It’s fight day for UFC Vegas 98 from the Apex and we have a pretty good lineup for a Fight Night card. The event will be headlined by Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira in a high-stakes matchup for the flyweight division that could have heavy implications for the title picture. Taira has been one of the hottest prospects in the division since debuting and this will be a huge test for him. Unfortunately, we had a handful of weight misses yesterday with one fight dropping off as a result (Josh Fremd vs Abdul Razak Alhassan was scrapped after Fremd missed weight by 3 pounds). Jared Gooden also missed weight by two pounds, while Dan Argueta missed by 1.5 pounds. Both fighters were fined 20% of their purses.

My favorite picks on this card are Grant Dawson, Daniel Rodriguez, Themba Gorimbo and Ramazan Temirov. Dawson is still trying to make up ground in the division after a shocking first round KO loss to Bobby Green last year knocked him back down the ladder, but I like his chances in this one against Rafa Garcia. While Garcia is a solid striker, he hasn’t shown the power to put opponents out with big shots and I expect Dawson to find success with his takedowns. I think there’s a good chance Dawson can find a sub in this one and should get the clear decision if not. Rodriguez will be attempting to halt a three-fight losing skid against Alex Morono, but I like his chances back down at welterweight in this one. Rodriguez should the better striker here and be able to get this one done on the cards or by late KO/TKO.

Gorimbo is riding a three-fight winning streak heading into his matchup with Niko Price and I think this is an excellent spot for him to add to his streak. Gorimbo should be able to mix in takedowns and avoid the threat of Price on the feet early to get this one done on the cards or in the latter rounds. Temirov is making his UFC debut, but you can’t ask for a much better opponent in that spot than CJ Vergara. Temirov should be able to dictate where this matchup takes place, and I think there’s a good chance he can get this one done via KO/TKO or unanimous decision.

I’m keeping the betting card pretty small on this one as there really aren’t very many spots that I liked or trusted enough to target more heavily. I have one parlay out this weekend: Daniel Rodriguez ML + Jared Gooden to Win Inside the Distance (+395 for .5 units). I ran this one earlier in the week before the lineup changed and Gooden missed weight. I’m not sure I would still run it at this point, but not cashing it out. I’m also running three prop bets on this one: Cory McKenna by Split/Majority Decision (+500 for .25 units), Ramazan Temirov by KO/TKO (+300 for .5 units) and Grant Dawson by Submission (+420 for .5 units). That’s four bets out for a total of 1.75 units for today’s card.

Overall, this should be a pretty good card from a viewing standpoint with a handful of fun fights, we’ll see how it turns out on the betting end of things. Next weekend will be UFC Vegas 99 headlined by Anthony Hernandez and Michel Pereira, while UFC 308 will follow that on October 26th from Abu Dhabi. That card will be headlined by Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway for the UFC Featherweight title. Be sure to check our social media accounts later in the day for any late additions to the betting card. We hope everyone enjoys the fights and best of luck on the bets!

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