Your Best Bets for UFC 174’s ‘Fight of the Night’

Ryan BaderYour Best Bets for UFC 174’s ‘Fight of The Night’ UFC 174 will be live from the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C., Canada with an 11-fight card, including an action-packed five-five main card that will kick off at 10pm ET, with preliminary action getting going at 5pm ET on FOX Sports 1. After the fights have concluded, the promotion will be awarding a $50,000 ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus for the most exciting bout of the evening. To place a wager on this prop, or any others for this fight card, you may do so at Several Bookmakerss. I believe the best-value contenders for this prize are: Bader/Feijao +750 — This is a match-up between two light heavyweights who have rounded up their games. Bader is a wrestler who has sharpened up his striking, and Feijao is a talented striker who has developed a ground game. I think this fight could be quite competitive, and if there is no early finish, could prove to be entertaining. The only way it won’t be a fun fight is if Bader blankets Feijao for three rounds of action, and I don’t think that will happen in this fight. Feijao looked in very good shape at the weigh-ins, while Bader did not look his best. He also has good takedown defense, but I won’t be surprised to see him get taken down. Though, I’m not sure if Bader will find success in keeping him down. I believe these two make a recipe for a fun light heavyweight fight, and at +750, I feel there is value in it. Johnson/Bagautinov +250 and MacDonald/Woodley +350 may have a higher chance of cashing, but I don’t see value in those lines. Should these 205-pounders take home ‘Fight of the Night’ honors, it would be the first time for Bader, and the second for Feijao. Schaub/Arlovski +1000 — I think this could be a very fun fight in the UFC’s heavyweight division, given there is no early finish. I don’t think Schaub will be able to outgrapple Arlovski the way he did Lavar Johnson, so I expect this fight to be more competitive. Schaub is also smarter about his striking defense now, so the chances of him being knocked out are less than they were two years ago, when he would carelessly trade punches. We could possibly be in for some great exchanges on the feet, as well as on the mat between these two very well-rounded heavyweights. They both weigh around 235-pounds, so they are both smaller heavyweights who could arguably make 205-pounds with a proper diet and weight cut. There are a number of fighters on the UFC’s roster who cut 30-pounds to make weight, so it wouldn’t be out of the question, though I don’t see either of them leaving heavyweight. Also, Schaub strikes me as the type who would complain during every second of a weight cut and would likely miss weight on occasion. At +1000, I think there is good value in this prop. Should these two earn ‘Fight of the Night’ honors, it would mean the first time for both “Big Brown” and “The Pitbull”. Sarafian/Kunimoto +1200 — Much like with the two previous fights I talked about, this is a fight that could prove to be entertaining, should it not result in a very early finish. At +1200, I feel there is enough value to at least warrant a stab. Sarafian is very entertaining every single time he steps inside the Octagon and has one ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus to his name to back it up, which came in a controversial split decision loss against CB Dollaway in what was the Brazilian-Armenian’s promotional debut. Should these welterweights take home the bonus, it would be Sarafian’s second and the first for Kunimoto, who will be making his second appearance inside the Octagon.

Written by Gabe Killian

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