On September 17, the UFC schedule has another UFC Fight Night event hosted in the APEX. The co-main event for this card is a great matchup between two middleweights.
Chidi Njokuani (22-7) is taking on Gregory Rodrigues (12-4) in a 3-round fight to set the table for the main event.
For Njokuani vs Rodrigues betting picks, we will have to break down the styles of these two talented fighters and analyze what the best bets are according to UFC odds.
Fighters Previous Records
Njokuani is currently on a 4-fight KO streak, including a Contender Series win and a beautiful finish by an elbow in his last bout against Dusko Todorovic back in May.
Gregory Rodrigues is coming off an impressive first-round KO victory over Julian Marquez in June.
Njokuani vs. Rodrigues Betting Analysis
Chidi Njokuani
Njokuani is a very interesting upcoming future contender in the UFC middleweight division. He is 33 years old and is just getting started with his UFC career.
It might be tough to start a career this late, but Njokuani fights with a different energy than most young prospects do.
Njokuani shows a lot of things in his striking game that gives off the fact that he is a seasoned veteran in striking.
Njokunai Performance Recap
His feints he throws to set up shots are great, and his patience keeps getting better and better every time he makes the walk to the cage.
He has shown a lot of signs of experience so far in the UFC and has shown his heart. In the Contender Series fight, Njokuani showed how he can start off well, see some adversity, and then finish with a great performance with ground and pound to secure a UFC contract.
Gregory Rodrigues
Rodrigues is a tough, dangerous Brazilian fighter that has only been in the UFC for a little over a year. Both these fighters have similar backgrounds where they don’t make it to the big show until they are 30 years old.
Rodrigues is a very scary man to be in a cage with lately. It seems that the spark happened after losing his DWCS fight in 2020.
After that bout, Rodrigues had fallen in love with the pop he had in his hands and started handing out KO’s to everyone in his way.
“Robocop Style”
The Brazilian’s nickname, “Robocop,” serves him perfectly in terms of his style. He is a big, durable fighter that kind of stalks his opponents down, tries cutting off the cage, and lands big shots.
His right hand has been hurting everyone that has stepped in the octagon with him, and there is probably a right hand waiting for Njokuani this weekend.
Odds Breakdown
- According to UFC betting trends, this bout started out with Njokuani being a larger favorite in the opening lines, but now the fight week odds have moved closer to having this as a pick ‘em fight. Njokuani is -115 in some sportsbooks.
Njokuani vs. Rodrigues Betting Preview
When breaking down the style matchups to try to get Njokuani vs Rodrigues betting picks, the most important thing is the experience of Njokuani.
The Favorite
Njokuani is a great fighter with a lot of experience for someone just breaking into the UFC. He shows patience and the ability to set up and find shots throughout a 3 round fight. This is impressive and probably the reason he is the betting favorite in this.
The Underdog
Rodrigues is the underdog in most sportsbooks, with odds around +105 to win. These are good odds because the fight is really so close.
Both men have the power to finish the fight at any moment. Also, any technical advantage one of them might have over the other is offset by another area in MMA that the other is better at.
Njokuani vs. Rodrigues Betting Predictions
Njokuani vs Rodrigues betting picks are going to be tough to make this weekend. My prediction is for this to be a very close fight.
Both guys are going to land clean and hurt each other in the first two rounds. If it lasts through 2, I believe that Rodrigues is going to use his grappling to get the decision.
He can for sure take down Njokuani, and I think that is the smartest way to come out with a win. I have a feeling that both these guys are just going to decide to keep the fight standing for all 15 minutes, but if Rodrigues wants this win bad enough, he will decide to get Njokuani up against the fence and take him down to steal a round or two on a judge’s scorecard.
UFC Pick: Rodrigues to win
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