Join Jon Anik, Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen as they preview the must-see matchups on the UFC 295: Prochazka vs Pereira …
oh you know what it is we are in the mecca New York City all Hands-On deck for another betting preview this the UFC 295 Edition presented by draftking sports book and we got some Heavy Hitters today John an alongside Daniel Cormier and chel sunn and do what do we owe the pleasure sir great to see both of you hey a nice shirts by the way huh we went all out for this yeah we all dressed dressed alike it’s like going to the S Hawkins dance in high school we got our nice Travis Matthew DraftKings polos and how’s it like the S Hawkins what’s heing the sa Hawkins where the girl has to ask you how is this anything like the S Hawkins Dan dressed alike at the S Hawk the Hawkins dance she picks the out apologize Mr an I’m sorry for all right so we are in New York City of course getting ready for UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden and little tight Quarters here today but we kind of like the intimacy and we’re going to get right into this Main Event Yuri prohaska taken on Alex poda for the UFC light heavyweight championship draftking sports book for all of its great things they are always first and in this case Johnny aello our great director of the race and sports book they they were first to open this price on Alex poda and Yuri prohaska now Yuri opened as a small favorite but Alex poda was bet up as high as minus one45 so right now as it stands Alex poda albeit slightly is still the favorite your thoughts on that movement and ultimately the betting line as it stands right now a bit surprising that he was the favorite considering Yuri prohaska never lost the championship and he won that fight against glova tashera in impressive fashion doing something we didn’t expect we always thought that if he beat Glover it would be by knockout he submitted him to become the UFC light heavyweight champion didn’t lose the belt now Alex has looked good since going up to 205 and by beating yam bovich maybe that is what gives the general public the idea that he is now a true light heavyweight and that he has the skill set to be the guy that’s as dangerous as yoska so a bit surprising but if Johnny set the line as that you got to understand that it’s a guy with a lot of knowledge and um you got to trust it and when you’re going five rounds guys you are talking about a different sport I mean try to relate that to a football game if it was a Super Bowl and all of a sudden I tell you it’s three quarters it might change who you pick or if I tell you it’s going to be seven quarters it might change who you pick the reason I bring that up five rounds is so relevant it’s now not just about who’s better than who it’s also who’s tougher who can dig deeper who’s in better shape Yuri has been out for a meaningful amount of time frankly we don’t know how much we were told at one point it was the worst shoulder injury ever seen I’m hoping that just somebody was wrong I’m hoping it was a misdiagnosis but that’s never been cleared up so how much has he been in the gym to step back into this environment it’s a question for me and perara world champion or not main event or not returning to the Garden or not has never gone 25 full minutes I just think it’s relevant all of those Yuri prohaska essentially staring at a 17-month layoff and it seems as though that has been reflected in the price here I wanted to ask you about Glover toera in all of this has history With Yuri praza I’m not sure any man has had more of an influence on Alex P’s MMA success than Glover how do you think his influence factors into the game plan and potentially the fight here for Alex P I love that you ask the question cuz that’s the first time I’ve heard this come up I mean uh har was in the corner when Glover his mentor and hero and Coach got stopped and now they’re reversing roles and Glover will be in the corner as as the student goes out there and fights I mean I just love that you brought that up because it’s so significant how bad does a guy want something what is his Drive what is a motivation nothing is stronger than having the guy that you look up to telling you good job there is nothing and we’ll know that as young men it didn’t matter we were 9 years old or 40 years old that’s why we got in this and that’s why we stayed in it and I think it’s a very big deal that Glover to shares there not to mention the intimate knowledge of course that’s helpful some other things I just want to get to from a betting perspective we have seen some action come in on this fight to go more than a round and a half it seems like some betters believe that you know Alex poda historically has maybe felt things out a little bit early on are you expectant without revealing your hand totally that we’re going to get a long fight here Saturday night I do believe that I believe that these two guys are so evenly matched that they’re going to have to take some time to figure out what’s going to be the fight you know how the fight is going to play out how’s it what dance are we going to do tonight inside the Octagon when you look and watch yoska the last time we saw him