Former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos (19-5, 13 KOs, 1 SUB) will meet undefeated prospect Tai Tuivasa (8-0, 7 KOs) at UFC Fight Night 142 on Saturday, December 1, 2018 at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, Australia. The card airs live on FS1.
Tai Tuivasa is hoping to make the leap in his home country. The undefeated Australian heavyweight will defend his unblemished record in Adelaide, but he’s making a huge leap up in competition. Hoping to spoil the party is Junior dos Santos, the former UFC champion whose only lost to elite competition inside the octagon.
If Tuivasa can pull off the upset, the 25-year old vaults into the fringes of the title mix. His biggest previous win was his most recent decision victory over Andrei Arlovski - who is a shell of his former self at this point in his career. Prior to that the Australian was feasting on midtier big men, racking up seven straight first-round KOs, a streak that includes both his UFC opponents in Cyril Asker and Rashad Coulter.
Junior dos Santos is in a purgatory of sorts - obviously still one of the better fighters in the division, but likely past the point of ever realistically challenging for the title again. So now he’s playing gatekeeper, but the 34-year old can still put in work separating the contenders from the pretenders for the next few years.
The UFC odds at BookMaker.eu opened with JDS as the favorite, and we’re not surprised with the results. Peep our breakdown below for our best values to bet online, and don’t forget that live UFC betting is also available to hedge your bets come Fight Night.
UFC Fight Night 142 Betting at BookMaker.eu
Junior dos Santos -156
Tai Tuivasa +124
Fight goes/doesn’t go to decision: +245 / -335
Striking Stats
Significant strikes landed per minute: Dos Santos 4.83 / Tuivasa 5.21
Accuracy: Dos Santos 48.56% / Tuivasa 55.07%
Significant strikes absorbed per minute: Dos Santos 3.17 / Tuivasa 2.92
Defense: Dos Santos 58.31% / Tuivasa 58.71%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Dos Santos 0.36 / Tuivasa 0
Takedown accuracy: Dos Santos 55.56% / Tuivasa 0%
Takedowns defended: Dos Santos 80.49% Tuivasa 100%
Submission average: Dos Santos 0.07 / Tuivasa 0
Bet on UFC Fight Night 141 Odds
It’s a matchup of two heavy hitters, though both go about their business in wildly different ways. Tuivasa is a known headhunter, a young bomber with a hyper-aggressive style. Leading up to the fight with Arlovski, we really only saw him charge dudes and sleep them, so it was tough to tell exactly how good he was.
While the Arlovski fight showed that the Australian could go for three rounds, it also showed that he’s still got a long ways to go. Tuivasa was able to score a few knockdowns, but was unable to gain the upper hand in a technical second round. He had the awareness to come out aggressive in a must-win third round, but he emerged bloodied and battered.
Dos Santos is no longer the athletic phenom that stormed to the heavyweight title, but he’s still one of the more agile big men in the division. Nearly impossible to take down, JDS forces most of his opponents into a boxing match, where his dynamic combinations and footwork lets him dish out punishment from the perimeter.
UFC Odds Pick: Dos Santos to win at -145
Tuivasa’s struggles against Arlovski showed that he’ll struggle in technical striking matches. That does not bode well against one of the best boxers in the division. Though Dos Santos has taken a ton of damage over the years, his chin is still above average and we don’t see him panicking under pressure. Take the Brazilian to win a convincing three-round decision.
Bet UFC Online: Fight goes to decision at +295
Though both men have good KO ratios, we like the value on this prop bet. Dos Santos last three wins have come by decision. You can make the counter argument that he’s been knocked out in his past three losses, but they came against Cain Velasquez, Alistair Overeem and Stipe Miocic. Tuivasa isn’t on that level.
UFC Fight Night 142 Odds
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! Real-time spreads, totals, props and money line are all available so start betting with BookMaker today. UFC Fight Night 142 takes place on Saturday, December 1, 2018 at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, Australia. The card airs live on FS1.
