{"id":788664,"date":"2026-07-09T07:00:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T07:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/788664\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T07:00:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T07:00:45","slug":"ufc-329s-best-betting-props-parlays-and-picks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/788664\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC 329\u2019s best betting props, parlays and picks"},"content":{"rendered":"

UFC 329<\/a> is live this Saturday (July 11, 2026) from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV and streamed exclusively on Paramount+<\/a> (watch here<\/a>). The main event needs little introduction. It\u2019s Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway 2, a rematch thirteen years in the making (but at Welterweight, not Featherweight). This is our first time seeing McGregor since 2021, but the lead up to this one has felt very different<\/a> from past McGregor fight weeks.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s co-main is Benoit Saint Denis vs. Paddy Pimblett in the Lightweight division. Rounding out the stacked main card is Cory Sandhagen vs. Mario Bautista, Bandon Royval vs. Lone\u2019er Kavanagh and King Green vs. Terrance McKinney.<\/p>\n

The \u201cPrelims\u201d are pretty stacked, too. They are headlined by Robert Whittaker vs. Nikita Krylov. There\u2019s also Luke Rileyvs. Kai Kamaka III, Cody Garbrandt vs. Adrian Yanez and the debut of Gable Steveson. He fights Elisha Ellison.<\/p>\n

The early \u201cPrelims\u201d are headlined by Tracy Cortez vs. Wang Cong. There\u2019s also Damian Pinas vs. Cesar Almeida down there.<\/p>\n

As always, there\u2019s lots to bet on this card and we\u2019ve got odds for all the fights below:<\/p>\n

UFC 329 Main Card Money Line Odds<\/p>\n

\"\u2018Blessed\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Blessed\u2019 will try and tie his record with Conor McGregor on Saturday. Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC<\/p>\n

Conor McGregor (+185) vs. Max Holloway (-225)<\/p>\n

McGregor is back on Saturday night. The soon-to-be 38-year-old returns after a five-year absence from MMA. It\u2019s now ten years since McGregor beat Eddie Alvarez to become the champ-champ in a moment that suggested he might become a dominating force in the sport. The Mayweather fight followed, though, then sparring UFC fights between arrests and other controversies. His most recent fights were two losses to Dustin Poirier, both by stoppage. The most recent featured a badly broken leg and ended with McGregor possibly threatening to kill Poirier\u2019s family in their sleep. Lovely.<\/p>\n

Few have a bad word to say about Max Holloway. The Hawaiian remains one of the most beloved figures in the sport thanks to his exciting style, ability to get wins, and seemingly normal\/likeable personality outside of the cage. Holloway is 34 and last fought in March. That\u2019s when Charles Oliveira broke all the BMF rules and grounded Holloway for five rounds. Before that, Holloway won the so-called BMF title by beating Poirier in Poirier\u2019s retirement fight.<\/p>\n

Obviously I\u2019m picking Holloway here. I don\u2019t care that this is Welterweight. I don\u2019t care that McGregor won the first fight. I don\u2019t care that McGregor once had prodigious speed and power in his hands. He\u2019s been gone five years. And even five years ago, he looked like a shell of the Featherweight phenom that shocked the world.<\/p>\n

I feel like McGregor got to his peak (the Alvarez fight) thanks to his desire. He wanted to be the biggest star in combat sports, and he got there. Once he achieved that, he hasn\u2019t had the same kind of motivation. His motivation this time around, I believe, is to fight out his UFC contract and then go elsewhere to find the biggest spectacle fights he can.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think he\u2019s been training seriously here. I don\u2019t think he has a room of coaches and training partners who can push him and tell him what he doesn\u2019t want to hear. And I don\u2019t think he has the gas tank to keep up with Holloway.<\/p>\n

There are question marks when it comes to Holloway moving up in weight. He doesn\u2019t have a great track record of that. But I won\u2019t let that cancel out all my reservations about McGregor. I think we\u2019re going to see a repeat of the Poirier fights, with Holloway being the first to the punch and McGregor slowing down as soon as he gets tagged a few times.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have any questions about Holloway\u2019s mindset and preparations. I think his goal has always been just to win the next fight in front of him. And I think that\u2019s what he\u2019s going to do on Saturday.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m just taking the moneyline here. I have it listed at -225, but it\u2019s getting longer by the minute. By fight night, a lot of folks will have convinced themselves that McGregor has a chance, and I might get this at something like -175.<\/p>\n