was against terera he started very quickly but he started to fade a little bit down the stretch and that’s when Glover started to go away from him in terms of the fight for Alex Alex Pera I always say Pereira P they were saying paa it’s like a very difficult name because there are so many different ways people say it but for p pera pera for Lex for Lex he’s a counter guy he’s very good at taking his time and that’s from kickboxing he kickbox at a super high level he’s never going to rush so I can’t imagine we’re going to see anything like we may see at heavyweight where we got two bangers that are going to go out there and try to end the fight quickly I think we’re going have a little bit of a long fight but I believe that it’ll be fun for as long as it lasts because I believe these two are just phenomenal yeah and and I got to tell you I mean I feel like it’s the olden days of of Striker versus Grappler it’s very clear in my mind that prasa has got to get him to the ground I’m just not confident that he can’t do that very thing I think win it over the course of five rounds is difficult for anybody but this is a really interesting match it’s so crazy though to think that it was Glover that needed to get him down now he’s in a position where for him to find success you got to think he has to mix up takedowns because we know how great a striker prohaska is right he’s GNA have to use all his skills against this guy draftking sports book also taken some action right now on Yuri prohaska by submission he can be had at plus 800 so perhaps you see some value on that we will get predictions from the fellas in some part on the main event coming up later but let us transition to This heavyweight co-main event because even though Jon Jones and step mic are not walking through that door this to me seems like as relevant a heavyweight fight as we can put together and similarly taking two-way action just like the main event right now Tom Aspen all slight favorite minus 122 The Comeback on Sergey pavlovich plus 102 your thoughts you know I’ve made these comments time and time again about wanting something believing you want something then getting something different and it’s kind of okay like that thing you get is okay I I go back to being a kid and wanting a Nintendo I got a Sega hey the Sega worked out for me I was the only kid in the neighborhood with it that’s what’s happening this weekend we wanted Jon Jones versus St the the the Big Shiny thing but what we are getting is a great heavyweight title fight between two young guys in their Prime both looking to make a mark but the way that I hear people talk of Tom Aspen it was like going all the way back to Jon Jones remember the stories of Jon Jones out of Jackson before he became the man you knew like wow this guy must be special can he live up to this that is what’s happening with Aspen right now but he has a very tough Sergey pavic to get through first yeah and I think you might even be referring to Michael Bisping I mean he is really Michael Bisping is not big on the compliments so when he comes out and he puts a guy over to the gree that he is Tom I listen it means something to me I assume that Bisping maybe uh popped in the training room and saw some of these stories I I I would like to tell you this this is quite a riddle guys so this is for the intrum Championship but if we’re to take the information that we’ve been given it’s not a number one contenders fight in that Stipe who still has the boutle agreement against the champion is the number one Contender we’re also told that both JN and Stipe are going to retire regardless of outcome if the winner of Tom and Sergey is in the front row thinking they’re going to get a face off and the information that we’re told is true which is John or uh stie who wins retires the inim champion becomes the Undisputed champion and I’m only bringing that to you guys because this is for the indisputed championship if the math that I just told you is true then this is for the Undisputed championship and it feels very much like the winner of this fight is going to be elevated and promoted at some point in time so I think that’s a valuable Point real quick J back to you on this Tom Aspen open minus 135 most of the action has been on Sergey pavlovich and some people certainly a lot of people putting their money down were surprised that they could get a plus number next to pavlovich just given the tear that he’s been on I was in my studio John when when this fight got announced and I instantly went to DraftKings and I was stunned and I even said to the audience I said oh I think this is a mist mistake Aspen is the favorite it was like a negative 140 to plus 125 it was very very close I said I do not predict for you guys that that’s going to last by the time that dropped uh my comment section was telling me that I’m wrong I just assumed I was cuz I also thought that sergy would be the favorite I went back I was never wrong it has never flip-flopped sergy never passed him up not even for one single second that’s a surprise to me Sergey has been uh six up six down all inside of the first run I mean this is like old school Mike Tyson versus Tom who’s one and one in his last