UFC Fight Night 224: Fialho vs. Buckley odds, picks and predictions
In a welterweight bout on the main card, Andre Fialho and Joaquin Buckley meet Saturday at UFC Fight Night 224 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the UFC Fight Night 224: Fialho vs. Buckley odds, and make our expert picks and predictions.
The prelims are on ESPN+ at 4 p.m. ET, with the main card on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET.
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Fialho has dropped 2 straight fights, both via KO/TKO, suffering a 3rd-round setback against Muslim Salikhov in November and a 2nd round defeat to Jake Matthews in June. Each of his past 4 fights has ended via knockout, with 2 wins and 2 losses.
Buckley is also on a 2-bout losing streak. He was knocked out by Chris Curtis in the 2nd round at UFC 282 last time out in December and suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Nassourdine Imavov in early September.
Buckley has a 2-inch reach advantage and a slight 3.87-to-3.17 significant strikes landed per minute. Neither of the fighters is particularly accurate with the strikes, with Fialho posting a 41.43% significant strike accuracy to 35.01% for Buckley. Buckley is better in the takedown game, posting an average of 1.23 to 0.00 for Fialho, with a 30.43% takedown accuracy percentage.
UFC Fight Night 224: Fialho vs. Buckley odds
BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:22 a.m. ET.
UFC Fight Night 224: Fialho vs. Buckley picks and predictions
Records: Fialho (16-6-0) | Buckley (15-6-0)
Buckley (-225) will cost you more than 2 times your potential return, and that’s risky business on a guy entering the octagon on a 2-bout losing skid.
PASS, and look to the method of victory instead. Fialho hasn’t been great on defense, and playing BUCKLEY BY KO/TKO, DQ OR SUBMISSION (-105) at near even money on the 5-way line is a much better value.
No (-250): Fight to go the distance? is a little too costly, and there is no value in playing it.
However, I do think OVER 1.5 ROUNDS (-135) is a strong play as I don’t think we’ll see a Round 1 result. Even the 2 fights that Fialho was knocked out went to at least 2:24 of the 2nd Round.
The past 5 fights for Buckley have lasted until 2:49 of the 2nd Round or later, too.
