UFC 293 Prelim Picks and Predictions: Expect Fireworks For UFC 293 Prelims

UFC 293 is taking place this Saturday at the Qudos Bank  Arena in Sydney, Australia, and the card is stacked with Aussie talent and headlined by the middleweight title fight between champion Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland. The local flavor is apparent on the main card, and it has spilled over to the undercard as well.

Shane Young and Blood Diamond seek to reverse their fortunes and right the path of their careers, and a light heavyweight clash between bangers Carlos Ulberg and Da Un Jung can’t be missed

Here is a look at the UFC odds and my free picks from the UFC 293 preliminaries from Sydney.

UFC 293 prelim picks and predictions

Fight 1
• Prediction: Miranda Moneyline (+136)
• Best Bet: Miranda Moneyline (+136)

Fight 2
• Prediction: Radtke Moneyline (-310)
• Best Bet: Radtke To Win By KO/TKO/DQ (+250)

Fight 3
• Prediction: Ulberg Moneyline (-270)
• Best Bet: Tavares To Win By Decision (+180)

Click on each fight to jump to the full analysis.

Shane Young hasn’t looked very good for a long time, making him the perfect mark for Gabriel Miranda to get his first win in the promotion. 

Young’s three-fight skid has been uninspired, and he looked listless against Blake Bilder in his most recent defeat. While Miranda got clobbered by Benoit St. Denis, that fight happened at lightweight against a fighter who operates at a murderous pace.

With Young looking like he’s showing up for a payday, Miranda shouldn’t have any trouble working him to the mat. It won’t take that long from there for him to notch a submission, securing his first UFC win and sending Young’s career tail spinning to parts unknown.

I’m going with Miranda by first-round submission.

Prediction: Miranda Moneyline (+136 at DraftKings)
Best Bet: Miranda to win by submission in Round 1 (+500 at DraftKings)

It looks like we’re finally coming to the end of the Blood Diamond experiment. Though Diamond was a respectable kickboxer, his style has not translated well into the realm of MMA. Radtke isn’t a world-beater, but he is tougher than the opponent's Diamond has faced thus far. 

Radtke should be able to outwork his conservative opponent in striking and can exploit his lack of a ground game by shooting for takedowns. He has decent power and goes for submissions on the ground, so as long as Radtke doesn’t get complacent, he’ll put Diamond out. There shouldn’t be much to expect, as Diamond’s lack of urgency and initiative will see him fall victim to the debuting Radtke. 

I like Radtke to win this one by knockout.

Prediction: Radtke Moneyline (-310 at DraftKings)
Best Bet: Radtke To Win By KO/TKO/DQ (+250 at DraftKings)

Ulberg is walking dynamite. Once his fuse is lit, you’ll need to high-tail it out of there before he obliterates you. At the same time, dynamite only explodes once. Jung does have the kind of versatility to defend himself, but Ulberg’s speed and power as well as his superior recent form has us pointing towards an early exit. 

Jung is going to slug it out with Ulberg, and that’s a recipe for disaster. Though Ulberg has struggled with opponents who outreach him in the past, Jung’s not mobile enough or defensively capable to correctly utilize his reach to his advantage. This should get cracking early, and end just as quickly. 

Mark this one down as another first-round knockout win for Ulberg.

Prediction: Ulberg Moneyline (-270 at DraftKings)
Best Bet: Ulberg to win by KO/TKO/DQ in Round 1 (+180 at DraftKings)

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