two and it took two years to get those two it’s a big surprise but somebody’s seeing something in Tom DC something see somebody seeing something in Tom and also I think where you’re getting a little bit that of that reluctance is because we don’t see Sergey long we don’t know how Sergey is going to with withold himself over the course of a long fight if he gets pushed through the first couple rounds because guess what the last time we saw him fight a long fight alist over got the best of him because he seemed to Tire he seemed to fatigue now that was a long time ago I trained with this man he was a baby back then he is not the same guy but for him to get six wins look you don’t get to go to work for 5 minutes every time that’s what he has made his Norm five minutes inside the Octagon dude gets his check goes back to Russia it’s unbelievable what he has done but to see him as the underdog is a bit surprising so pavlovich has six inches in reach even though he is the smaller man here cha let me ask you this Sergey pavlovich was training for this date as the backup Tom Aspen was not now perhaps we’ll know more when we sit down with him in our fighter meeting as to what he was doing in terms of the preparation for this specific date but do you factor that into your handicap because for me is a bad how do you not yeah absolutely every single time that we’ve seen this I can go back two weeks ago to volkanovski I can go back I can go back two weeks ago to Kamar Usman I mean Kamar Usman and chamaya DraftKings has put out fantasy odds for that for 5 years I I don’t understand what would be different now well the one answer it was short notice that’s the answer this is the only time that DraftKings let Jamaya take the the jump on Usman was the short notice yes it absolutely matters and I feel as though somebody is missing that um I would like to go to DC’s point when he’s talking about six finishes in a row and how that can be detrimental I maintain to this day the number one problem that Ronda Rousey had against hly Holm wasn’t that head kick it it wasn’t the travel and and and fatigue it was the fact that those other opponents got out of there so quickly when you get used to that it is a problem when you find yourself in a match that’s harder than you thought it was going to be that is where things unravel and it it could be a real big problem uh for pavage getting people out of there that quickly can come back and bite you DC is calling the fight with me so he can’t give a hard prediction on the fight do you have a prediction on the heavyweight co-main event yes and you know what I mean I I went on and on I’ll start with the co-main event the big boys here I went on and on about how I was surprised that Tom is the favorite but I have Tom I just didn’t think other people would see it that way I I do have him I like that he’s got a plan I like the strategy that lead out to get there whether it didn’t play out that way or not CU sural didn’t call him into the Octagon Tom at least has brought us something uh he believes in himself he’s big he’s got Michael bisbing vouching for him I’m going with Tom Michael bisbing said he floats around the Octagon like Muhammad Ali I mean if he’s floating around the Octagon like Muhammad Ali and Sergey has to land a big strike on him that’ll be very difficult to do so you might be right in your prediction well there there’s something to that when you’re taking those big Power guys you want to get a few minutes you want to tie them out I mean that’s just kind of the blueprint very basic rule I don’t know that Tom has that skill I don’t know that he has the skill to get an underhook like say DC and push you into the fence and take a little steam out of you so he’s going to have to work here but the odds do increase after the first round Michael Bisping putting a lot of pressure on his fellow Brit Tom asol with these comments called him last night John call him like what are we doing here like it’s a gimmick yeah like do you mean this are you sincere I wonder the same thing says he’s going to go down as the greatest heavyweight of all time first has to beat Sergey pavlovich to keep that a reality all right I want to talk to you guys real quickly about some betting Trend and sort of a new offering relatively speaking at draftking sports book anybody who bets football and basketball you know spreads right but now we have them in mixed martial arts so featured bout here on pay-per-view Jessica Andra taking on Mackenzie dur so Mackenzie Mackenzie dur on the money line minus 198 Jessica andr is plus 160 before but you can take McKenzie dur minus three2 points or Jessica andr plus three and a half and let me essentially explain this to you if Jessica andrj loses 2928 time three and you have her plus three and a half she’s lost on the judges scorecards by three total points but you get her plus three and a half reciprocally if Mackenzie durn is able to win 30 to 27 she wins the fight by nine points on the judge’s scorecards dur minus three and a half is- 145 a far better price than- 1998 I’m a moneyline guy I’m a straight wager guy I probably wouldn’t be inclined to get into this but a lot of people are taking advantage of these