UFC 274: Oliveira vs. Gaethje – preview and betting tips

Charles Oliveira has another title defense ahead of him. At UFC 274, Justin Gaethje, one of the most attractive and best lightweight fighters in a long time, will try to win the championship belt. What to expect from the fight and what to bet on?

UFC 274 will offer fans a properly attractive card, headlined by a title fight between Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje. Oliveira will be making his second defense, having defeated Dustin Poirier in December. Gaethje, for a change, will be fighting for a second time for the regular title.

This is a very interesting line-up of fights. The Brazilian fighter is a slight favorite, but the American definitely has a chance to win as well. It will be more or less a battle of two different styles, but both fighters present attractive fights.

This is especially true of Gaethje, who has received a performance or fight of the night bonus in eight of his nine UFC fights. Oliveira, for his part, is riding a streak of 10 straight UFC wins. Khabib Nurmagomedov, a past lightweight champion, is also highly regarded for his abilities.

Oliveira is famous for his grappling, and few in MMA can utilize Brazilian jiu-jitsu like he can. He doesn’t even necessarily have to take his opponent down to finish him, which is what he showed last time with Poirier. Plus, he’s shown striking in his last fights.

Gaethje is a downright stand-up guy, yet he is a very good wrestler, judging by his past wrestling successes. However, he tends to avoid wrestling in his matches, using it only to defend himself. He tries to keep the matches standing and there can be no doubt about his power punching.

Oliveira should have the upper hand in the match, but he must be careful not to let Gaethje hit him. Poirier too has shown that standing can lead the way to victory, but only until he can catch Oliveira with some submissions.

So Gaethje has virtually one chance, to end the fight as quickly as possible with a combination of punches. Moreover, it is a question of how brave he will be and how much he will guard just Oliveira’s grappling skills. That could make a big difference in his performance.

So Oliveira is the favorite rightfully, he should have the upper hand. However, it’s obviously risky. The safe bet is that the fight won’t go to points. Oliveira has had 40 fights, points have only decided 4 of his fights. Gaethje has 26 fights under his belt, 3 have ended on points.

Source: UFC, Sherdog