UFC Vegas 19 Odds, Picks & Betting Preview – Blaydes vs Lewis

• Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis will finally fight one another on Saturday, February 20th, 2021
• Does the winner of Vieira-Kunitskaya get a title shot?
• See the odds, picks, and betting preview for the full UFC Vegas 19 main card, below

The UFC is in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC Vegas 19, which goes down on Saturday, February 20, 2021, from the UFC Apex.

In the main event, Curtis Blaydes takes on Derrick Lewis in a very intriguing heavyweight scrap. The co-main event sees top-10 bantamweights collide as Ketlen Vieira takes on Yana Kunitskaya.

UFC Vegas 19 main card airs live on ESPN+ at 8 PM EST. The table below shows odds for the main card at FanDuel and DraftKings, followed by best bets for the event.

UFC Vegas 19 Odds

All odds as of Feb. 15

Does Blaydes Become the No. 1 Contender at Heavyweight?

Both Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis enter this fight on winning streaks where the winner could very well earn a title shot. It should also be noted this fight was supposed to happen at the end of November, but a positive COVID-19 test from Blaydes forced the fight to be pushed back.

Blaydes & Lewis Recent Fights

Stylistically this is a terrible fight for Derrick Lewis. Curtis Blaydes is arguably the best wrestler in the heavyweight division, and we have seen Lewis struggle with wrestlers as Daniel Cormier was able to control him. Even in his last fight, Alexey Oleynik was able to take him down, and hold him down for the majority of the first round.

There really is only one path to victory and that is Lewis landing one of his power shots early that KO’s Blaydes.

Blaydes vs Lewis Stats

In this fight, I expect Blaydes to use his wrestling early and often to take Lewis down and beat him up. Although I do expect Lewis to be the stronger fighter and get up sometimes, it won’t be enough. Blaydes’ wrestling is just so relentless, and he will keep shooting for takedowns. In the middle rounds, he’ll either get the submission or ground and pound TKO.

Pick: Curtis Blaydes (-375)

Can Kunitskaya Pull off the Upset?

Ketlen Vieira has been pegged as a future title challenger, and if she wins this fight against Yana Kunitskaya, she could very well be fighting for UFC gold next time out.

Vieira & Kunitskaya Recent Fights

Similar to the main event, this fight is just a bad stylistic matchup for Yana Kunitskaya.

Although the Russian has had success against lower-level competition by holding them against the fence and using the clinch, that won’t work against Vieira. The Brazilian is stronger and the better grappler and will be able to almost bully Kunitskaya to the ground and into the clinch. There is no question Kunitskaya is the better striker, but I expect Vieira to just get timely takedowns and clinch the Russian to earn a decision win.

Pick: Ketlen Vieira (-278)

Other UFC Vegas 19 Picks:

1. Charles Rosa (-182): Rosa is the better grappler and the better striker. Expect him to keep it standing and win a decision.
2. Chris Daukaus (-188): Oleynik is first-round submission or bust. While he is a live dog, I can’t trust his chin anymore, and we will see Daukaus get the KO win.
3. Phil Hawes (-110): This fight is rebooked from January and I still like Phil Hawes as he is the better striker, and has the wrestling background to keep it standing.
4. Tom Aspinall (-265): Aspinall is getting a big step up and I expect him to find the chin of Arlovski, and put him away in the first or second round.