UFC 292: Sterling vs O’Malley Predictions, Picks and Betting Odds August 19

UFC 292 Betting Preview

UFC WagerTalk handicapper Andy Lang gives his UFC 292 predictions and picks for August 19 with Aljamain Sterling vs Sean O’Malley headlining the event in a bantamweight title match. The main card starts up at 10:00pm ET from TD Garden in Boston, MA.

Are you subscribed to WagerTalk TV? If not, what are you waiting for?! Set up alerts so that you never miss an episode of your favorite shows. Drop the gloves with the Puck Time crew and swing for the fences on First Pitch. From betting tips to free picks, WagerTalk TV is your one-stop shop for streaming sports betting content.

WagerTalk also offers Free UFC Picks all year long!

Aljamain Sterling vs Sean O’Malley: UFC 292 Main Event

Saturday, August 19	UFC 292 Betting Notes (Courtesy of Caesars)
Moneyline:	Aljamain Sterling -265 vs Sean O’Malley +215
Rounds:	4.5 Rounds (Over +130 / Under -165)
Fight Time:	Main Card Starts at 10:00pm ET / 7:00pm PT
Arena:	TD Garden in Boston, MA
TV:	PPV

UFC 292 Predictions

Kurt Holobaugh vs Austin Hubbard

There aren’t any odds out yet at the time I am writing this, but Kurt should win. Hubbard was very unimpressive on TUF, and Hologaugh laid it all out on the line with an incredible fight against Jason Knight where he should have incredible striking and toughness.

Hubbard doesn’t have an upside from what I’ve seen and Holobaugh’s aggression looks to be at a different level. I like Holobaugh to win, and I would not be surprised if he got the finish.

Natalia Silva -345 vs Andrea Lee +275

The odds are way out of whack in this fight, and I’ll take Andrea Lee to win this fight. Silva is going to be a little big shorter, and Lee will have the reach advantage, and there’s no doubt that Silva has looked great in the UFC going 3-0, but the competition has been lackluster at best.

She won by decision against Jasudavicius, and then knocked out Bleda and Leonardo who are nowhere near the caliber of Andrea Lee.

Andrea Lee has lost two in a row, but to Viviane Araujo, and then an amazing fight against Maycee Barber where she lost by split decision, but I thought she won. She was able to take Barber down several times, and if she can take Barber down, she can take Silva down.

Silva is lightning fast and a great striker, but this is a massive step up in competition and against Tereza Bleda (a grappler with no cardio), Silva lost the first round and got the KO when Bleda tired, but Bleda had success with takedowns early. Lee won’t have cardio issues, and at this price Lee is absolutely worth a sprinkle.

Karine Silva -170 v Maryna Moroz +142

Don’t blink in a Karine Silva fight as she has won six in a row, all by finish, and five of those in the first round. It’s tough to predict how she will do as the fight moves into later rounds because we just haven’t seen her cardio tested.

Moroz has not been that active as she only has two fights in a year and a half, and she lost her last fight to Jennifer Maia in a pretty lackluster fight.

She’s a striker, but she’s not very creative and doesn’t seem to have much power, and her win against Agapova is a bit misleading at Agapova was fighting very hurt. If Moroz wins, it will probably be by decision, but I think Silva gets another finish.

She shoots with aggression to get opponents on the ground, and when she gets them down she gets arm bars or chokes. We don’t need to pay -170 on Silva, we’ll just wait and take her to win inside the distance.

Gregory Rodrigues -355 v Denis Tiuliulin +280

Rodrigues is coming off one of the more confusing losses I’ve seen in a while, and we have to decide if it was a lucky shot, or if his chin is that vulnerable now.

He was in an insane war against Chidi Njokuani where Rodrigues was seconds away from being finished, but he made an insane comback for the KO win.

In his next fight he fought Brunno Ferreira, and was winning the first round, but then got knocked out by a counter left that did not look that powerful.