I think Holloway likely gets a TKO somewhere in the third or fourth round because I really don\u2019t think a 38-year-old McGregor has the cardio to go long here. Holloway by KO\/TKO is -125 right now.<\/p>\n

The round total is 2.5 rounds. That\u2019s a really good line. I think this fight ends really close to that. That makes me want to stay away.<\/p>\n

Best bet: Max Holloway moneyline (-225)<\/p>\n

\"Tim<\/a>\"MMA\"Will<\/a><\/p>\n

Will Benoit Saint Denis get another dominating win at UFC 329? Mark Kolbe Photography\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Benoit Saint Denis (-155) vs. Paddy Pimblett (+130)<\/p>\n

Saint Denis has looked great ever since that beating Renato Moicano gave him in Paris in 2024. He\u2019s 4-0 since then with all finishes. That run includes a masterful performance over the very dangerous Mauricio Ruffy (see it here<\/a>), a 16-second KO over Beneil Dariush (see it here<\/a>), and a beatdown of Dan Hooker in January.<\/p>\n

Pimblett helped open up the Paramount+ era in the year\u2019s first main event. That saw him lose a unanimous decision to Justin Gaethje for the interim Lightweight title (and a ticket to the White House). That was Pimblett\u2019s first loss since getting beaten by Soren Bak in Cage Warriors in 2018. Of course, many think he deserved to lose his decision over Jared Gordon in 2022. To set up his title fight, Pimblett ran through Tony Ferguson, King Green, and Michael Chandler.<\/p>\n

Saint Denis has looked great in his last few fights, with both his grappling and his hands. In addition to looking like the total package, he\u2019s looked like a title contender, too.<\/p>\n

Pimblett looked tough and rugged in his loss to Gaethje, but his skills haven\u2019t seemed to have taken much of a leap forward. He wasn\u2019t able to establish any grappling with Gaethje and was left having to brawl with him (the greatest brawler in the sport right now).<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure where Pimblett wants this fight to go. And I\u2019m not sure he has the advantage either standing or grappling with Saint Denis. Because of this, I\u2019m pretty much with the oddsmakers here in thinking Saint Denis is going to win this.<\/p>\n

I was actually surprised to see that Saint Denis is actually eleven months younger than Pimblett. I thought Saint Denis was older. I also thought Pimblett was longer than Saint Denis, but they have the same reach.<\/p>\n

All this information is making me even more confident in Saint Denis on Saturday night. I think his boxing and grappling are just both too technical for Pimblett. Pimblett might put in a spirited performance here and have his moments, but I think Saint Denis will have the bigger moments. The Frenchman is the man I feel is most likely to land a huge punch or slap on a slick submission. So I have to pick him.<\/p>\n

Best bet: Benoit Saint Denis moneyline (-155)<\/p>\n

\"Tim<\/a>\"MMA\"Cory<\/a><\/p>\n

Cory Sandhagen will keep hunting for that elusive title shot at UFC 329. Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLC<\/p>\n

Cory Sandhagen (-155) vs. Mario Bautista (+130)<\/p>\n

Sandhagen returns to action after a pretty long stint on the sidelines. His last fight was in October, when he lost against Merab Dvalishvili for the Bantamweight title. He earned that with a win over Deiveson Figueiredo. Before that win he dropped a decision to Umar Nurmagomedov.<\/p>\n

Bautista\u2019s last loss was to Nurmagomedov. But it\u2019s sandwiched between a beautiful submission over Vinicius Oliveira in February (see it here<\/a>) and a drubbing over Patchy Mix.<\/p>\n

I think this is a really tough fight to call. Sandhagen has been the best \u201cother guy\u201d at Bantamweight for a while now. But Bautista has recently really raised his level. He\u2019s improved more than Sandhagen has in the last few years, but has he improved to a level beyond where Sandhagen is at right now? That\u2019s hard to know until they fight.<\/p>\n

My impression is that Sandhagen will have the striking edge in this one, but Bautista will have the wrestling and grappling edge. Those edges will be slight, in both departments, though. Both these guys are just so well rounded.<\/p>\n

Bautista\u2019s last fight, against Oliveira, feels like a fantastic warm-up for a Sandhagen fight. He took Oliveira down five times in that fight (which lasted less than two rounds). That\u2019s the most takedowns he\u2019s ever landed in a fight. I think that might be an omen of what\u2019s to come here.<\/p>\n

