The first of three title bouts on the main card for this weekend’s UFC 261, Valentina Shevchenko vs Jessica Andrade, will showcase the notorious women’s flyweight champion, Shevchenko, defending her crown once again. Andrade believes she can take out Shevchenko by grappling her into submission, but Shevchenko is a seasoned fighter who won’t go out easily.
Valentina Shevchenko vs Jessica Andrade is on deck as one of the co-main events for UFC 261. I’m going to start my betting preview by acknowledging that Shevchenko is one of the greatest female UFC fighters of all time. If not for that pesky Amanda Nunes, she might’ve gone down as the best ever. As it stands, Shevchenko has been sitting at the top of the women’s flyweight totem pole for some time now and hasn’t shown any signs of falling off. “Bullet” hasn’t lost since September 2017, when Nunes defeated her. She seized control of the women’s flyweight crown in December 2018 and hasn’t relinquished it since. Andrade makes for an interesting betting pick, however. She recently bounced back from consecutive losses with a win against Katlyn Chookagian and looks like the best contender to dethrone Shevchenko. Andrade presents Shevchenko with a tough challenge. I’m not as bullish on Shevchenko’s chances this weekend as I should be because I believe that Andrade will give the champ a run for her money. I doubt she’ll win, but anything is possible, and if it happens and you bet on her, you’ll win a nice chunk of change. MMA predictions are hesitant to go against Bullet, but UFC betting sites in NJ offer excellent betting value for Andrade. Head over to the NJ sportsbook review to check out where to get the best odds for the upcoming bout. Andrade’s best money line odds are on Borgata, where they’ve got her at +310, while Bullet’s are constant across most NJ online sports betting sites at -400. I once made the mistake of betting against Amanda Nunes, and I paid for it. I won’t do it again this weekend with Shevchenko. She’s far too established and seasoned to bet against, despite Andrade’s promising outlook. Bullet’s money line odds are gross as usual, though. So I’m going to take a wild stab and go with her to finish Andrade by KO/TKO, which Fanduel has listed at +280.
Andrade is an excellent fighter who could very well dethrone Shevchenko this weekend, but I can’t bring myself to go against Shevchenko and her deadly striking game. Andrade’s grappling skills are no joke, but ultimately, I think Shevchenko comes through once again. My prediction: Shevchenko wins by KO/TKO in the 3rd round.
