We have an early start time this weekend with UFC Shanghai kicking off overnight here in the US with prelims at 3AM ET.

The lineup features 13 matchups and will be headlined by a ranked bantamweight clash between Umar Nurmagomedov and Song Yadong in the main event.

23 out of 26 fighters successfully made weight for the event.

Andre Lima will be fined 20% of his fight purse for coming in one pound heavy, while no fines were announced for Julia Polastri and Xiong Jingnan both missing weight for their bout.

UFC Shanghai Picks & Predictions

My favorite picks for UFC Shanghai are Rei Tsuruya, Kai Asakura, Umar Nurmagomedov and Bilal Hasan.

My favorite potential betting upset on the card is Jack Jenkins.

I expect Tsuruya to have a sizeable advantage in the grappling over Kevin Borjas and think he’ll be able to get takedowns and control to chase for a finish on the ground.

Asakura is drawing a favorable matchup with Aoriqileng where I think he will be the more durable and dangerous striker to pick up a KO/TKO stoppage or clear decision win.

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Nurmagomedov should be able to hold his own in the striking against Song, and he’ll have a solid advantage on the ground when he decides to take it there.

I think Umar might look to strike a bit early, but he’ll probably start looking to wrestle, secure takedowns and win rounds with control for a decision or late stoppage.

Hasan is the second DWCS signee of the season to get a fast-tracked debut, and while his matchup is a bit tougher than Anthony Wint’s last week, I think he’ll do enough to get the job done on the scorecards or late KO/TKO.

UFC Shanghai Betting Card

For the UFC Shanghai bets, we have a mix of short parlays and a couple of prop bets.

The parlays are Tsuruya by Submission + Asakura by KO/TKO (+245 for .5 units), Meng Ding ML + Lawrence Lui ML + Xiao Long ML (+250 for .5 units) and Meng by KO/TKO + Asakura ML + Nurmagomedov ML (+290 for .5 units).

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The UFC Shanghai prob bets are Hasan by Decision (+225 for .5 units) and Jenkins by KO/TKO (+475 for .25 units).

I think Nilson Rojas will be a bit tougher than Hasan’s opponent from DWCS and should be able give him a tougher test here to survive to the scorecards.

Jenkins will have to navigate a sizeable length disadvantage against Sean Woodson, but I think he’ll ultimately close range and get the leg kicks going to find a TKO stoppage at some point.

That’s five bets for a total of 2.25 units on the UFC Shanghai tracked betting card.

UFC Sacramento Quick Recap

We had a mixed bag last weekend with UFC Sacramento going 9-4 on the picks and finishing -.05 units on the bets.

Pretty fun card overall with some good finishes but got burned for the bets with Mason Jones getting caught.

UFC Shanghai Notes & Wrap-Up

I’m expecting this to be a pretty fun card for the ones who make it up early enough to actually catch the majority of it and a fun opportunity to hopefully “wake and cash” if you end up sleeping in.

This wraps up what has been an absolutely loaded month of fights in August, but the action continues with a busy slate for next month as well starting with UFC Paris.

If you missed the announcement last week, we have another new shirt collaboration with Dione Barbosa available to grab, so be sure to go and show her some love by picking one up.

Also keep an eye on our Whatnot shop over the weekend for our “Heat Signature” custom trading card series to drop.

As always, best of luck on the bets and hope everyone enjoys the fights!

UFC Shanghai Quick Picks

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