Sandhagen was taken down twenty times by Dvalishvili. Big deal, though. Dvalishvili does that to everyone and Bautista is not that level of wrestler. Sandhagen was taken down multiple times by Deiveson Figureido and Song Yadong, though. Figueiredo has a career takedown average of 34 percent. Song\u2019s is 41 percent. Sandhagen was taken down by Rob Font, too. Font\u2019s accuracy is just 29 percent.<\/p>\n

Figueiredo, Song and Font all took Sandhagen down at a rate higher than their career averages. Figueirdo went 2-5 on takedowns (40%), Song went 2-2 (100%) and Font went 1-2 (50%).<\/p>\n

Bautista is a career 38 percent takedown artist, though he went 5-7 (71%) against Oliveira.<\/p>\n

I think Bautista\u2019s improvement, paired with Sandhagen\u2019s historic leaky takedown defense means Bautista might have enough of an edge to win this.<\/p>\n

Best bet: Mario Bautista moneyline (+130)<\/p>\n

\"Lone\u2019er<\/a><\/p>\n

Lone\u2019er Kavanagh will try and take out more Flyweight royalty at UFC 329. Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLC<\/p>\n

Brandon Royval (+185) vs. Lone\u2019er Kavanagh (-235)<\/p>\n

Royval is coming off a first-round TKO loss to Manel Kape in December (see it here<\/a>). That followed his unanimous decision loss to Joshua Van, in what was essentially a number one contender bout. Before that, he took a really hard-fought win over Tatsuro Taira. At 33, he\u2019s trying to not get lost in the shuffle as young Flyweights try to take over the division.<\/p>\n

Kavanagh is one of those youngsters. He announced himself on the scene with a dominating performance over Brandon Moreno in Mexico City this February. That win saw him rebound from a shock KO loss to Charles Johnson in the previous fight. Kavanagh is now 3-1 in the UFC.<\/p>\n

I was pretty shocked at how badly, and quickly, Royval lost to Kape. I was worried that he had totally fallen off. However, given how Kape has looked, I think we can chalk that up to Kape\u2019s striking being very special at Flyweight (as Van might soon find out).<\/p>\n

Kavanagh was great against Moreno, but it might still be too soon to see how good he truly is. The loss to Johnson is concerning, and Jose Ochoa had some moments against him when they fought in 2024. Even so, Kavanagh\u2019s performance against Moreno does deserve a lot of respect, and the fact he did that on short notice, coming off a loss and in Mexico City, says a lot about Kavanagh\u2019s character.<\/p>\n

He clearly has a lot of momentum coming into this one, against someone coming off two losses. I think Kavanagh takes this one, and it looks somewhat similar to the Moreno fight. I\u2019m not alone in this thinking, though. To avoid those short favorite odds, I\u2019ll take Kavanagh by decision. He\u2019s yet to finish anyone in the UFC (excluding his Contender Series fight), and Royval is ultra tough (when you don\u2019t hit as hard as Manel Kape).<\/p>\n

Best bet: Lone\u2019er Kavanagh by decision (+140)<\/p>\n

Betting on sports involves risk, so please only wager amounts you can afford to lose. If you or someone you know if struggling with gambling help can be found with the organizations listed below:<\/p>\n

USA: National Problem Gambling Helpline \u2014 Call or text 1-800-GAMBLER to receive support and learn about available services.UK: GamCare – Call 0808 8020 133 to speak to an advisor about gambling (or visit gamecare.org.uk for live chat and forum options).Canada: Visit responsiblegambling.org for resources on helplines in Canada\u2019s various provinces and territories.Australia\/New Zealand: National Gambling Helpline \u2014 Call (800) 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.\"Terrance<\/a><\/p>\n

Terrance McKinney gets a big spotlight at UFC 329. Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLC<\/p>\n

King Green (+140) vs. Terrance McKinney (-166)<\/p>\n

Green, who turned 40 a few months ago, has been very active lately. This is already his third fight of the year. In May he submitted Jeremy Stephens (see it here<\/a>), and in February he TKO\u2019d Daniel Zellhuber (see it here<\/a>). He\u2019s now on a three-fight winning streak.<\/p>\n

The way McKinney fights, he could do it every night. T-Wrecks scored another lightning-fast win in March, beating Kyle Nelson in 24 seconds (see it here<\/a>). That would be special for anyone else, but McKinney\u2019s finished fights (or been finished) in less than a minute four times in the UFC. He went 2-1 in 2025, beating Viacheslav Borshchev and Damir Hadzovic and losing to Chris Duncan.<\/p>\n