Maybe it was a one-of-a-kind shot, maybe it showed that Rodrigues took long-lasting damage in the Chidi fight, and that’s what we have to decide. Tiuliulin is not good, and his only win in the UFC is against Jamie Pickett who is terrible.

He was finished in his other two UFC fights, and if Rodrigues is fully recovered, this fight shouldn’t last long. I like unders in this fight as Rodrigues can easily finish Tiuliulin, and if Rodrigues’s chin is done maybe another strike knocks him out.

Brad Tavares -265 v Chris Weidman +215

I’m not excited to bet on Brad Tavares, but I definitely won’t be betting on Chris Weidman. Weidman is 2-6 in the UFC going back to 2015, and in his last fight he broke his leg early in the fight.

He’s almost 40 years old, and that highlight that we see of him knocking out Anderson Silva is now over 10 years old.

Tavares is the only way to bet this fight, but -265 is too steep of a price. This fight is a stay away from a betting perspective as I can find no value here.

Andre Petroski -278 v Gerald Meerschaert +225

Tough fight to bet on as Meerschaert is submission or bust and Petroski likes to use his strikes to set up the wrestling and takedowns.

If he goes for takedowns, I’m not sure Meerschaert will be too upset about that. However, I do believe Petroski has the striking advantage as his striking looked improved against Wellington Turman in his last fight, but I don’t think he has the cardio to be on the feet for three rounds.

Meerschaert looked great two fights ago in a submission win against Bruno Silva, but he got knocked out quickly by Joe Pyfer in his last fight.

Petroski doesn’t have that kind of striking, making this fight tough to handicap. I can’t bet Petroski because Meerschaert can always pull off a submission out of nowhere, but I’m not confident enough to be on either fighter.

Ian Garry -298 v Neil Magny +240

Garry is a polarizing fighter these days as he’s 12-0, and only 25 years old, and as he’s getting older, he’s progressing nicely, as would be expected. His striking was fantastic against Daniel Rodriguez as he got a first-round KO, but it wasn’t a lucky KO.

He used strikes and kicks to get Rodriguez to bite on a faint and landed a beautiful head kick. He’s fighting Magny, who is stepping in on short notice, and if Magny is in true fight shape I like his chances here.

Garry has been training for the striking of Geoff Neal, and Magny can use his clinch and takedown game to frustrate Garry. Neil Magny has seen it all in the UFC, and while Garry is younger and quicker, I’m not ruling out a smart, veteran performance.

Magny’s last two losses were to grapplers (Gilbert Burns and Shavkat Rakhmonov), but he’s beaten strikers Phil Rowe, Daniel Rodriguez, Max Griffin, and Geoff Neal in his last four wins. I’m not laying -298 on Garry in this fight, and I think Magny ML is worth a sprinkle.

Marlon Vera -185 v Pedro Munhoz +154

This is a fight that I really like the favorite in. Munhoz is coming off a great performance against Chris Gutierrez where he showed his takedown offense and ground game to win round one, and then he controlled the pace and pressure on the feet in rounds two and three to get the win.

My issue was that I thought Gutierrez missed opportunities and was tentative and on his back foot the whole time. Vera won’t let that happen, and he certainly won’t be tentative.

Everything that Munhoz does good, Vera does a little better and Vera’s record in the last five fights is a split decision loss to Sandhagen.

Munhoz got the win last time out, but he lost to Cruz and Aldo before that, and I believe he loses here. It’s expensive at -185, but I think Vera rolls here.

Mario Bautista -298 v Cody Garbrandt +240

Garbrandt got handed a get-right fight against Trevin Jones, which he won by decision, but he was 1-5 before that in the UF, and I think Bautista hands him another loss.

Bautista has a couple paths to victory with his first path being his takedown and submission game. He’s won his last three fights by submission on the ground, and Cody is certainly not known for his ground game.

Garbrandt has one of the glassiest chins in the UFC, and one hard strike that lands clean will put Cody’s lights out.

