UFC Vegas 94 Predictions & Best Bets

It used to be a big deal when the UFC was on ESPN, so the fight cards were stacked. Now we get Brad Tavares co-headling events in the year of our lord, 2024. Regardless, we’re going to make some money on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Lemos vs Jandiroba (aka UFC Vegas 94). Here are my UFC Vegas 94 predictions and best bets.

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UFC Vegas 94 Predictions & Best Bets

Amanda Lemos (+110) vs. Virna Jandiroba

We get a pretty meaningful main event between two top strawweights, Amanda Lemos and Virna Jandiroba. Two top, but flawed, strawweights, that is. Lemos struggles to stop takedowns, while Jandiroba struggles with the striking.

As I normally do, I’m siding with the striker, that being Lemos in this case. Jandiroba’s striking is improving, but it is still a very weak spot for her. Lemos is going to be much better – and more powerful – on the feet. Let’s just hope she can keep this fight on the feet.

Jun Yong Park (-160) vs. Brad Tavares

That aforementioned co-main event would pit Jun Yong Park against Brad Tavares. Tavares just celebrated his 14th anniversary in the UFC, where he’s gone a very solid 15-9. However, he’s only 1-3 over his last four and got TKOed in his last fight.

‘The Iron Turtle’ Park has to be the pick here. He’s better everywhere than Tavares at this point in their respective careers, and is a finisher on the feet and the ground. Plus, he’s four years younger.

Steve Garcia (-146) vs. Seungwoo Choi

‘Mean Machine’ Steve Garcia is still flying under the radar in the UFC’s featherweight division, but that ought to change shortly. With 12 knockouts in 15 professional MMA wins, he carries rare power for a fighter in a lighter-weight class.

Garcia should overwhelm Choi on the feet on Saturday night, and being able to get Garcia via T/KO at +135 is a steal. Go grab it!

Hyder Amil (+165) vs. JeongYeong Lee

My dog of the week is featherweight Hyder Amil, who is heading the prelim portion of the card on Saturday night against JeongYeong Lee. ‘The Hurricane’ is a perfect 9-0 as a pro fighter, and I expect him to keep the 0 in the loss column after he leaves the cage.

I like Amil’s striking and power better than Lee’s, as well as his top-level experience fighting on the North American scene (1-0 in the UFC, 1-0 on Dana White’s Contender Series, 3-0 in Bellator).

Miranda Maverick (-215) vs. Dione Barbosa

There were high hopes for Miranda Maverick as she entered the UFC, but a couple of tough early losses seemed to dampen that. However, she’s won two straight and four of five fights and is still only 27 years old.

She’s offered up a tough fighter in Dione Barbosa on Saturday, but one who is stepping in here on short notice, which is never conducive to winning. Maverick is going to use her strength and grappling to grind out another W this weekend.

If you’d like even more information on UFC Vegas 94, be sure to check out the MMA Gambling Podcast. The guys are dropping five episodes weekly to make you the smartest guy at the bar.