23 career professional fights. He is coming off of two back-to-back losses to Leon Edwards, where he lost his welterweight title, and he is now trying his hand at middleweight. He will be looking to get his tenure in the division off to a hot start with a victory here on Saturday night.

Khamzat Chimaev will be looking for a quality victory over one of the best fighters in the history of mixed martial arts when Usman makes his debut at the middleweight class. He will be looking to welcome him to middleweight, by picking up a decisive victory in this fight over Usman, as Chimaev himself to get back into title contention for the middleweight championship. He was originally intended to fight Paulo Costa before that fight ended up getting canceled and now he will wind up in the octagon with Usman. You can argue that Usman is a bigger threat to Chimaev and his undefeated 12-0 record then Costa would’ve been in this fight. I expect this to be a back-and-forth fight and I have it going the distance as I look for these two fighters to go back-and-forth trading punches and haymakers throughout all three rounds

Tim Elliot vs Muhammad Mokaev – Flyweight

Tim Elliott will be looking to pick up a huge victory in the flyweight division here on Saturday night at UFC 294. He is a grizzled veteran, and he will be looking to grab a victory as he looks to move his way up the rankings, and potentially put his name in the hat for a flyweight title shot at some point down the line. He is currently ranked 10th in the latest UFC flyweight rankings, and with a victory in this fight, he would likely fly up the rankings no pun intended, and potentially set himself up for his first title shot in his UFC career in his second tenure with the UFC. He comes into this fight with 19 career victories in 32 professional fights and he will be looking for the 20th victory of his career with a massive win here on Saturday night.

Muhammad Mokaev will be looking for a solid victory over Tim Elliott here on Saturday night in the flyweight division. He is ten fights into his professional, mixed martial arts career, and he will be looking for his 11th consecutive victory to remain undefeated with a quality performance here on Saturday night at UFC 294. Three of his last four victories have come via submission and he will be looking to grab another massive victory in this one against Tim Elliott, and pick up a third consecutive submission victory in the process. That is exactly what I expect as I have him grabbing the victory by submission here at UFC 294 on Saturday night as he looks to push himself up the UFC flyweight rankings and potentially set himself up for a future title shot.

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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.