UFC Fight Night parlay picks: Bet on Ricky Simon to maintain bantamweight ranking on main card
UFC Vegas 84 brings fight fans an exciting card to start the year from the fight capital.
The pregame narrative: Ricky Simon has an opportunity to showcase his skills on the main card while Matthew Semelsberger is a good bet as he takes a step down in competition on the prelims — lastly, back an up-and-coming Joshua Van in the first fight of the evening.
UFC oddsas of 12:50 p.m. ET on 1/10/24.
UFC Fight Night parlay picks
Parlay: Simon to win + Semelsberger to win + Van to win (+285)
Simon to win(-182): Simon (20-4-0) is coming off a loss to Yadong Song in the main event of a UFC fight night back in April but he has a good chance to bounce back on Saturday.
Before that, Simon was on a five-fight win streak which included finishes over Raphael Assuncao and Jack Shore, who was 16-0-0 at the time.
Mario Bautista (13-2-0), on the other hand, comes in on a five-fight win streak but is the less experienced fighter coming for Simon's No.13 ranking.
Bautista arguably lost his last bout with Da'Mon Blackshear where he was outstruck 90-73. Per MMA Decisions, 10 of 15 media members scored the contest for Blackshear
As he makes a step up to face Simon, expect the latter to come out on top and retain his bantamweight ranking.
Other parlay picks
Semelsberger to win (-134): Semelsberger (11-6-0) has faced exclusively tough challenges since coming into the UFC.
His opponents have a combined record of 110-25. This weekend he faces a less dangerous Preston Parsons (10-4-0) who's 1-2 in the UFC with his one win coming in a close fight against lightweight Evan Elder, who was fighting up a weight class on short notice.
Elder has a similar style to fighters like Jake Matthews and A.J. Fletcher who have already suffered losses to Semelsberger.
There's no need to overthink this one as Semelsberger has a strong chance to get back in form in the welterweight division.
Van to win(-240):Van is just 22 years old but has the look of a future contender in the flyweight division.
He is already 2-0 in the UFC and has a win over Zhalgas Zhumagulov who was once ranked. This seems more like a set-up fight from the organization to give a promising prospect another chance to gain experience in the octagon.
It's cage fighting so of course anything can happen but there seems to be no better bet on this card than Van.
His opponent, Felipe Bunes (13-6-0) makes his debut after going 3-4 in his last seven regional bouts. Not to say those weren't in reputable leagues as they took place under the LFA and ACA.
Van has skills way beyond his years and looks to have a statement performance to start 2024.
