UFC Fight Night: Thiago Santos vs. Magomed Ankalaev Parlay (2022)
The UFC heads back to the Apex following a pay-per-view event last week at T-Mobile Arena, as a great night of fights is on deck on ESPN+. Headlined by a passing of the guard type fight in the light heavyweight division between Thiago Santos and Magomed Ankalaev, the co-main features a pair of stellar bantamweight poised to break into the top 10.
Let’s take at three fights I have my eye on this week’s juicy three-leg UFC parlay.
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Leg #1. Kris Moutinho (-150 at DK Sportsbook)
I think this is one of the more mismatched fights on the card Saturday and it isn’t particularly close. Fight fans will remember Moutinho who stood and swung (mostly was swung on) for three rounds with Sean O’Malley at UFC 264: Poirier vs. McGregor 3.
In what was his first UFC fight, on short notice at that, Moutinho earned a Fight of the Night bonus and a spot on this card. His opponent, Guido Cannetti has been in the UFC since 2014, coming into Saturday with a record of just 2-5 with the promotion.
With four of those five losses coming before the final bell, I expect a similar fate in this one for the 42-year-old likely fighting his final fight in the UFC.
Leg #2. Drew Dober (-165 at DK Sportsbook)
Having just fought 10 days ago, Terrance McKinney steps in for Ricky Glen (groin) on short notice and I think we see him live to regret it. Simply put, Dober is an assassin with significant strikes landed per minute clip of 4.38 heading into this fight. Of his three most recent wins, all three have come inside the distance, with two ending via KO/TKO.
He’ll be looking to stop a two-fight slide against Islam Makhachev and Brad Riddell, both amongst the elite in the lightweight division. Despite McKinney winning that fight at the end of February, the contrasting styles in his opponents (and camps) should cause him issues in this one.
Leg #3. Thiago Santos (+435 at DK Sportsbook)
Despite the landslide of juice in the favorite’s direction in this fight, I’m not so sure Santos gets as steamrolled as the odds suggest. While Santos has lost three of his last four, one came against arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter of all time, and the second against current light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira. Following those fights, he’s 1-1 since with his most recent fight a win over Johnny Walker in October.
On the other side, Ankalaev has been impressive but has a resume with zero recognizable wins. If Santos can keep this one the fight for any period of time, a KO/TKO victory is well within his cards.
Total Odds: +1332 at DraftKings Sportsbook
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