McKinney fights are always a lot of fun. The matchmakers have given him a stiff challenge here, though. I don\u2019t think McKinney knows how to fight any other way, so I doubt we\u2019ll see him respect Green\u2019s hands and want to play things cautiously. It feels like he\u2019s going to do what he always does: throw himself forward immediately and look for the quickest way to win.<\/p>\n

The question is whether Green can handle that pressure and catch McKinney before he gets caught. If we\u2019re talking just striking, then I think there\u2019s a fifty-fifty chance for both guys to land a big KO early (remember when Green finished Grant Dawson in 30 seconds?).<\/p>\n

Unlike Green, though, McKinney is not just a striker. And I think that\u2019s what gives McKinney the edge here. McKinney has great submissions, which he deploys like he deploys his striking, at a furious breakneck speed. When McKinney gets close to people, he\u2019s great at climbing them or jumping onto them for submissions.<\/p>\n

The fact that I think McKinney will be bringing more weapons to this gunfight makes me want to side with him here.<\/p>\n

Best bet: Terrance McKinney moneyline (-166)<\/p>\n

UFC 329 \u2018Prelims\u2019 Under Card Odds<\/p>\n

\"Robert<\/a><\/p>\n

Robert Whittaker has beefed up for UFC 329. Mike Roach\/Zuffa LLC<\/p>\n

Nikita Krylov (+164) vs. Robert Whittaker (-198)<\/p>\n

UFC 329 marks the Light Heavyweight debut of former Middleweight champ Robert Whittaker (who started his UFC career off at Welterweight). He moves up after losses to Khamzat Chimaev (by face crank \u2014 see it here<\/a>) and Reinier de Ridder (by split decision). It\u2019s been about a year since that RDR fight and over two years since Whittaker\u2019s last win, a quick finish over Ikram Aliskerov (see it here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Krylov fought in January. That\u2019s when he put down the streaking Modestas Bukauskas with a first round TKO (see it here<\/a>). That took his UFC record to 12-9. Before that win he had back-to-back stoppage losses to Bogdan Guskov and Dominick Reyes. This is Krylov\u2019s third fight since a two year hiatus.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure Whittaker deserves to be as big a favorite as he is here. That\u2019s not because I don\u2019t think he\u2019s an excellent fighter. It\u2019s just because the move up from Middleweight to Light Heavyweight is a pretty big jump. Israel Adesanya lost when he went up to 205 lbs. And even Alex Pereira struggled in his debut up a weight (despite being a more natural fit there). Both those men struggled against Jan Blachowicz, though, who is better than Nikita Krylov.<\/p>\n

Even so, I think Krylov is a dangerous man to use for an experiment like this \u2014 given his finishing power in both striking and grappling. And I\u2019m concerned that Whittaker doesn\u2019t have enough size for this division. Both Adesanya and Pereira are 6\u20194\u201d with 80 inch reaches, though. Whittaker is 6\u2019 even with a 73 inch reach.<\/p>\n

Basically, I need to see Whittaker at this new weight before feeling confident one way or another.<\/p>\n

Given Krylov\u2019s track record as a finisher (and someone who gets finished a lot), I\u2019m reasonably confident this one doesn\u2019t go to the judges. Whittaker also has more losses by stoppage than he does by decision.<\/p>\n

Best bet: Fight to go the distance – No (-160)<\/p>\n

\"Gable<\/a><\/p>\n

Gable Steveson makes his much anticipated debut at UFC 329. Mitchell Leff\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Gable Steveson (-3200) vs. Elisha Ellison (+1400)<\/p>\n

Steveson is shaping up to be the biggest favorite in UFC history on Saturday. The former stud wrestler and Olympian is 3-0 in MMA having tried out in both the NFL and WWE before landing here. Around those three MMA fights, he\u2019s also had a cup of coffee in RAF and Dirty Boxing. All his MMA wins have been first round finishes.<\/p>\n

Ellison made his UFC debut last September. That saw him finished in the first round by Brando Pericic. He\u2019s 29 and 5-2.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going spend too much on this one. UFC are giving Steveson a lay-up here. For value\u2019s sake, I\u2019ll take the over hoping there\u2019s some kind of Octagon jitters.<\/p>\n

