Fight Night returns this week in the UFC, with the roadshow in Singapore for Max Holloway vs Chan Sung Jung. Billed as Holloway vs the Korean Zombie, this is the main event on a top-quality fight card. Here we look ahead to the fight and tell you what the best bets are with our latest UFC betting picks.
After a magnificent UFC 292 last Saturday night, it’s back to the weekly bread and butter events this week. But fear not, as the UFC has lined up another high-quality night of matchups for you.
Supporting the main event of Max Holloway vs Chan Sung Jung is Anthony Smith vs Ryan Spann. At the same time, the women’s contest is Erin Blanchfield vs Taila Santos. Below are the latest betting odds on all the fights listed on the main card. The odds are taken from the best UFC betting sites.
| UFC Fight Night 8/26/2023 Main Card Odds |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max Holloway | -800 | -800 | -800 |
| Chan Sung Jung | +550 | +550 | +550 |
| Anthony Smith | +100 | +100 | +100 |
| Ryan Spann | -125 | -125 | -125 |
| Giga Chikadze | -225 | -225 | -225 |
| Alex Caceres | +187 | +187 | +187 |
| Rinya Nakamura | -700 | -700 | -700 |
| Fernie Garcia | +500 | +500 | +500 |
| Erin Blanchfield | -150 | -150 | -150 |
| Taila Santos | +125 | +125 | +125 |
| Junior Tafa | -170 | -170 | -170 |
| Parker Porter | +140 | +140 | +140 |
The main event is Max Holloway vs Chan Sung Jung. This is a featherweight bout, with Holloway ranked No.1 and Chan ranked No.8.
Unfortunately, from a betting perspective, the main event looks like a bit of a mismatch. Max Holloway is a massive odds-on favorite, and at UFC Vegas betting odds of just -800, we’re not sure there will be too many takers.
For this fight, we need to look at the props market, mainly the methods of victory, for a better value bet. But first, let’s take a closer look at the two fighters.
Max Holloway is a veteran of the Mixed Martial Arts circuit. He has 31 fights in total, winning 24 and losing seven. He’s been with the UFC since 2012, when he made his debut as the youngest fighter on the organization’s roster.
His debut was at UFC 143 against Dustin Poirier, no less. Holloway was a late injury replacement, and he did lose the bout. But he wouldn’t have been put in the position in the first place had he not got the skills needed to cope with the likes of Poirier.
In total, Holloway has fought on pay-per-view bouts on six occasions, the last of those was back in 2019.
He has lost four of his last eight fights. But they were fights against top-quality opposition, with some of them for the UFC Featherweight and Lightweight Championships.
His opponent this Saturday is Chan Sung Jung, better known by his ring name, the Korean Zombie.
Chan Sung is also vastly experienced on the MMA circuit, with 24 previous fights on his resume. The Korean Zombie has won 17 of his 24 contests. But his last fight ended in a defeat to Alexander Volkanovski in what was a title bout for the UFC Featherweight Championship. In Chan’s last seven fights, he has won four and lost three.
Both fighters started as kickboxers but have since gone on to develop more skills relevant to surviving in the hexagon.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Taekwondo will be on show when they meet. But it’s boxing skills that separate these two fighters, and it’s Max Holloway who possesses the far superior hand speed and punching power.
And it’s these boxing skills which lead us to our pick. To win via TKO/KO/Submission, Holloway is +140, and we think that’s the best value pick for this fight.
Anthony Smith and Ryan Spann are the co-main event in Singapore, and on paper, this looks set to be a far closer contest than the main event.
This is a light-heavyweight bout between the No.8 ranked Smith and the No.10 ranked Spann. Despite the rankings, the best UFC bookmakers see Spann as the favorite. Although it has to be said, the odds are very close.
In his last contest, 35-year-old Anthony Smith lost to Johnny Walker in May of this year. Smith has lost his last two bouts. Overall he has a 36-18 record in MMA and can confidently describe himself as well-traveled, if nothing else.
As for Ryan Spann, the 31-year-old from Texas is far less experienced and has far fewer miles in his legs. Spann has an MMA record of 21 wins and eight losses. In his last contest, he lost to Nikita Krylov in March of this year via submission due to a triangle choke hold.
These two have fought each other before. The fight was the main event on a Fight Night back in September 2021, and on that occasion, Smith won by forcing a submission with a rear-naked choke hold.
Since that fight, Smith has lost twice, while Spann has won twice and lost once.
Anthony Smith may be unlucky to be the underdog in this fight. Ryan Spann has more tools and is a far bigger puncher than Smith, but is also a guy who always seems to underachieve. Just when you think Spann has turned the corner, he throws in a dodgy performance.
When it comes to making picks, Spann seems the logical choice on ability. But Smith is the more consistent performer, so we feel he makes for a better value betting pick for the win.
See below the best Las Vegas sportsbooks, where you can wager online and choose the best one for you:
