UFC 234 took place Saturday, February 9, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. The card was supposed to be headlined by a title bout in the middleweight division but a last minute pullout forced former middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva into the main event against surging 185-pound contender Israel Adesanya.
Closing odds are courtesy of Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap of each of those fights.
Favorites that won
In the main event of the evening, undefeated middleweight contender Israel Adesanya didn’t finish the former champ Anderson Silva, but he did enough to convince the judges to award him a unanimous decision. Adesanya was a massive -515 betting favorite while Silva was a +410 dog.
In a bout that was original on the prelims but got pushed into the co-main event, Lando Vannata eventually played it smart and took his fight against Brazilian Marcos Mariana to the canvas, where he was able to finish the fight with a first round Kimura. Vannata was a -450 favorite while Mariana was a +350 underdog.
In a women’s flyweight contest, Montana De La Rosa showcased her superior ground game, trapping Nadia Kassem in a triangle choke before transitioning to a belly-down armbar to force a verbal submission. De La Rosa was victorious as a -235 favorite while Kassem was +200.
In light heavyweight action, Jim Crute kept his undefeated streak alive by hurting Sam Alvey badly and then putting the veteran away with ground and pound in the first round. Crute was a -145 favorite while Alvey was +125.
Devonte Smith took care of Dong Hyun Ma in a lightweight scrap, landing a combination on the feet and putting the South Korean on the ground to earn a first round TKO. Smith was a -270 favorite while Ma was a +230 dog.
In a featherweight bout, Shane Young won all three rounds on all three judges’ scorecards against Austin Arnett en route to winning a one-sided unanimous decision. Young was victorious as a -385 betting favorite while Arnett was +320.
In a flyweight fight, Kai Kara-France and Raulian Paiva had a very close back-and-forth three rounds of action where Kara-France was named the winner via split decision. Kara-France barely held serve as a -255 favorite while Paiva was +205.
In a bantamweight battle, Kyung Ho Kang had some exciting exchanges with Teruto Ishihara on the feet before he got down to business and choked Ishihara unconscious in the first round. Kang closed as a -350 favorite while Ishihara was +285.
In a lightweight contest, Jalin Turner avoided getting suckered into a ground game against Callan Potter and landed some huge right hands before knocking potter out cold in the first minute of the first round. Turner was victorious as a -220 favorite while Potter was a +200 dog.
In the opening bout of the evening, bantamweight Jonathan Martinez thoroughly outworked Wuliji Buren en route to taking home a unanimous decision. Martinez was victorious as a -135 betting favorite while Buren was +115.
Pick ’em fights
In a bantamweight scrap, Ricky Simon avoided putting himself in bad positions on the ground against Rani Yahya, outworking and thoroughly picking apart the veteran en route to a one-sided unanimous decision. Simon and Yahya closed at pick’em -110.
