UFC 262 will feature a lightweight championship bout as the Main Event between Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler. The two will compete to see who gets the belt of former champ Khabib Nurmagomedov who retired from the sport.
The UFC is set to host this pay per view card in front of a packed arena at the Toyota Center in Houston Texas on May 15. A sold out arena of over 18,000 fans will be treated to a night of great action as MMA fans have a stacked card to look forward to.
Our MMA experts breakdown the Main and co-Main event and give you their picks. We also look at a couple of exciting fights on this card. If you are looking to bet on UFC 262, go ahead and sign up at any one of the sportsbooks below.
Main Event – Oliveira vs. Chandler
The UFC gave Dustin Poirier the opportunity to have a crack at the belt since he is the number one contender but he turned down that opportunity to have a third fight with Conor McGregor. As a result, the UFC scheduled Charles Oliveira who is the number 2 contender to fight Michael Chandler who had an impressive debut in the UFC with a KO over Dan Hooker.
UFC fans will be familiar with Oliveira as he has been on a win streak in the UFC winning his last two fights in a dominating fashion against Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee. Bet365 has Oliveira as the betting favorite with odds of 1.80 while Chandler is not far behind with odds of 2.00.
UFC fans will not be very familiar with Michael Chandler as he has only fought once in the promotion. However, hardcore fans know just how good a fighter Chandler has been as he is a former champ in Bellator. Chandler has already shown that he does not have a problem with standing and striking, even though his biggest strength is his wrestling.
This is going to be an interesting fight for the fans as Oliveira is undoubtedly the best submission specialist in the lightweight division now that Khabib Nurmagomedov is retired. Will Chandler be able to stop the takedowns and out grapple Oliveira? Will Oliveira’s cardio hold up if it goes into the fifth round? Will Chandler be able to secure another KO win?
Our experts believe that Michael Chandler has a slight edge in this fight.
Co-Main Event – Ferguson vs. Dariush
Tony ‘El cucuy’ Ferguson is coming off two losses, his last being to Oliveira. Ferguson has a tough opponent in Beniel Dariush who is keen on keeping his winning streak alive and pushing for a title shot. Dariush is the betting favorite in this fight with odds of 1.58 while Ferguson has odds of 2.40.
Ferguson has made massive changes to his camp and training program after his last loss where he was completely outclassed on the ground. If Ferguson fights like he did against Oliveira, expect Dariush to win. However, our experts believe that Ferguson will put the pace on Dariush who can tire in the later rounds and get a win.
Fights To Watch Out For
Edson Barboza will fight Shane Burgos in a featherweight bout to open the main card. Bookmakers have both fighters at 1.90 for this fight but we are going to give the veteran Barboza the edge in this fight. Fans will also get to see Jack Hermansson take on the exciting Edmen Shahbazyan in a middleweight fight. Hermansson is the heavy favorite with odds of 1.58 while Shahbazyan has odds of 2.40. We think Hermansson wins this by submission.
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