After experiencing much success in kickboxing, 36-year-old Alex Pereira is already making his mark in MMA. He will look to win the vacant UFC light heavyweight championship when he faces former light heavyweight title-holder Jiri Prochazka, 31, on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York at UFC 295. The main UFC 295 fight card is scheduled to get underway at 10 p.m. ET. Pereira is 8-2 in MMA, while Prochazka is 29-3-1.
Pereira is a -122 favorite (risk $122 to win $100), while Prochazka comes back at +104 in the latest UFC 295 odds. The co-main event features a heavyweight interim title bout between Sergei Pavlovich (-104) and Tom Aspinall (-112). Before finalizing any UFC 295 picks, make sure you check out the MMA predictions and betting advice from SportsLine expert Kyle Marley.
Marley won the first-ever "ToutMaster" UFC betting contest sponsored by MMAOddsBreaker and appears regularly on multiple MMA betting and daily Fantasy shows. He watches every single fight for every professional MMA card and does extensive research before each event.
Over the past three-plus years, $100 bettors who have followed Marley's picks are up nearly $11,000. The accomplished MMA analyst has provided consistent winners for SportsLine members for the past four years. His accomplishments include hitting five consecutive main-event underdog winners in 2020 following the UFC's brief pause in action because of the pandemic. Anyone who has followed him is way up.
Now, with UFC 295: Prochazka vs. Pereira in sight, Marley has studied the UFC card from top to bottom and revealed his top picks and best bets. You can only see Marley's MMA picks at SportsLine.
UFC 295: Prochazka vs. Pereira preview
Prochazka, the 31-year-old from the Czech Republic, has been dominant since beginning his MMA career in April 2012. In his first two years of fighting, he was 7-2 and later won the Gladiator Fighting Championship light heavyweight title. After defending that title, he signed a deal with Rizin Fighting Federation. In April 2019, he knocked out Muhammed Lawal in the third round to win the inaugural Rizin Light Heavyweight Championship.
He defended his crown with a first round knockout at Rizin 20, defeating C.B. Dollaway in 1:55. After signing a contract with UFC in January 2020, he made his debut at UFC 251, where he earned Performance of the Night with a second round knockout of Volkan Oezdemir. After knocking out Dominick Reyes and earning Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night honors in May 2021, he won the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship and Fight of the Night honors with a win by submission over Glover Teixeira at UCF 275.
Pereira, who is best known for going 33-7 during his kickboxing career, is no stranger to competing on the big stage of Madison Square Garden. In November of last year, he knocked out Israel Adesanya at 2:01 of the fifth round at UFC 281 to win the UFC middleweight championship. He also earned Performance of the Night honors. He later lost the title to Adesanya in a rematch at UFC 287 in Miami this past April.
Pereira didn't stay down for long, earning a split decision victory over Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291 in his light heavyweight debut. Pereira is highly regarded and is ranked third in the UFC light heavyweight division. He is also No. 10 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings. He has earned a number of honors in his career, including being named the MMA Mania 2022 Fighter of the Year, and the ESPN 2022 Male Fighter of the Year. See all of Marley's UFC 295 picks here.
Top UFC 295 predictions
One of Marley's top UFC 295 picks: He is backing Diego Lopes (+100) to defeat Pat Sabatini (-120) in a battle of featherweights on the main card.
Lopes, who has compiled a 21-6 record, is looking to rebound from a unanimous decision defeat to Movsar Evloev in a three-round bout this past May. Lopes, who has won two of his last three matches, has won eight bouts by knockout and 11 by submission. Four of his losses have been by decision. The Brazilian began his professional career in 2012 in Brazil, but has since moved to Mexico, where the majority of his matches have been.
Sabatini, 32, is from the United States and has compiled an 18-4 mark, with two wins by knockout and 11 by submission. In his last bout this past June, he won by submission in 1:48 of the second round over Lucas Almeida. Sabatini began his MMA career in April 2014, winning eight of his first nine matches. He earned Performance of the Night honors with a first round submission win over Jamall Emmers in August 2021.
"This is a great fight between two good grapplers. Sabatini should be the better wrestler and he could land takedowns in each round and win 30-27 by holding top control and grinding out minutes. Lopes should be the better and more dangerous striker though, and he is always hunting for submissions on the ground. Lopes has the finishing equity in this matchup, so I'd rather stay away from the money line and look to his inside the distance line, or Sabatini by points," Marley told SportsLine. See who else to pick here.
How to make UFC 295 picks
Marley has strong picks for Prochazka vs. Pereira and every other bout on the UFC 295 card. He's also backing a fighter who "can dominate his fight on the mat" to emerge with a huge victory. See Marley's picks at SportsLine.
Who wins Prochazka vs. Pereira, and how exactly does each fight end? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed picks on every fight at UFC 295, all from the MMA expert who's up nearly $12,000 on MMA in the past three-plus years, and find out.
UFC 295 fight card, odds
See full UFC 295 picks, predictions, best bets here.
Jiri Prochazka (+105) vs. Alex Pereira (-125)
Sergei Pavlovich (-105) vs. Tom Aspinall (-115)
Jessica Andrade (+165) vs. Mackenzie Dern (-200)
Matt Frevola (+190) vs. Benoit Saint-Denis (-230)
Diego Lopes (+100) vs. Pat Sabatini (-120)
Steve Erceg (-165) vs. Alessandro Costa (+140)
Nazim Sadykhov (-135) vs. Viacheslav Borshchev (+115)
Jared Gordon (-195) vs. Mark Madsen (+165)
Joshua Van (-225) vs. Kevin Borjas (+185)
Dennis Buzukja (+210) vs. Jamall Emmers (-250)
