Another installment of UFC Fight Night from the APEX is on the docket for this weekend in Las Vegas, and there are a few exciting matchups to watch and bet on.
Read further for a quick breakdown and betting preview of the main event between Kai Kara-France (24-10) and Amir Albazi (16-1).
The Main Event of the Evening
This bout, in which this event was built around, is coming out of the most slept-on division in the UFC. The flyweights are a bunch of killers that fight at a very high level.
After losing his first title shot to Brandon Moreno last year, Kai Kara-France is set to headline his first event this weekend with a huge chance to make sure his name stays at the top of the flyweight division.
Kara-France’s dance partner, Amir Albazi, is a lesser-known fighter coming from Baghdad, Iraq and has a ton of world-class talent. Let’s breakdown this fight stylistically.
Between the two, Kara-France is going to be the physically smaller man in the cage on Saturday night, but the kid packs a punch. He has sparked guys like Cody Garbrandt and Rogerio Bontorin. He also put on an incredible performance against the dominant Askar Askarov, seemingly bringing his UFC career to an end.
Albazi is the new kid in town getting his first big opportunity in the UFC. After two finishes in 2022, this is the fight that needed to be made. “The Prince” has some very good striking ability with a few tricky shots he likes to find in the fight–like a nasty uppercut that might be the key to winning this one. But his best skill he has in his back pocket is his wrestling ability.
Kara-France vs. Albazi Betting Picks
BetOnline has this fight at pick ‘em odds with both fighters at -110 value. This seems like the best way to have this matchup, knowing both of these guys have plenty of paths to victory.
Albazi has great grappling skills and power in his hands, but you can’t look over Kara-France. Kara-France has proved over the years that he can fight with anyone in the division. Let’s not forget how much success he was having against Brandon Moreno before getting stopped by that brutal liver kick.
The official prediction for this main event bout is that Kara-France gets his hand raised at the end of the night. Most likely a fight of the night-worthy unanimous decision, but I can also see him getting a finish late in the fight while Albazi starts losing cardio.
What it comes down: I have way too much confidence in City Kickboxing, the gym that Kara-France trains at. Their team is a proven championship-level group of men and women that train like champions every day. Eugene Bareman is one of the best head coaches in the world and they will have a great gameplan.
Kara-France will be able to stuff takedowns, and land the bigger shots throughout. Most importantly, he has the cardio to fight all 25 minutes and we don’t know if Albazi does.
Another Betting Pick
There are a few other interesting fights on this card to look at on BetOnline this week. The co-main event between Alex Caceres (-180) and Daniel Pineda (+155) is going to be crazy. The wacky style of Caceres going up against a killer like Pineda will surely have fans on the edge of their seats.
Caceres throws more of the traditional martial arts techniques and uses a lot of kicks to keep his distance from his opponents and control the pace of the fight. Pineda is someone that can match Caceres skill-for-skill and even has the experience advantage over the UFC veteran.
Pineda has 19 submissions in his career. Caceres struggles with his submission defense against guys that are physically stronger than him. I think that Pineda is probably the best underdog bet to make on this whole card.