UFC 222 Main Card Betting Preview & Picks

On Saturday night, the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas will feature UFC 222, which offers a number of dynamic fights on the main card. Cris “Cyborg” Justino will defend her UFC featherweight title for the second time as she faces Yana Kunitskaya, the Invicta FC 135-pound champ. The co-main event features Brian Ortega and Frankie Edgar tangling for the featherweight title vacated by Max Holloway. Holloway’s withdrawal had taken a lot of the buzz out of the card initially, but the addition of several of the other bouts on the main card still make this an MMA betting (and an Octagon aficionado) event of note.

UFC 222 Main Card Betting Preview & Picks

Here are the bouts on the main card (all available on pay-per-view):

• Cris “Cyborg” Justino vs Yana Kunitskaya
• Frankie Edgar vs Brian Ortega
• Sean O’Malley vs Andre Soukhamthath
• Stefan Struve vs Andrei Arlovski
• Cat Zingano vs Ketlen Vieira

Cris “Cyborg” Justino vs Yana Kunitskaya

• UFC 222 Odds: Cyborg -1800 / Kunitskaya +1000

The bout between Cyborg and Yana Kunitskaya has some interest — will Kunitskaya be able to avoid the beating that Cyborg likes to deliver? She has fought in MMA since 2009; in her first three years in the sport, she put up an 8-1 record in Europe. However, she went away from the ring in 2012, not returning until 2016, when she then came to the United States and found success in Invicta FC. But what sort of challenge can she bring to Cyborg? No one can question Cyborg’s status as the best female fighter going right now, so the real intrigue in this matchup is more about whether Kunitskaya can go the distance or will have the fight brought to a close sooner. Cyborg outpointed Holly Holm her last time out and frankly could use a competitive fight, as the division that UFC has cobbled together for her contains a lot of unproven fighters. Our prediction is Cyborg winning via submission.

Frankie Edgar vs Brian Ortega

• UFC 222 Odds: Edgar -170 / Ortega +145

Frankie Edgar could also have pulled out when Max Holloway withdrew from UFC 222, but he didn’t — he stuck around and found that Brian Ortega would be his opponent. Ortega has a 5-0 record (with one no-contest coming from a failed drug test). He has won all five of his bouts early, not relying on the cards to get his victories. Back in December, he only needed two rounds to bring Cub Swanson to submission. He has shown that he can bring a fight to a close quickly when he needs to — but he has not faced anyone of the quality of Edgar quite yet. Can Edgar stop Ortega? Edgar is the #2 featherweight in the world, but he has stopped other fighters as promising as Ortega. At this point, it’s hard to argue against Edgar.  Our prediction is that Edgar will prevail in a decision.

Stefan Struve vs Andrei Arlovski

• UFC 222 Odds: Struve -190 / Arlovski +160

Stefan Struve and Andre Arlovski are two heavyweights who appear to be on the way out of UFC. Both of these fighters have suffered some losing streaks in the sport, and whoever loses this one could find himself on the outside of the organization. This is too close to call, but it should be exciting to watch two fighters sparring for their professional lives.

Cat Zingano vs Ketlen Vieira

• UFC 222 Odds: Cyborg -1800 / Kunitskaya +1000

Cat Zingano has only fought three times since 2013, when she took down Miesha Tate. She is an interesting talent because she can deliver knockout punches — but she can also go to the ground and wrestle with the best. Ketlen Vieira made it into the top five recently thanks to her win over Sara McMann, and a win for her would elevate her to contender status, but a win for Zingano would burnish her credentials once again. She’s overcome a ton of adversity — the suicide of her husband, a knee injury of her own, and a loss to Ronda Rousey in 2015 that took just 14 seconds. She also took a tough decision loss against Julianna Pena in her comeback. This is likely her last chance to make a run at a UFC title. We’re predicting that Vieira will win via submission.