{"id":538722,"date":"2026-03-13T23:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T23:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/538722\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T23:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T23:02:14","slug":"ufc-vegas-114-best-bet-tavares-vs-anders-to-go-long","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/538722\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC Vegas 114 best bet: Tavares vs Anders to go long"},"content":{"rendered":"

UFC Vegas 114<\/a> is less than 24 hours away \u2026<\/p>\n

It all goes down in \u201cSin City\u201d this weekend (Sat., March 14, 2026) inside Meta Apex<\/a> in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the main event, two ranked<\/a> Featherweights collide as Octagon veteran, Josh Emmett, tries to hold off blood-thirsty young prospect<\/a>, Kevin Vallejos.<\/p>\n

We have a weekly series at MMAmania.com<\/a> called \u201cWeekend Lock,\u201d where we share one bet that we predict will slap in \u201cSin City\u201d when the chaotic dust settles. We also want to hear what our readers think (that\u2019s you!), so please tell us your most confident UFC Vegas 114 betting lock in the comments section below (see full UFC Vegas 114 odds here<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s recap:<\/a> Max Holloway did not defeat Charles Oliveira; in fact, he got dominated for five rounds \u2014 who saw that coming?<\/a><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s keep rolling below:<\/p>\n

\"PARIS,<\/a><\/p>\n

PARIS, FRANCE – SEPTEMBER 06: Brad Tavares prepares for his middleweight fight against Robert Bryczek of Polandduring the UFC Fight Night event at The Accor Arena on September 06, 2025 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n

Buried on UFC Vegas 114\u2019s \u201cPrelims\u201d undercard are two aging Middleweights who love to go to decision: Brad Tavares and Eryk Anders. I\u2019m locking in this fight to, \u201cGo to decision\u201d at (-185).<\/p>\n

The reason is simple \u2014 neither fighter finishes often, and both have built a reputation throughout their careers as durable (for the most part), grinding competitors who frequently see the judges\u2019 scorecards.<\/p>\n

Tavares, the longest-tenured Middleweight on UFC\u2019s roster<\/a>, has made a career out of measured, technical fights that stretch the full 15 minutes. A large chunk of his UFC appearances have gone the distance, thanks to his patient striking style, solid defense and durability. He\u2019s rarely reckless and almost never puts himself in positions that lead to quick finishes. For what it is worth, he hasn\u2019t scored a finish inside the Octagon since 2018, stopping Krzysztof Jotko via technical knockout (see that here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Anders, meanwhile, follows a similar pattern. While he has knockout power, his fights regularly slow into grinding striking battles or clinch-heavy affairs that favor rounds over finishes. Like Tavares, he\u2019s proven incredibly tough to put away \u2026 unless he faces someone with a lot of power (like this<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Add it all together, and the numbers support a long fight. Between them, the pair have logged thousands (not really) of UFC bouts and only a handful of recent stoppages. Their styles also clash in a way that naturally drags fights into deeper waters \u2014 Tavares\u2019 calculated kickboxing against Anders\u2019 pressure-based approach tends to produce competitive rounds rather than sudden finishes.<\/p>\n

In other words, this looks like a classic Apex fight: experienced veterans trading technical exchanges over three rounds, while banking minutes rather than hunting a finish.<\/p>\n

Tavares is one win away from breaking the all-time Middleweight win record, and Anders is competing in his retirement fight \u2014 meaning they could try to leave an impression by being ultra aggressive. Also, while they have shown a lot of durability throughout their careers, both were stopped in their most recent outings.<\/p>\n

Still, given their histories and stylistic tendencies, Tavares vs. Anders \u201cGo to decision\u201d at (-185) feels like one of the safest plays on UFC Vegas 114\u2019s card.<\/p>\n

Brad Tavares To Win By KO\/TKO\/DQ: +450<\/a>Brad Tavares To Win By Submission: +2500<\/a>Brad Tavares To Win By Decision: +215<\/a>Eryk Anders To Win By KO\/TKO\/DQ: +350<\/a>Eryk Anders by Submission: +2500<\/a>Eryk Anders To Win By Decision: +165<\/a>To checkout the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 114: \u201cEmmett vs. Vallejos\u201d news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UFC Vegas 114 is less than 24 hours away \u2026 It all goes down in \u201cSin City\u201d this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,40762,785,85,1396,179146,85770,19458,19457,7990],"class_list":["post-538722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc-news","tag-ufc-on-paramount","tag-ufc-prelims","tag-ufc-odds","tag-ufc-predictions","tag-ufc-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}