While most eyes for UFC 288 are on the main card, the early prelims do feature an interesting heavyweight bout in Braxton Smith-Parker Porter. Let’s not bury the lede anymore and get straight to our Braxton Smith-Parker Porter odds, pick and best bet.
Braxton Smith-Parker Porter Best Bet Odds, And Pick
Braxton Smith-Parker Porter Odds (per DraftKings): Smith +3.5. O/U Rounds is 1.5. Moneyline for Braxton Smith is +150 while for Parker Porter it’s -175.
Smith is a, ugh, strange fighter to watch. While his last five fights have all resulted in wins — all clocking in around a 123-second average — he doesn’t exactly enter fights with a lot of technique or, seemingly, skill. It’s just haymakers, bombs and aggressive attacks. To be fair to him, why fix what’s not broken?
At 5-foot-11, 266 of the most entertaining pounds trotting about the octagon, Braxton Smith will be facing off against a fighter known to be capable to absorb some blows in Parker Porter. Honestly, he’s a measurably tougher fighter than guys Smith has faced over his last five.
Porter, who is coming off a loss, is a slight step up in competition for Smith. Porter is “only” 13-8 in his career, which doesn’t exactly scream excellence, but Porter has more UFC experience (3-3) and would likely out-grapple and out-cardio Smith if this fight goes more than two rounds.
Spoiler: It will not go more than two rounds. Oddsmakers nailed the over/under on this one, but more on that in a second.
Nonetheless, the Smith-Porter odds do suggest smart people believe this fight to be a short one, even if it’s at the expense of the fighter (Smith) most likely to push all the action. Basically, one way or another Smith is going to force the action to the point either Porter will drop or Smith will go down in a blaze of glory (and haymakers).
For what it’s worth, and while this is more DFS tilted than it is traditional gambling, if looking for other edges and information heading into tonight Porter has a higher projection than Smith in our tools.
Anyway, expect this one to be short, sweet and really fun. You can catch it on ESPN+.
Braxton Smith-Parker Porter Best Bet: Under the O/U Rounds at 1.5. If looking for other best UFC 288 bets, we have you covered here.
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