Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir? Welcome to Paris UFC with the first ever event in France. Now normally, I absolutely hate France and they likely hate me, especially the Parisians, but tonight I am on their side taking nearly every French person on the card. I am sick to my stomach right now because of how much I like the favorites tonight. There isn’t a single main card dog that I really considered outside of Jarno Errens. I did a lot of method of victory picks tonight because of how long the lines are, but am also going to parlay all of the favorites on the main card straight up. I think we are going to see a good amount of finishes tonight (wouldn’t be a French card without a ton of people surrendering) so maybe I’ll throw a few unders in too. We have a couple of awesome matchups to start the card in Gane vs Tai Tittyvasa, and Bobby Knuckles vs irotteV nivraM. Then it is pretty lackluster with one ranked fighter on the whole rest of the card. Enough of my dribble, let’s get into these picks.
Main Card
Ciryl Gane vs. Tai Tuivasa Heavyweight Bout
Man this is a cool matchup. I have picked against Tai pretty much every time he has fought on his current winning streak. It is hard to see a guy lose to Blagoy Ivanov and Sergey Spivak then bet on him to win against any real competition. Well aren’t I the fool, he has been on an absolute tear, making me lose way too much money. So will I learn from these mistakes? Will I finally side with Bam Bam? No I will not, in fact, this fight is going to be a demolition. Gane looks to be in his best shape since he got into the UFC and is hungry after that last loss. He realizes now that he can’t rely on points fighting to win and will be more aggressive and find those strikes to put Tai away. I don’t expect to even sweat during this one.
Ciryl Gane by 3rd Round TKO (Prop Line) +100 1 unit
Robert Whittaker vs. Marvin Vettori Middleweight Bout
Fuck Marvin Vettori, all my homies hate Vettori. Look a lot of people had Izzy these days, but Vettori is absolutely delusional about their last bout. Dude got dominated and thought he won because of hugging him against the cage on occasion. Vettori thinks he can stand with Whittaker because he isn’t Izzy and that will be a huge mistake. Whittaker is going to tee off on Vettori while stuffing all of his grappling advances. This is going to be a pure clinic for 5 rounds, which will let us know that Whittaker is the 2nd best in this division (Pereira could be there too) and Vettori is not in the conversation for another title shot.
Bobby Knucks by Decision (Prop Line) -120 1 unit
Alessio Di Chirico vs. Roman Kopylov Middleweight Bout
This was a pretty tough one to pick. Kopylov has only fought twice in the last 3 years, both are losses. Alessio has lost 4 of his last 5. Not sure how this is a main card fight, but I like Kopylov a bit more in this one. Not Sure Chirico has it in him to win a decision so if this fight is going the distance it has to go to Kopylov. Don’t spend too much money on this one.
Romany Kopylov by Decision -115 1 unit
John Makdessi vs. Nasrat Haqparast Lightweight Bout
I promise I am not a casual, but I had no idea there was beef here. They have been building this fight up like it’s the grudge match of the century. Outside of that Nasrat should be just the straight up better fighter in this one. Makdessi is 37 now and I don’t see him being able to keep up with the top competition. Nasrat dropped his last 2 to pretty solid opponents and he is still young, just about 10 years younger than Makdessi. Don’t like how big of a favorite he is but just don’t see Makdessi winning.
Nasrat Haqparast by Decision (Prop Line) +110 1 unit
William Gomis vs. Jarno Errens Featherweight Bout
I know nearly nothing about these 2. Tried to find any information on these guys so I could make an informed decision but it was tough. Seems like they are both good grapplers and young. Gomis is a bit taller and has home octagon advantage which was pretty much what led me to running with him. Was going to take Errens for the sake of taking a dog, but that crowd is going to play a big part in these fights, especially this one.
William Gomis by 1st Round TKO (Prop Finish Line) +120 1 unit
Charles Jourdain vs. Nathaniel Wood Featherweight Bout
This is a banger. Jourdain is so damn entertaining in every fight he’s in. I successfully bet against him in his last bout, which hurt a lot, but think Wood should be a much easier opponent. Jourdain has some of the slickest striking in the division and he gets to fight a dude that got knocked out by John Dodson. You may start to see that a lot of my picks are revenge picks, this is absolutely one. How the fuck do you get knocked out by a flyweight?!?!?!
Charles Jourdain by Decision -145 2 units
Prelims
Abus Magomedov vs. Dustin Stoltzfus Middleweight Bout
Abus Magomedov by 2nd Round Submission (Prop Finish Line) +120 1 unit
Farès Ziam vs. Michal Figlak Lightweight Bout
Michal Figlak by Decision (Prop Line) +100 1 unit
Nassourdine Imavov vs. Joaquin Buckley Middleweight Bout
Joaquin Buckley by 1st Round TKO +200 1 unit
Benoît Saint-Denis vs. Gabriel Miranda Lightweight Bout
Benoit Saint-Denis by 1st Round Submission (Prop Finish Line) -120 2 units
Khalid Taha vs. Cristian Quiñónez Bantamweight Bout
Cristian Quinonez by Decision +100 1 unit
Stephanie Egger vs. Ailin Perez Featherweight Bout
Ailin Perez by Decision +225 1 unit
DraftKings Lineup:
That is all I have for this beautiful day of fights. I love how Dana barely makes day cards all Spring and Summer, then throws a noon start during college football week 1. I am going to have my entire bank account on the line today between all of these bouts and games. So I ask you to bet responsibly and stick to your units as to not be a cautionary tale like I am. Be smart today and as always, may luck be your lady tonight!