Special Feature
UFC 290 Best Bets | DraftKings Sportsbook
Tim Finnegan Of DraftKings Breaks Down UFC 290 And Gives Bets To Consider On DraftKings Sportsbook
International Fight Week is here! International Fight Week runs in Las Vegas from Monday, July 3 through Sunday, July 9, and is headlined by Saturday’s UFC 290 event from T-Mobile Arena.
T-Mobile Arena was also the site of a legendary win on DraftKings Sportsbook earlier this year. At UFC 285, a DraftKings Sportsbook bettor turned just $1 into nearly $400,000 with a $1 UFC Parlay Bet featuring the following six UFC 285 picks at +39947171 odds:
- Dricus Du Plessis to Win by KO/TKO/DQ in Round 2
- Cody Garbrandt To Win By Decision
- Bo Nickal to Win by Submission in Round 1
- Shavkat Rakhmonov to Win by Submission in Round 3
- Alexa Grasso to Win by Submission in Round 4
- Jon Jones To Win By Submission
As a result of all of these outcomes hitting in the Parlay Bet, the UFC bettor took home $399,472.71 in one of the greatest wins in sports betting history. Read more about the big UFC parlay hit here!
Saturday’s UFC 290 event features two title fights. The main event is a featherweight title bout between Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez. Volkanovski is undefeated in the UFC at featherweight and has won five consecutive featherweight title fights.
The co-main event is a flyweight title fight between Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja. Pantoja has beaten Moreno twice, although only one of these wins is officially counted on his pro record—the other win was via submission on The Ultimate Fighter. Despite Pantoja holding two wins over Moreno, Moreno enters this fight as the favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook with a moneyline of about -200. Moreno has improved significantly since he last faced Pantoja, which was over five years ago.
Bo Nickal is also back in action at T-Mobile Arena. Nickal is one of the best UFC prospects in recent memory and has steamrolled his competition so far, winning all three of his fights under the UFC umbrella in the first round.
DraftKings is hosting a big fantasy UFC 290 tournament that pays out $750,000 in total prizes, including $200,000 to first place. Enter the contest for only $25 here.
UFC 290 Picks
UFC Breakdown | UFC 290: Volkanovski vs Rodriguez
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there’s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world’s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
UFC Breakdown | UFC 290: Volkanovski vs Rodriguez
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Same Game Parlay (SGP): Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez
2-Leg SGP
Alexander Volkanovski Moneyline (3 Way)
Exact Method of Victory: Decision
SGP odds: +120
($100 bet pays out $220)
4-Leg SGP
Alexander Volkanovski Moneyline (3 Way)
Exact Method of Victory: Decision
Alexander Volkanovski Most Significant Strikes
Alexander Volkanovski Most Takedowns
SGP odds: +140
($100 bet pays out $240)
A “Significant Strike” is any strike landed at distance, plus power strikes in the clinch and on the ground.
A “Takedown” requires the attempting fighter to initiate a grappling maneuver that ends with them in an established controlling position on the ground.
Alexander Volkanovski is coming off a loss, but he moved up a weight class to fight lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in a fight Volkanovski was not expected to win. Volkanovski gave Makhachev his toughest fight in years and got better as the fight went on, winning the last round on all three of the judges’ scorecards. Volkanovski is dropping back down to featherweight for this fight to defend his title against Yair Rodriguez.
Building a Same Game Parlay (SGP) on DraftKings Sportsbook around Volkanovski is a way to target a higher potential payout than betting on Volkanovski to win alone. Yair Rodriguez is difficult to finish—in 13 UFC fights dating back to 2014, the only time Rodriguez has been finished was due to a doctor stoppage in between rounds due to a cut/swollen eye.
Volkanovski is also not a big finisher—nine of Volkanovski’s last 12 fights have gone the distance. Instead, Volkanovski wins his fights primarily by using his speed to get in and out and land stinging striking volume without getting hit much in return. Volkanovski has landed nearly twice the amount of strikes he has absorbed, an excellent ratio, and has landed over six significant strikes per minute, which is elite striking volume. Volkanovski has recorded more significant strikes than his opponent in all 13 of his UFC fights, even in his loss to Islam Makhachev, where he out-struck Makhachev 70 to 57 in total significant strikes landed.
Volkanovski is also capable of recording takedowns in the right spots. Volkanovski is averaging 1.5 takedowns per 15 minutes, a rate about twice as good as Rodriguez, who is averaging under one takedown per 15 minutes. Rodriguez’s takedown defense is also not great on a rate basis, stopping 63% of opponent takedown attempts. Rodriguez has been taken down at least once in each of his last four fights, and Rodriguez’s opponent has also recorded more takedowns than Rodriguez in each of those four fights. It’s realistic that Volkanovski could mix in some takedowns in this fight to give Rodriguez a different look, which is a strategy Volkanovski used in his win against Chan Sung Jung, where he initiated eight takedown attempts and successfully converted four of them.
Volkanovski is in a strong spot to win this fight by decision, which gets Volkanovski to win down from about -400 on the moneyline to plus money. Adding the most significant strikes and most takedowns legs to this Same Game Parlay (SGP) is also a second option for a higher potential payout.
DraftKings Fantasy UFC
Bo Nickal is one of the most exciting UFC prospects in recent memory. Nickal is a three-time NCAA Division I National Champion wrestler and has destroyed his competition in MMA so far. Nickal won each of his two fights on Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) in roughly one minute and finished both fights by submission, and in his official UFC debut at UFC 285, Nickal rolled through Jamie Pickett, winning by submission in the first round. Nickal’s explosive offensive grappling and strong timing have kept him safe from strikes, as opponents have landed just one significant strike on Nickal through three fights under the UFC’s umbrella.
Nickal was originally scheduled to face Tresean Gore at UFC 290, but Gore was forced to withdraw during fight week due to a wrist injury. Instead, Val Woodburn will step in to face Nickal with less than a week’s notice.
As a result, Nickal enters his fight as a massive favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook. Nickal’s elite skills make him highly likely to produce an excellent fantasy score in a matchup that he is expected to win in the first round. Nickal is also a very safe fantasy play given his elite skills and massive moneyline.
Bo Nickal, Part 1 | Dana White’s Contender Series: Next Level
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there’s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world’s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
Bo Nickal, Part 1 | Dana White’s Contender Series: Next Level
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The main DraftKings fantasy UFC tournament has a massive prize pool of $750,000 this week, with the winner getting $200,000. Enter the contest for only $25 here.
To place a UFC Same Game Parlay (SGP):
- Find a fight that has the SGP icon in the left corner.
- Click the SGP icon. Once you click the SGP icon, all available bets will appear.
- Build your Same Game Parlay. Combine multiple bets from one fight. The more bets you combine, the more you can win.
- Place your parlay. Add your Same Game Parlay to your bet slip, enter your wager amount, and submit your bet.
Learn more about SGPs at the DraftKings Sportsbook SGP page!
Play Reignmakers UFC! Open packs or scout, collect and bid on officially licensed UFC cards on the DraftKings Marketplace and battle against other players for prizes in fantasy sports contests!
Place your UFC bets at DraftKings Sportsbook or by downloading the DraftKings Sportsbook app.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
UFC 290: Volkanovski vs Rodriguez took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 8, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!