Betting: UFC 266 Preview

Minty Bets is joined by Kevin Iole to preview the UFC 266 PPV card on Sat. September 25 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Video Transcript

MINTY BETS: UFC 266 takes place this weekend at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Here with me is Kevin Iole to give us his best bets for the weekend. Kevin, oh my goodness. The main event will be a featherweight title bout between Alexander Volkanovski -185 versus Brian Ortega, +150. Kevin, what's your pick for this one?

KEVIN IOLE: I will tell you, I think this is a fun fight, Minty. I like Volkanovski in this position. He's proven against really elite competition. I know that Brian Ortega has the ability to raise his game, but I like what Volkanovski does. And his wrestling I think is kind of a game changer here. So I'm going to go ahead and lay that -185 and I'm going to play Volkanovski to win this fight.

MINTY BETS: Now onto the co-main event, a women's flyweight title bout between Valentina Shevchenko, a -1200 favorite versus Lauren Murphy at +725. I don't know, Kevin. What do you think? Don't tell me you're taking the favorite.

KEVIN IOLE: Yeah. You know, unfortunately. You know, I talked to Lauren today and her nickname is "Lucky." And I said, "Lauren," I'm not sure anybody is lucky if they get to fight Valentina Shevchenko. Shevchenko is so dominant.

Murphy made the point, which I think is a good one that she thinks the fight will come down to a mistake. And so I have to go with Shevchenko in this one, because I just don't see Valentina making a major mistake where Lauren's going to be able to change the tide of the fight. I'm going to bet it goes the distance. You know, I think Lauren Murphy is a very tough woman. She's primed for this. She's on a winning streak, looking really good. I think Shevchenko wins it, but I think Murphy will take it the distance. So that is my play.

MINTY BETS: Now on to a welterweight bout between Robbie Lawler -120 versus Nick Diaz, +100. What do you think?

KEVIN IOLE: Oh my god. How do I pick this? It's the first time in six years, six and 1/2 years that Nick Diaz is back in the Octagon. I mean, it's just amazing.

This is going to be a bet against Robbie Lawler so much as a pick for Nick Diaz though. You know, Robbie just has not looked good. And it looks like his chin is getting a little bit suspect nowadays. Diaz hasn't taken abuse in all this time. You know, he trains religiously. Got to think he's going to be in pretty good condition for this fight. You know, you don't know what the timing is going to be like or anything like that.

But I'm going to go ahead and I am going to bet two units on Nick Diaz to win this fight. I don't want to go crazy on him, because it's been six years, but I think Diaz will find a way to get it done.

MINTY BETS: Love that plus money pick. Thank you so much, Kevin. Good luck.

KEVIN IOLE: Thanks, Minty.

MINTY BETS: If you're betting on the fights, don't forget to take advantage of our risk-free promo. Head over to BetMGM.com/Yahoo to sign up.