Best bet: Over 1.5 rounds (+390)<\/p>\n

\"Hopefully<\/a><\/p>\n

Hopefully Cody Garbrandt doesn\u2019t need a bucket at UFC 329. Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC<\/p>\n

Cory Garbrandt (+310) vs. Adrian Yanez (-395)<\/p>\n

Former UFC Bantamweight champion Garbrandt had a horrible time in his last fight. He beat Xiao Long by decision, but had to endure a vomit-inducing groin shot<\/a> along the way. That was Garbrandt\u2019s first win since a KO over Brian Kelleher in 2023. In between those fights, he was a distant second best to Deiveson Figueiredo and then Raoni Barcelos.<\/p>\n

Yanez fought to a majority draw with Ricky Simon in March. Those scores happened thanks to Yanez almost finishing Simon in the third round, thus earning some 10-8 scores. Simon looked like he was still rocked when the scores were being read out. Most onlookers, including myself, felt like Yanez should have been ruled the outright winner of the fight, though.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a little wary of Yanez being such a big favorite here. He\u2019s been very inconsistent in the UFC (he\u2019s lost three of his past six bouts). If he can replicate the striking we saw against Simon, then there\u2019s a good chance he (and his five-inch reach advantage) can hurt Garbrandt.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not willing to bet on Garbrandt, either, since his Renan Barao-like decline has put a big \u2018betters beware\u2019 label on him.<\/p>\n

The line for this one is 1.5 rounds. I\u2019ll go with the over, since I have doubts about both guys in this fight.<\/p>\n

Best bet: Over 1.5 rounds (-200)<\/p>\n

\"Luke<\/a><\/p>\n

Luke Riley accompanies Paddy Pimblett at UFC 329. Bradley Collyer\/PA Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Luke Riley (-310) vs. Kai Kamaka III (+250)<\/p>\n

Riley is 2-0 in UFC now after taking a pretty clear decision over Michael Aswell Jr. in March. He debuted with UFC with a second round finish over Bogdan Grad (see it here<\/a>). Just like his teammate Paddy Pimblett, Riley came up through the Cage Warriors ranks. He\u2019s 13-0 now and might be able to break out of Pimblett\u2019s shadow if he gets another big win here.<\/p>\n

Kamaka returned to UFC after a three year absence in April. He won his return fight, over Dakota Hope, by split decision. His original UFC run saw him go 1-2-1. After being cut he fought in Bellator and PFL, facing pretty decent opposition (Henry Corales, Brendan Loughrane).<\/p>\n

Kamaka might have a path to winning this if he tries to use some wrestling here. It\u2019s not his strong suit, but he\u2019s a lot better at that than Riley is (who has just a 37 percent takedown defense through two UFC appearances). Is Kamaka going to do that, though? Or is he the kind of guy who will want to brawl with this kid to show he\u2019s the better puncher.<\/p>\n

If he does that, then I feel like Riley is going to eventually wear him down with his volume. Riley landed 100 significant strikes on Aswell Jr., with about a third of those shots going to the body.<\/p>\n

I have a feeling \u2018Da Fightin\u2019 Hawaiian\u2019 might opt for the brawl here. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a good idea, but I also don\u2019t think Riley stops Kamaka. Kamaka has only two TKO losses on his career. One of those was an arm injury and the other was ground and pound from Jonathan Pearce. That finish was due to Kamaka being flattened out on his front under Pearce\u2019s heavy top game and couldn\u2019t defend the punches to the side of his head, he wasn\u2019t rocked in that fight.<\/p>\n

I think he manages to stay in there against Riley (especially if he takes him down a little).<\/p>\n

Best bet: Fight to go the distance – Yes (-175)<\/p>\n

UFC 329 Early \u2018Prelims\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Tracy<\/a><\/p>\n

Tracy Cortez draws a heavy hitter at UFC 329. Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC<\/p>\n

Tracy Cortez (-110) vs. Wang Cong (-110)<\/p>\n

Cortez couldn\u2019t keep up with Erin Blanchfield in her last fight. She was taken down and submitted in the second round there (see it here<\/a>). That happened back in November. Before that she looked great in overwhelming Viviane Araujo, with both her striking and wrestling, to take a decision. That fight happened after a year long hiatus, stemming from her short notice defeat to Rose Namajunas in her debut main event.<\/p>\n

