UFC Fight Night Odds, Prediction: Blagoy Ivanov vs. Augusto Sakai
The lone heavyweight bout on the UFC Fight Night main card from Las Vegas on Saturday night features two ranked fighters in Blagoy Ivanov and Augusto Sakai. This is the final fight before the main event so likely will start around 11 p.m. ET, and here are the Sports Interaction UFC odds.
Stipe Miocic is the current heavyweight champion with Ivanov ranked 12th and Sakai 13th, so both have a lot of winning to do in order to get a title shot. It’s a bit unusual with the strict travel protocols entering the USA during the coronavirus pandemic to have two non-Americans fighting each other on this card. Sakai is a -125 favourite on the UFC odds board with Ivanov at -105.
The 33-year-old Ivanov (18-3) is from Bulgaria. He’s an international master of sports in Sambo (a Soviet martial art and combat sport) who won the 2008 Combat Sambo World Championships. He has fought in a handful of MMA organizations and was the heavyweight champion in the World Series of Fighting.
Ivanov’s UFC debut was in July 2018 when he lost to former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos via unanimous decision. “Baga” won his next two fights before losing in November 2019 to Derrick Lewis via split decision. That was the fifth straight Ivanov fight that went to the judges.
UFC on ESPN 9 Odds: Ivanov vs. Sakai
He wins very evenly: six by KO/TKO, six by submission and six by decision. Two of his three losses are by decision. Ivanov’s favoured method of victory Saturday is by decision at +220, followed by KO, TKO or disqualification at +500 and submission at +745. Ivanov averages 3.09 significant strikes per minute (absorbs 3.93) and 1.07 takedowns per 15. His average fight time is 17:30.
Sakai (14-1), 29, from Brazil, earned a UFC contract after appearing on “Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series Brazil” with a second-round TKO win (punches) over Marcos Conrado Jr. In his first official UFC bout, Sakai beat Chase Sherman in September 2018 by third-round TKO (punches).
Sakai was last in the Octagon in September 2019 and knocked out Marcin Tybura (punches) just 59 seconds into their fight. Sakai lands 5.51 significant strikes per minutes (absorbs 3.77) and averages 0.24 takedowns per 15. Eleven of 14 wins are by KO/TKO.
His favoured method of victory on Saturday is by decision at +210, followed by KO, TKO or disqualification at +295 and submission at +2500. He has never won by submission (or lost). Sakai’s fights average 10:32.
UFC Fight Night Predictions: Ivanov vs. Sakai
The over/under for rounds is 2.5, with the over a -185 favorite. Sakai is about four inches taller than Ivanov and has a four-inch reach advantage. Sakai wins by KO/TKO.