offerings just curious if you boys have any thoughts it’s more opportunities and if you believe that Jessica andr is still good enough to take a round off of Mackenzie D which is likely then it seems like a pretty safe bet what I will tell you though is for you and the other guys that sit on Sundays and bet football and MMA you you had to have gone to betting University to be able to do exactly what you just did right there because that not an easy thing to remember you definitely just spoke a language that not everybody uh will speak but I will tell you this when people come join DraftKings it’s cuz it’s fun how many times you hear him say it makes it the game more interesting I fully agree but as far as having fun that is the funnest line that DraftKings has offered yet as as far as having fun as far as being able to look around the living room and tell your buddies I told you so you should have listen to me that’s the bet right there just get around you win around and you get me paid let’s go when I retire from mixed martial arts commentary I’m going to have a disgusting amount of action on that dra Sports on every fight you know my kids are all going to state school and sadly you have an understanding that the judges can do anything I mean you’re factoring a you’re playing a whole different game when you play it that way yes all right so essentially if you have watched our draftking sports book betting preview in the past you know that what we like to do towards the tail end of the show has put together a same game parlay for you on the main event so we have dissected this Main Event between Alex P and Yuri prohaska and we have each come up with something that we like now DC and I can’t bet on a side so I’ll start us off I’m going to go with over 50 strikes landed by Yuri praza I do think this fight Trends longer than a round and a half it’s minus 115 right now I think praza is not going to look Rusty I think he lives the Mixed Martial Arts lifestyle I’m not suggesting he’s going to win the fight but I think he will land more than 50 strikes which maybe infers that we hit a second or a third round so I’ll start off the main event same game parley over 50 strikes landed for Yuri prasa DC and I like that this is plus money plus 130 you like over two and a half rounds in the fight I do because I do believe that these guys both take their time and their approach maybe not Yuri Yuri does attack very early but if he does that against Alex Pera Alex Pera he’s gonna find himself in trouble because Alex is such a tremendous counter- Striker he does such a great job of making setting up his attacks that if you leave too many openings he will get you out of there Yuri will be very aware of that because he is the the martial artist he lives that lifestyle he has studied this guy up and down so he’ll take his time and because of that I think it’ll be at least two and a half rounds before this fight ends whatever side it goes to and I got a mouth full of compliments for Alex but if I was to give one criticism and it goes to kickboxers as a whole they don’t focus on the head movement as much they’ll they’ll put their hands up and they’ll allow themselves to be hit I guess that’s my point I know that Yuri is going to throw 50 strikes can he land them on most top Strikers he probably have some air balls but with Pier who will let you touch him in exchange to come back with the counter shots yeah I think he’s going to get the 50 all right so Alex P to by out is what you like right now can be had plus 120 on draftking Sportsbook and I like him in the third round by the way I I think it’s going to be a sloppy fight I mean I think they’re going to use a lot of energy but I think he’s going to finish him in the third so that’s essentially the entire the parlay Pace right gets the 50 two and a half rounds chill gets a knockout hey can I go one step further because if pierra does get this done within this calendar year he will have been the 85 pound champion and the light heavyweight champion I think he’s fighter of the year I think he should deserves to win the recognition if he gets this belt hard to argue otherwise I’ve been trying to cont ual him in Combat Sports if he’s able to add a double Champion status in MMA after being a simultaneous kickboxing two Division champion in three years and only has 10 fights he’s eight amateur he’s got an amateur record he’s a world champion yeah nuts all right so that main event same game parlay we laid out pays out at plus 550 over 50 strikes Landing for Yuri praska over two and a half rounds in the fight and then Alex poda by knockout Heavy Hitters today outstanding job this guy giving us a third round prop on Alex to buy knockout extra it there if you want to get involved now is the time to do so download the draftking Sportsbook app not now but right now new customers use promo code heavyweight bet $5 on any of this weekend’s Fighters and get $200 in bonus bets instantly that’s promo code heavyweight only at DraftKings thanks to everybody here in New York City for Daniel Cormier and CH son and I’m John anic we will see you live in the draftking Sportsbook application and of course on pay-per-view Saturday [Music] night