We’re down to the final Fight Night event before UFC 300 next weekend and this should be a pretty fun card to get everyone ready for the festivities next Saturday. UFC Vegas 90 will take place this weekend at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and will be headlined by a middleweight rematch between Brendan Allen and Chris Curtis. Curtis won the first meeting between the two via second round KO/TKO, while Allen has reeled off six straight victories since then. It will be interesting to see just how much Allen has progressed or if Curtis and the Xtreme Couture team continue to be his kryptonite in the UFC (Allen is 11-2 in the promotion with his losses to Curtis and Sean Strickland). There aren’t many other household names on this one unless you’re a hardcore fan, but there are a handful of good matchups sprinkled throughout the card and some fighters worth keeping an eye on.

We had a surprisingly high number of weight misses this week at the weigh-ins with four fighters missing weight and one matchup being cancelled as a result. Anthony Hernandez (148.5), Nora Cornolle (138.5), Melissa Mullins (138) and Cynthia Calvillo (119) were the fighters who missed weight. Calvillo’s fight with Piera Rodriguez has been cancelled as a result of her miss, while the other two matchups will proceed as catchweight bouts. Hernandez initially missed by four pounds on his first attempt.

My favorite picks for this weekend’s card are Brendan Allen, Ignacio Bahamondes, Alex Morono and Germaine de Randamie. Although Allen lost the first matchup, I think he’ll be smart enough to avoid standing in the pocket with Curtis in this one and will also likely have more success with his takedowns this time around as well. Curtis has cooled down considerably since the 4-0 start to his UFC run, going just 2-2 with a No Contest in his last five fights. Allen has won each of his last four fights via rear-naked choke and I could potentially see him getting ahold of Curtis for another one here, but also wouldn’t rule out a decision win. Bahamondes will have 5″ height and 4″ reach advantages over Cristos Giagos and should largely have his way in this matchup. Giagos is 6-7 in the UFC and has been stopped in 8 of 11 career losses. I expect Bahamondes to use his length and takedown defense to keep this one standing for the most part enroute to a KO/TKO or club-and-sub victory.

Alex Morono will be facing Court McGee on this card, who is coming off pretty nasty back-to-back KO/TKO losses at the age of 39. Morono has the better striking volume and will be the younger fighter in this matchup. Unless McGee can successfully ground this one out, Morono should be able to pick up the decision or late KO/TKO stoppage win in this one. I also really like Germaine de Randamie in her return matchup against Norma Dumont. Although I usually avoid fighters off lengthy layoffs, de Randamie has been excellent in the UFC with her only two losses coming to Amanda Nunes. de Randamie should be the better and more dangerous striker in this matchup, and while her best MMA days might be in the past at 39 years old, I still think she will prove to be one of the better fighters in the UFC women’s bantamweight division by picking up the decision win in this one.

For the betting card this weekend, there wasn’t a ton that I really love or trust on this card, so I mixed several plays between this one and UFC 300 next Saturday. The plays that are strictly for UFC Vegas 90: Cornolle ML (+275 for .5 units), Morono by Decision or KO/TKO + Bahamondes ML (+101 for one unit) and de Randamie by Decision (+275 for .5 units). The plays that start with this card and carry over to UFC 300: de Randamie ML + Allen ML + Holloway by Decision (+1127 for .25 units), de Randamie ML + Holloway ML + Weili ML (+605 for .5 units) and de Randamie by Decision + Holloway to Win Ov1.5 Rounds (+1025 for .25 units). That’s six plays out for a total of 3 units across them. The lines for Holloway are already coming down for his BMF title fight against Justin Gaethje, so I would recommend playing something on him now if you’re liking that side. Keep an eye on our social media accounts for any late additions to tomorrow’s card, but this is probably what I will stick with for the most part.

Here are the fighter graphics that I put together for UFC Vegas 90 featuring Brendan Allen, Chris Curtis, Morgan Charriere, Charlie Campbell, Trevor Peek and Joshua Van (was originally scheduled for this card until his opponent dropped out). For my current UFC 300 graphics, check out the Gallery. I hope everyone enjoys the fights tomorrow and good luck to all the bettors!

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