Women's flyweight contenders Alexa Grasso and Viviane Araujo have similar fighting styles and resumes, and one will get a leg up toward a title shot after they meet Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Arajuo. The showdown of ranked contenders with title implications will anchor the main UFC fight card (7 p.m. ET) from the Apex facility in Las Vegas. The No. 5-ranked Grasso and No. 6-ranked Araujo appear to be paired in an extremely even matchup. They both land at a clip under six significant strikes per minute and both fighters also have a 60% success rate on takedowns. The winner could be headed toward her first title shot.
Grasso is the -200 favorite (risk $200 to win $100), while Araujo comes back at +175 in the latest UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Araujo odds from Caesars Sportsbook. Bantamweight veterans take the spotlight as Jonathan Martinez (-200) takes on fan favorite Cub Swanson (+175) in the co-main event. Before locking in any UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Araujo picks, make sure you see 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 more than $13,000. The accomplished MMA analyst kicked off the 2022 UFC season in January by encouraging SportsLine members to back Calvin Kattar (+200) against Giga Chikadze (-240) in the featherweight main event. Kattar's lopsided decision victory gave Marley's followers another easy winner. Anyone who has followed him is way up.
Now, with UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Araujo in sight, Marley has studied the card from top to bottom and revealed his top MMA picks. Marley's UFC Fight Night picks are only available at SportsLine.
UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Araujo preview
The winner of the main event Saturday could be in line to fight for the title in a division that arguably could use an infusion of new talent. Champion Valentina Shevchenko currently does not have a fight booked and she already has defeated every ranked contender who stands between her and the combatants in Saturday's main event. Those fighters include Jessica Andrade, Lauren Murphy, Taila Santos and Katlyn Chookagian, who holds the No. 1 ranking.
Grasso (14-3) is considered one of the better boxers in the women's game and she has used her strong stand-up technique to get the upper hand on most of her opponents. However, the 29-year-old Mexican fighter showed some versatility in her most recent outing when she scored a first-round submission over prospect Joanne Wood in March.
Araujo (11-3) is a versatile talent who holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but also has three knockouts to go along with four submissions among her 11 professional MMA victories. The 25-year-old controlled the action most of the way in her decision win against Andrea Lee in May. You can only see who to pick at UFC Fight Night here.
UFC Fight Night predictions
We'll share one of Marley's UFC Fight Night selections here: He is backing Alonzo Menifield (-220) to get past Misha Cirkunov (+190) in a matchup of light heavyweight sluggers to kick off the main card.
Menifield (12-3) is a former professional football player in the CFL and Arena League who transitioned to MMA seven years ago and has emerged as one of the division's brightest prospects. The 34-year-old Los Angeles native has nine knockouts on his record and has won three of his past four outings.
Cirkunov (15-8) is a rugged fighter whose skill set involves a combination of power punching and grappling. The 35-year-old Canadian fighter has faced a gauntlet of upper-tier competition since joining the promotion and is looking to break a three-fight losing streak dating to September 2019.
"We shouldn't need the judges for this one. I like Menifield to get a knockout if it stays on the feet and I like Cirkunov to get a submission if he can have success with takedowns. But I'm siding with Menifield to finish the fight inside the distance," Marley told SportsLine. See who else to back right here.
How to make UFC Fight Night picks
Marley has locked in strong picks for Grasso vs. Araujo and every other bout on the UFC Fight Night card. He's backing a fighter who "is a proven veteran" to emerge with an upset victory. Those selections are only available at SportsLine.
Who wins Grasso vs. Araujo? And how exactly does each fight end? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed picks on every fight at UFC Fight Night, all from the incomparable expert who's up more than $13,000 on MMA in the past three years, and find out.
UFC Fight Night odds, fight card
See full UFC Fight Night picks, predictions, best bets at SportsLine.
Alexa Grasso (-200) vs. Viviane Araujo (+175)
Jonathan Martinez (-200) vs. Cub Swanson (+175)
Askar Askarov (-240) vs. Brandon Royval (+200)
Dusko Todorovic (-190) vs. Jordan Wright (+170)
Alonzo Menifield (-220) vs. Misha Cirkunov (+190)
Mana Martinez (-150) vs. Brandon Davis (+130)
Victor Henry (-320) vs. Raphael Assuncao (+260)
Nick Maximov (-135) vs. Jacob Malkoun (+115)
Piera Rodriguez (-180) vs. Sam Hughes (+160)
Tasturo Taira (-250) vs. CJ Vergara (+210)
Pete Rodriguez (-700) vs. Mike Jackson (+500)
