UFC Fight Night 31 Predictions

UFC Fight Night 31 is going to be coming to us live on Wednesday from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. This is another midweek event, so make sure that you don’t forget to tune into Fox Sports 1. The main card has some decent fights, but none that will be exceptional.

Best Bets for UFC Fight Night 31

• Bet Colton Smith +148 (SportBet) vs. Michael Chiesa

Colton Smith (3-2) is 1-1 in the UFC while Michael Chiesa (9-1) is 2-1 in the UFC. Both fighters lost their last fight and need a win this week. Chiesa has a 4.5’’ reach advantage in this fight, but his stand-up isn’t that great, as he is more of a submission specialist.

Smith was knocked out against Whitaker, but Chiesa has never won by TKO/KO. As long as Smith watches out for the submission he should score enough points with his wrestling. I expect a lot of this fight will be spent on the mat and Smith will win a close decision.

• Bet Ronny Markes +170 (Pinnacle) vs. Yoel Romero

I’m surprised that Ronny Markes (14-1) isn’t getting much respect in this fight against Yoel Romero (5-1). Romero won his debut by KO against Starks and all five of his wins have come by TKO/KO. He has a lot of power, but I expect Markes to be able to win.

Markes averages 3.33 takedowns per 15 minutes in the cage and if he can put Romero on his back for the majority of the fight he’ll be able to score enough points for another decision win. Markes is 3-0 in the UFC and all of his wins have come by decision.

• Bet Carmouche / Khabilov Parlay +136 (Pinnacle)

• Bet Kennedy / Khabilov / Carmouche +203 (Pinnacle)

I’ve already placed two parlay bets for this week’s UFC Fight Night 30 event. The three favorites that I think will win on the main card are Tim Kennedy, Rustam Khabilov and Liz Carmouche. Kennedy looked good in his UFC debut and will now fight Rafael Natal.

Natal has won his L3 UFC fights, but the wins were against weak competition. Carmouche looked good in her last fight and she won by TKO against Andrade. The Canadian Alexis Davis is up next for Carmouche. Davis has been knocked out twice in her career.

I think Carmouche will be able to finish this fight, but I’ll just be betting her on the ML. Khabilov is 2-0 in the UFC and both of his wins have been by TKO/KO. Masvidal is 2-0 in the UFC as well and he looked great in his submission win against Chiesa.

• Bet Khabilov by Decision / Colton Smith Parlay +619 (SportBet)

I’m also betting a ½ unit on Khabilov to win by decision and Smith to win on a third parlay. I’d only bet a ½ unit, as the payout is still big and it’s a bit of a long shot wager. I think the Khabilov fight will be close and he’ll need the judges’ scorecards to win his fight.