by Darren Moore
Kevin “Trailblazer” Holland (21-6-0) takes on Marvin “The Italian Dream” Vettori (16-4-1) in a Middleweight bout that’s the Main Event at UFC Vegas 23 at the APEX in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
You can find all the latest UFC live betting lines here.
UFC Vegas 23 Predictions:
- Kevin Holland vs Marvin Vettori – Vettori to Win by KO, TKO or Submission
- Sodiq Yusuff vs Arnold Allen – Allen to Win at +115 with Bovada Sportsbook
Kevin Holland
Age: 28 | Fighting out of: Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Holland has agreed to the fight at short notice after Darren “The Gorilla” Till was forced off the card after breaking his collarbone during training. Holland is also returning to action just three weeks after losing on a unanimous decision to Kevin Brunson.
The 28-year-old Texan’s loss to Brunson followed a five-fight winning streak in 2020, culminating in an impressive 1st round KO victory over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in December.
Marvin Vettori
Age: 27 | Fighting out of: Mezzocorona, Trentino, Italy
The 27-year-old Italian is on a four-fight winning streak. He hasn’t been as active as Holland, having fought just twice in 2020. In fact, Vettori has fought just seven times since 2016. His last bout saw him defeat Sweden’s Jack “The Joker” Hermansson on a unanimous decision in December.
Vettori is unbeaten since losing to current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and his aim is to secure a rematch.
Kevin Holland v Marvin Vettori Preview
Holland has a reputation for taking any fight, any time, anywhere, but there has to be some questions raised as whether this bout against the up and coming Vettori is a sensible decision coming so soon after being so comprehensively beaten by Brunson over five rounds.
It’s a big ask to expect the Texan to recover from one fight and prepare for the next over so short a period of time. Probably too big.
The big problem for Holland is that Vettori is a far superior grappler to Brunson, yet Brunson dominated Holland in the grappling exchanges. Holland has a reach and striking advantage against Vettori, but that was also the case against Brunson and it proved of little benefit to him in that fight.
UFC Vegas 23 Pick
Vettori is a moderate favorite to win the fight, but the value bet could be to back the Italian to win by KO, TKO or Submission once the Method Of Victory odds are released nearer fight time.
Sodiq Yusuff vs Arnold Allen
Also on the main UFC Vegas 23 card is a featherweight bout, featuring Sodiq “Super” Yusuff (11-1-0) and England’s Arnold “Almighty” Allen (16-1-0).
The 27-year-old Yusuff will be back in the octagon for the first time since a unanimous decision victory against Andre Fili at UFC 246 in January. Also 27, Allen is coming off a unanimous decision win in January himself, having beaten Nik Lentz at UFC Fight Night.
There’s very little to choose in the fight result betting in this bout, but Arnold Allen’s speed and reflexes might just give him the edge over the Nigerian who fights out of Maryland.
Go here for the full UFC Vegas 23 card & betting odds
* UFC Vegas 23 odds correct at the time of writing. All odds are subject to change.
Darren lives & breathes sports betting and is always sniffing out his next value bet. His favourite sports to bet on are the NFL, horse racing and UFC but he will bet on anything if he thinks the odds are favourable.
