UFC on ESPN: Vera vs Sandhagen Best Bets, Odds, and Predictions

What a few weeks it’s been for the UFC. In this month alone, we’ve seen some phenomenal fights–here’s a quick rundown for those keeping track at home: 

• Jon Jones made his return to the octagon in thrilling fashion, submitting Cyril Gane in the very first round. 

• Alexa Grasso shocked the world and beat Valentina Shevchenko, grabbing her Women’s Flyweight title. 

• Bo Nickael made his much anticipated UFC debut, submitting his opponent in the first round.

• Merab Dvalishvili made Petr Yan look like a toddler, setting a UFC record for takedowns attempted in a single fight.

• Justin Gaethje went to war with Rafael Fiziev, winning via decision, but not without greatly bloodying up his opponent. 

• And, last but certainly not least, Leon Edwards DEFENDED his belt against Kamaru Usman, proving once and for all–he’s the real deal.

So, all that happened in the last three weeks–and now, the cherry on top will be a possible #1 contender fight in the Bantamweight Division between Marlon Vera and Cory Sandhagen.

The entire card, which is slated to kick off tomorrow, March 25th, at 4:00 PM EST, is chock full of great fights–here’s the entire card:

Preliminary Card

Flyweight: Victor Altamirano vs Vinicius Salvador

Flyweight: CJ Vergara vs Daniel da Silva

Welterweight: Trevin Giles vs Preston Parsons

Featherweight: Steven Peterson vs Lucas Alexander

Featherweight: Daniel Pineda vs Tucker Lutz

Main Card

Middleweight: Chidi Njokuani vs Albert Duraev

Flyweight: Alex Perez vs Manel Kape

Women Flyweight: Andrea Lee vs Maycee Barber

Featherweight: Nate Landwehr vs Austin Lingo

Women Bantamweight: Holly Holm vs Yana Santos

Bantamweight: Marlon Vera vs Cory Sandhagen

Odds are being offered on all of these fights through any of these online casinos. The odds I will be using for this story are being provided by DraftKings Sportsbook.

Here are my two best bets for this weekend's UFC card.

Manel Kape over Alex Perez (-190)

I know, the odds here aren’t very flattering–but I think you’re getting great odds here because Kape should decapitate Alex Perez. Perez has only fought twice since November 2020, losing both bouts via submission. While Kape isn’t a feared submission specialist, he IS an incredible and dynamic striker–so Perez is in for a rough time on Saturday night.

I want to take Kape via KO/TKO/DQ, which is at +165, but Perez has only lost via KO/TKO once. Kape is coming into Saturday night on a three fight win streak, winning two of his last three via KO/TKO (one via a flying knee).

Marlon Vera vs Cory Sandhagen UNDER 4.5 Rounds (+130)

Here are some better odds to hopefully entice you. I apologize to both fighters here, but unfortunately–someone is going to sleep. Sandhagen has won three of his last five, each by KO/TKO. Vera is on a four-fight win streak, and has won two of them via KO/TKO.

Both fighters are incredibly technical strikers, and five rounds is an awfully long time for someone to not get caught. Also, Vera has been getting caught a lot early in his fights, so this could come a lot sooner than we expect.