Francis Ngannou is favored in sports gambling lines against Stipe Miocic in the headline bout at UFC 220 on Saturday night at TD Garden in Boston. Miocic is the current UFC heavyweight champion, but Ngannou is listed as the favorite in this bout. Ngannou has a record of 11-1, while Miocic is 17-2. Both fighters have serious knockout power, so this fight may not make it out of the first round. Let’s look at the card and UFC 220 picks.
Francis Ngannou -180 vs. Stipe Miocic (Rounds 1.5 under -155)
The current sports gambling lines have Ngannou listed as a -180 favorite, with the rounds listed at 1.5 and the under at -155. Miocic is looking to become the first man in UFC history to defend the heavyweight title three times. Ngannou said that is not going to happen, as he expects a quick finish. “I trained for five rounds. But I’m not looking to go five rounds. That’s not in my game plan. (My game plan) is to finish the fight quickly and go back home – maybe have a party.”
One thing we know about Ngannou is that he has big-time power. He is said to have the biggest punch of any fighter.In his six fights in the UFC, Ngannou has landed 1.83 knockdowns per 15 minutes. That is the best number of any heavyweight. Miocic also has good power, as he has 0.62 knockdowns per 15 minute. In his last four fights, Miocic has 4.29 knockdowns per 15 minutes.
UFC 220 Picks
Ngannou has the edge in striking, while Miocic has the edge on the ground. I can’t see this fight going to the ground, so I will lay the price in sports gambling lines and take Ngannou and also take the rounds to go under the total.
UFC 220 takes place on Saturday, January 20, 2018 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, with the feature bout a matchup between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou. There are five fights on the main pay-per-view card and six preliminary bouts, with four on FS1 and two on UFC Fight Pass.
Main Card (Pay-Per-View)
Francis Ngannou -180 vs. Stipe Miocic (rounds 1.5 under -155)
Daniel Cormier -350 vs. Volkan Oezdemir (rounds 1.5 over -200)
Shane Burgos -140 vs. Calvin Kattar (rounds 2.5 over -200)
Gian Villante -185 vs. Francimar Barroso (rounds 1.5 over -200)
Thomas Almeida -119 vs. Rob Font (rounds 1.5 over -185)
Preliminary Card (FS1)
Brandon Davis -120 vs. Kyle Bochniak (rounds 2.5 over -220)
Abdul Razak Alhassan -221 vs. Sabah Homasi (rounds 1.5 under -120)
Alexandre Pantoja -175 vs. Dustin Ortiz (rounds 2.5 over -220)
Julio Arce -153 vs. Dan Ige (rounds 2.5 over -200)
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Enrique Barzola -210 vs. Matt Bessette (rounds 2.5 over -255)
Islam Makhachev -209 vs. Gleison Tibau (rounds 2.5 over -290)
Undercard UFC 220 Picks
There are two underdogs that I think are worth taking on the FS1 portion of the preliminary card, Bochniak should not be listed as a sportsbook online underdog against Davis, as Bochniak has fought much better competition and Ige should not be a dog against Arce. Both of those fighters have similar resumes. I will take Bochniak and Ige to win on the undercard at plus money.