UFC Fight Night 237 Predictions: Full Card, Prelims Betting Picks
Published
on
By
Vladislav Tchakarov
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Mexico and we have a wild card ahead of us. The two-time former Flyweight champion Brandon Moreno faces Brandon Royval in a huge rematch that could decide the next title contender. And before that, we have a card stacked with Mexican talent. Here are our UFC Fight Night 237 predictions.
UFC Fight Night 237 Predictions: Top Main Card Picks
Rodriguez vs Ortega Prediction
Featherweight standouts Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega will meet in the Octagon for the second time, a year and a half after their first meeting on Long Island.
Rodriguez won the interim title in February with a submission victory over Josh Emmett in Australia. However, when it came time to unify the titles in July, he was no match for Volkanovski. Ortega has not competed since suffering a shoulder injury in his first meeting with Rodriguez and is looking to secure his first win since defeating ‘The Korean Zombie' in October 2020.
Brian has been extremely unlucky with his injuries – after getting destroyed by Holloway, he spent 2 years in rehabilitation. Soon later, Yair sent Ortega away for another year and a half. The talented grappler was inactive for almost 4 years due to injuries.
Rodriguez, on the other hand, is a boxer. He will dominate the standup thanks to his unconventional technique and punching power. Even Volkanovski left with a few cuts and bruises on his face, and Ortega will have an even harder time.
Unfortunately, we believe that the long periods away from the octagon often have a huge impact and we have to agree with bookmakers for our UFC Fight Night 237 predictions and bet on Rodriguez.
A clash between two extremely young athletes but this is the story of this entire card – a chance for the best young talents of Mexico to shine. Zellhuber is 24 years old while Prado is 21. It is fair to say that win or lose, this match will not have a huge impact on their careers as they still have years to grow until they reach their peak.
Zellhuber fought 3 fights in the UFC, entering the promotion through the Contender Series – he won 2 times and lost once by unanimous decision. The Mexican's opponents were not of a very high level, but Daniel showed that he is a versatile fighter and has potential against any type of opponent.
Prado started in the UFC with a fight with the fairly experienced Mullarkey, but the trick did not work – the Argentine lost by unanimous decision. He then got Azaitar and smashed him with a real display of boxing skills. Francisco has never won by decision – he has 5 knockouts and 4 submissions. Prado probably does not yet have enough experience to match his opponents tactically, so he always tries to overwhelm his opponents with strength and agility.
We believe that bookmakers made a huge mistake here – the two fighters are absolutely equal in strength and skills. Both have the complete set of MMA skills and simply need time to reach the highest level. Prado has a versatile skillset and can finish his fights at any moment, regardless of the development of the match, so the odds for him are scandalous. We pick the underdog for our UFC Fight Night 237 predictions.
• Prado to Win
UFC Fight Night 237 Full Card Predictions: The Best of the Rest
We will need more time to analyze and make confident UFC Fight Night 237 prelims predictions. For now, we picked two more of the main card clashes and we believe that there is a lot of value in those moneylines.
Jauregui vs Hughes Prediction
There is no doubt that the only women's fight on this card will exceed expectations, especially since there is a lot at stake here. Hughes has been performing in the UFC since 2020 but has yet to reach her true potential.
In the debut, she was destroyed by Tecia Torres, and then the matchmakers offered much more modest opponents. The American won 3 wins in 4 fights and it is time to prove that she is capable of beating better opponents too.
Yazmin is a local athlete; she managed to have 3 fights in the UFC and won two. She suffered her first defeat in her life, immediately by knockout, from Denise Gomez, who also performs with varying degrees of success.
Jauregui is a striker and always strives for an early finish, although she often wins by decisions. She is active and aggressive and if she doesn't get a knockout, she at least gets points for the cards. Hughes does not have a powerful punch – she relies on competent work in the stand and tries to win smart.
Yazmin's future is bright and the girl is only 24 years old. We believe that she is superior to her reported opponent in striking and this is why we pick her for our UFC Fight Night 237 predictions. Sam needs to come up with something on the ground and try to win points with ground and pound, and control. Otherwise, she will lose to the stronger Jauregui.
• Jauregui to Win
Torres vs Duncan Prediction
Torres and Duncan are some of the new faces in the promotion after getting wins at Dana White's Contender Series. Since their debuts, they both earned two wins each and this bout will determine which prospect will conquer the Top 15 rankings first.
Chris Duncan has extreme power, but within the UFC, he still wins exclusively by decisions, which is due to the growing level of the opposition. Duncan made it into the promotion on his second try – in the first he was knocked out by Viacheslav Borshchev, who generally has not improved us since he joined the promotion.
Before joining the UFC, Manuel Torres was considered more of a wrestler than a striker. He has clearly changed his tactics, winning his last 3 victories by knockout. Manuel’s main advantage lies in his versatility; he can not only hit hard but also control his opponent on the canvas.
It will be extremely difficult for Duncan, because he has not yet had the opportunity to demonstrate his wrestling skills, and his striking in his UFC bouts to date was not impressive. With this said, we picked Torres for our UFC Fight Night 237 predictions.
Vlad is a former amateur MMA fighter. After a series of injuries, he found a different way to connect with the sport and its fanbase - through writing. He's been covering everything-UFC for over 5 years on various platforms and has been part of the team at NYFights since early 2022.