Wang won her third straight bout in February, scoring a decision over Eduarda Moura. She came in a little heavy for that one, though. Wang knocked Victoria Leonardo out cold in her UFC debut (see it here<\/a>) back in 2024. That made lots of us think Wang hits like a truck. With no finishes since, then, though, that KO is starting to look like it said more about Leonardo (five career KO\/TKO losses) than Wang.<\/p>\n

This is an interesting match-up. Wang looked like a star in her debut, but she\u2019s certainly reduced to the mean since then. She was dominated by Moura in the second round of her fight and could have lost that had Moura not gassed out. Cortez is her biggest test to date and I think she\u2019s going to be a really tough fight for her.<\/p>\n

Cortez\u2019s wrestling and top game will be very important in this fight. Wang is still pretty raw at anything other than striking. In UFC Cortez has only ever lost to Blanchfield and Namajunas. She may get attention for reasons other than her fighting, but I think she\u2019s a good fighter and I think she\u2019s better equipped to avoid Wang\u2019s punches than Wang is at avoiding her takedowns.<\/p>\n

Best bet: Tracy Cortez moneyline (-110)<\/p>\n

\"Damian<\/a><\/p>\n

Damian Pinas will try and follow up on his impressive debut at UFC 329. Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC<\/p>\n

Damian Pinas (-218) vs. Cesar Almeida (+180)<\/p>\n

Pinas looked every bit the blue chip prospect when he took apart Wes Schultz in his post Contender Series debut. He hurt Schultz with every shot he landed and ended things at the 2:30 mark in the first round (see it here<\/a>). That improved his record to 9-1. His only loss is a DQ for an illegal kick in 2024.<\/p>\n

Almeida dropped to 3-2 in UFC after getting out-worked by Cezary Oleksiejczuk in December. Before that obliterated Abdul Razak Alhassan with a first round KO (see it here<\/a>). That\u2019s the kind of finish we\u2019d been hoping to see from the former GLORY kickboxer.<\/p>\n

This match-making tells us the UFC doesn\u2019t really care about what they have in Almeida. The promotion seems to like pushing GLORY vets, but Almeida seems to have just not done enough to excite them. As he closes in on turning 40, he\u2019s got a 24 year old killer to deal with.<\/p>\n

Pinas has freakish length (79 inches) and he knows what to do with it. He\u2019s a very technical striker, as you\u2019d hope to see out of Nova Uniao. He throws punches straight down the middle and so far people have just crumbled from his power.<\/p>\n

Almeida is a KO artist himself, but I think the age factor is a big deal in this one. Almeida doesn\u2019t have any wrestling so he\u2019s not likely to try and do anything other than stand and bang. I think that results in another stoppage win for Pinas.<\/p>\n

Best bet: Damian Pinas -3.5 (-175)<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/a><\/p>\n

Ryan Gandra will also try to follow up on his impressive debut at UFC 329. Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLC<\/p>\n

Ryan Gandra (-155) vs. Zach Reese (+130)<\/p>\n

Gandra\u2019s boxing looked on point when he took out Jose Medina in around forty seconds (see it here<\/a>). That was Gandra\u2019s first appearance after earning a contract on Contender Series, also with a first round stoppage. He\u2019s now 9-1 as a pro.<\/p>\n

Reese dropped a split decision to Michel Pereira in his last fight, though plenty of folks thought he won the bout. Before that he finished Jackson McVey with a second round submission (see it here<\/a>). And before that he caused a no contest with a brutal groin shot on Sedriques Dumas. Reese is now 4-3 1 NC in UFC.<\/p>\n

Gandra looked great against Medina, but most guys do. Other than Reese, that is. Reese went to a decision with the Bolivian and hit him 75 times without putting him away. That\u2019s not going to make me pick Gandra, though.<\/p>\n

I actually think Reese might be an interesting underdog here. I think he has a more rounded game than Gandra and he\u2019s had a lot more reps at this level than the recently signed LFA fighter. He\u2019s also got some size and reach over Gandra. I\u2019ll take him plus the points, expecting he either gets a finish, the decision or loses a close one.<\/p>\n

Best bet: Zach Reese +5.5 (-110)<\/p>\n

\"Farid<\/a><\/p>\n

Farid Basharat gets a late notice opponent at UFC 329. Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC<\/p>\n

Farid Basharat (-600) vs. John Garza (+440)<\/p>\n

Basharat was gearing up to face Ethyn Ewing this weekend in what would have been one of the more compelling fights of the night. With Ewing out, though, Garza slides in for his promotional debut.<\/p>\n

