UFC Fight Island 1: Kattar vs Ige, Odds, Picks & Betting Preview

• UFC holds a rare Wednesday night card on Fight Island
• A pivotal featherweight fight between Calvin Kattar and Dan Ige headline the show
• See the odds, picks, and betting preview for the full UFC Fight Island 1 main card below

Fight Island is continuing to roll on as following the stacked UFC 251 card, the UFC will put on another event on Wednesday, July 15 on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.

In the main event of the card, Calvin Kattar looks to become a top contender in the featherweight division as he battles the streaking Dan Ige. The co-main event sees the always entertaining Tim Elliott look to snap his three-fight losing skid when he battles Ryan Benoit.

UFC Fight Island 1 main card airs live this Wednesday, July 15 at 10pm ET on ESPN. The table below shows odds for the entire main card at two different sportsbooks, followed by best bets for the event.

UFC Fight Island 1 Odds

*All odds taken July 12

Does The Winner Become The Number 1 Contender?

Calvin Kattar (21-4) returned to the win column last time out when he scored a highlight-reel knockout win over Jeremy Stephens at UFC 249. Before that, he dropped a very close decision to Zabit Magomedsharipov at UFC Moscow. In his UFC tenure, Kattar is a very impressive 5-2 with other notable wins over Shane Burgos, Andre Fili, and Ricardo Lamas.

Dan Ige (14-2) is riding a six-fight winning streak after losing his UFC debut to Julio Arce. Since then, the Hawaiian beat the likes of Jordan Griffin, Danny Henry, and Kevin Aguilar. Ige is already 2-0 in 2020 with two split decision wins over Mirsad Bektic and Edson Barboza, where the Barboza fight is one many think Ige should’ve lost.

When the Fight Island cards got announced, I was immediately excited for this fight. Kattar and Ige are two of the rising stars in the featherweight division and I’m sort of surprised they agreed to this fight on relatively short notice. But, Kattar has been someone who fights anyone at any time and for Ige, this is a chance for him to possibly break into the top-five of the featherweight division with a win.

Entering this fight, the majority of people, myself included, believe Kattar will want to keep it standing while Ige will want to use his wrestling to try and grind the Massachusetts native out.

I think the odds are right where they need to be as Kattar should be a three-to-one favorite. Calvin Kattar has solid takedown defense, where I don’t think Ige will be able to take him down, and if he does, I don’t know if he will be able to hold him down.

In the fight, I believe Kattar will stuff the takedowns and piece up Ige and hurt him and eventually get a ground-and-pound TKO win, most likely in the third or fourth round. But, if you are betting this fight, I like the Kattar moneyline and this doesn’t go the distance.

Pick: Calvin Kattar (-280)

Kattar vs Ige Key Stats

Will Elliott Snap The Losing Skid?

Tim Elliott (15-11-1) is on a three-fight losing streak. In the UFC, if you lose three in a row you are normally cut, but Elliott always puts on exciting fights so he is getting another shot. On the losing skid, he suffered submission losses to Brandon Royval and Deiveson Figueiredo and dropped a decision to Askar Askarov. He is the former TUF 24 winner and has notable wins over Louis Smolka and Mark De La Rosa.

Ryan Benoit (10-6) dropped a split decision fight to Heili Alateng back in December of 2019. Benoit was then supposed to fight Tyson Nam on June 13 but had to pull out due to a minor injury. In his UFC career, he is 3-4 but has a massive knockout win over Sergio Pettis.

This very well could be a loser leaves town matchup and when fighters are competing for their jobs, you normally get exciting fights. Although their records and status in their division may not leave them to be a co-main, the two put on exciting fights and I expect that to happen here.

Early on, I believe Elliott will use his funky movement and wrestling to get Benoit down and eventually earn a submission win to snap his losing streak.

Pick: Tim Elliott (-119)

Other UFC Fight Island 1 Picks:

• Abdul Razak Alhassan (-300): Alhassan is returning after a two-year layoff due to a legal battle. In this fight, he should show off his power and earn another KO win.
• Chris Fishgold (+118): I don’t like that Jared Gordon is moving down in weight and I think Fishgold will be able to either score a knockout win over get a submission victory.
• Cody Stamann (+115): Stamann will use his wrestling to grind out Jimmie Rivera to earn a decision win.