Cody’s path to victory is to keep it on the feet and get a KO or win a three-round striking affair, but I just don’t see Cody avoiding the takedowns. Bautista is a great parlay piece and one of the big favorites I’m most confident in.

Weili Zhang -340 v Amanda Lemos +270

Huge odds here and I don’t like laying these odds in a fight that features two dynamic strikers. I believe Zhang should be better on the feet with the more controlled yet powerful striking, but Lemos has KO power for sure as evidenced by her stopping Marina Rodriguez in her last fight.

I thought Lemos was fortunate with that stoppage as it was quick, and Rodriguez was having a lot of success in the fight, but that’s now a 7-1 run in the UFC and the 36-year-old knows this is probably her last run at a belt.

Zhang should have Lemos covered on the feet, but I don’t like betting on fights where an underdog has a legit chance to pull off the KO and Lemos will certainly be swinging for the finish. My pick is Zhang, but I won’t be betting on this fight.

UFC 292 Main Event: Aljamain Sterling -265 v Sean O’Malley +215

I’m going to pick O’Malley in this fight as underdogs on main cards on PPVs have been solid bets recently.

Underdogs on the main card of PPV’s are on a 12-14 run which is very profitable at these plus money prices, and O’Malley can cause some problems for Sterling with his length and striking.

We know that Sterling is going to try and wrestle, but O’Malley’s frame might be a problem for Sterling. I think Sterling’s most impressive win was the finish against Sandhagen, but it feels like Sterling has been getting a bit fortunate with his wins.

He wins against Yan with the infamous Illegal knee, then wins a close split decision in the rematch. He beats Dillashaw who was hurt and then fights Cejudo who hadn’t fought in years and wins another split decision.

So his last four wins are a lucky illegal knee, an injured opponent, and two split decision wins. This run for Sterling is going to catch up to him and I’ll take a sprinkle that O’Malley ends his nine fight win streak.

O’Malley will have to do damage on the feet and prevent the takedowns or at least minimize the damage that Sterling can do to him, and if he does I think I’ll be very happy holding a plus-money ticket.

Prediction: Sean O’Malley Wins +215

Sportsbook	Welcome Bonus	States Available	Get Your Bonus
1. PointsBet	$2000 in Risk Free Bets	NJ, IN, IA, IL, CO, MI, VA, NY, KS, LA	Claim Now!
2. Caesars	$1250 Risk Free Bet	NJ, WV, CO, IN, IA, MI, VA, TN, AZ, NY, LA, KS, PA	Claim Now!
3. BetMGM	$1000 Risk Free Bet	NJ, PA, WV, IN, CO, TN, IA, MI, VA, DC, WY, MS, AZ, NY, LA, KS	Claim Now!
4.DraftKings	$1000 Deposit Match	NJ, PA, WV, IN, CO, IL, IA, TN, MI, VA, WY, AZ, NY, LA, KS	Claim Now!
5. FanDuel	$1000 Risk Free Bet	NJ, PA, WV, IN, CO, IA, IL, TN, MI, VA, AZ, NY, LA, ON, KS	Claim Now!
6. BetRivers	$500 in Free Bets	PA, IN, CO, MI, IA, IL, VA, NY, NJ	Click State To Claim
7. Unibet	$250 Risk Free Bet	NJ, PA, IN, IA, VA, AZ	Click State To Claim
8. FoxBet	$50 Risk Free Bet	NJ, PA, CO, MI	Claim Now!

**************************************************

Looking for more free sports picks and sports betting tips?

• Latest Betting Odds and Public Action: Vegas lines updated in real time, including who the public is betting on.
• Last Minute Handicapping Advice: Check out our extensive library of handicapping tips and advice from professional Vegas handicappers (we also recommend taking the time to look over our sports betting tips video library)
• Want an expert opinion? Check out the latest Free Sports Picks and Best Bets from our team of expert sports handicappers.

Make sure to bookmark all the above!