Basharat is now 15-0 as a pro after he beat Jean Matsumoto by split decision in February. That fight could have gone either way, though. I scored it for the Brazilian. Before that, Basharat had more convincing wins over Chris Gutierrez and Victor Hugo.<\/p>\n

Garza is 6-1 and just 23 years old. They probably called a lot of guys and got a lot of nos before this kid said yes. He\u2019s fought with Fury FC for the last little while and has won his last two by stoppage. There\u2019s no one on his record that you\u2019d recognize, though.<\/p>\n

I think Basharat has been good a lot more than he\u2019s been great in the Octagon. But I can\u2019t pick the underdog here. Basharat is far too skilled and battle-tested to get upset here. Garza fights with some personality, which should help him in this situation, but his striking and movement are quite wooden.<\/p>\n

Basharat is a very smart fighter, and I have a feeling he might be a little more cautious than usual against someone so unknown who is coming in on short notice. Maybe that means we\u2019ll see this fight go over the listed 2.5 rounds (Basharat has won over fifty percent of his wins by decision, after all).<\/p>\n

Best bet: Over 2.5 rounds (-120)<\/p>\n

\"Cody<\/a><\/p>\n

Cody Durden will try and maintain his momentum at UFC 329. Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLC<\/p>\n

Cody Durden (+205) vs. Alessandro Costa (-250)<\/p>\n

Durden managed one of the best wins of his career in April. He jumped in on short notice and beat Jafel Filho (as a +475 underdog). He needed that win, too. After losing his previous four he was probably looking at a pink slip had he lost. He\u2019s now 7-8-1 in UFC with recent losses to Nyamjargal Tumendemberel and Jose Ochoa (by TKO \u2014 see it here<\/a>). He also went the distance, and lost, with Joshua Van.<\/p>\n

Costa blitzed Matt Schnell for a first round TKO in June. However, Schnell thought the stoppage was early. The replay showed he had some reason to be upset. This was one of the first clangers of the year for veteran referee Herb Dean. Before this fight Costa took out Stewart Nicoll with a ripping punch to the liver.<\/p>\n

I was really impressed with Durden in his last fight. I thought he had a terrible match-up waiting for him, like I think he does here, and he shut down Filho and hurt him on multiple occasions. He did seem to catch Filho on a bad day, though. He also fought that fight as a Bantamweight, due to the short notice aspect of the fight and that change seemed to really benefit him against the smaller Filho.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d be very surprised if Durden has a similar showing to that against Costa, who has the kind of striking that gives Durden problems and he is, of course, very good on the ground, too. I think Costa will hit too hard for Durden and we\u2019ll see a finish in this one. I\u2019ll take Costa minus the points.<\/p>\n

Best bet: Alessandro Costa -3.5 (-160)<\/p>\n

\"Elisha<\/a><\/p>\n

Elisha Ellison could do the funniest thing at UFC 329.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a couple of long shots for Saturday night\u2019s action …<\/p>\n

Two fight parlay: Mario Bautista and Kai Kamaka III (+615)<\/p>\n

I think Bautista\u2019s wrestling could give Sandhagen some problems here, especially if it looks as good as it did in his last fight. And I think Kamaka has a chance to use wrestling to get by Riley, too. If they both decide to do things other than striking then I have a shot at cashing this parlay.<\/p>\n

Terrance McKinney by submission in under 59.5 seconds (+1200)<\/p>\n

McKinney gets things done fast and it\u2019s not always with strikes. He\u2019s never gotten a submission, in UFC, this quickly, so maybe he\u2019ll get that on Saturday. We know Green can be submitted quickly, too, just look at what Pimblett did to him.<\/p>\n

Elisha Ellison moneyline (+1300)<\/p>\n

Why the heck not? We\u2019ve got a guy making his UFC debut and he\u2019s the biggest favorite of all time. When are we going to see this ever again? I\u2019ll sprinkle a little on here just in case we get the biggest upset ever.<\/p>\n

To checkout the latest and greatest UFC 329: \u201cMcGregor vs. Holloway 2\u201d news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UFC 329 is live this Saturday (July 11, 2026) from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV and streamed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":788665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,40762,785,85,318251,1396,179146,19458,19457,7990],"class_list":["post-788664","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-329","tag-ufc-news","tag-ufc-on-paramount","tag-ufc-odds","tag-ufc-predictions","tag-ufc-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788664","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=788664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}