UFC 334 Best Bets Back Gane, Sanches and an Early Finish
Picking bets on a big card means looking for the fights where the price and the likely result do not match. One outlet has named three such spots at UFC 334 in New York: a title-fight favorite, a debutant and a quick finish.
Gane, the favorite who anchors the card
The main event is Ciryl Gane against Josh Hokit for the heavyweight title. Gane holds the belt because Tom Aspinall vacated it over ongoing health issues. Earlier this year Gane finished Alex Pereira on the White House lawn. Hokit is chasing a title win to cap a rapid rise.
The outlet's pick is Gane on the moneyline at -182. A moneyline bet only asks who wins, and the minus sign marks the favorite. The outlet calls him a modest favorite over the streaking Hokit.
Its case rests on experience. Gane has fought Francis Ngannou, Pereira and Derrick Lewis in UFC title fights, and the outlet expects him to hold experience and size advantages. It also says Hokit meets an opponent with similar speed and versatility on the feet for the first time in his UFC tenure.
The outlet thinks Gane has likely spent a lot of time on his wrestling for this fight. Against Aspinall, in what it calls a small sample, he withstood early takedown attempts without issue.
On the feet, the outlet says, Gane has more ways to win, which is why it calls him a safe play to anchor a parlay. A parlay ties several picks into one bet.
The co-main event brings back Hall of Famer Amanda Nunes against women's bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison. The two were teammates at American Top Team-Florida earlier in their careers. All prices in the article come from BetOnline.
Sanches, a debutant at nearly plus money
Samuel Sanches faces Evan Elder at lightweight in one of the first fights of the card. It is Sanches' UFC debut. Both lightweight prospects arrived with hype, mostly after Sanches' viral knockout on the Contender Series last year.
The pick is Sanches on the moneyline at -119, which the outlet calls nearly plus money for a super prospect in his debut. He is 23, has won three straight by knockout, and is described as bringing length, freak athleticism and a well-rounded skill set.
Elder is not a throwaway opponent. He has wins over Darrius Flowers and Gauge Young. He has also fought only twice since July 2023, which the outlet counts as an edge for Sanches.
The outlet also calls Sanches' debut one of the card's undervalued storylines and says he arrives with confidence and a chance to announce himself to the division.
Johnson and Almeida to end early
The third pick is Donte Johnson vs. Cezar Almeida to finish under 1.5 rounds, at +110. In plain terms, the bet wins if the middleweight bout ends before the midpoint of the second round, and a plus price pays more than the stake.
Both men are Contender Series alumni. Johnson is unbeaten. He knocked out Eric McConico with one punch at UFC 330, and seven of his nine wins ended in the first round.
Almeida is 38 and has lost two straight fights in lopsided fashion over the past year. The outlet says he charges forward and likes a fast start. Two men who both go for a first-round finish, it argues, make the quick-ending bet a solid play.
Source: BJPENN.com