UFC 331: Van vs. Pantoja 2 FULL Bets, Picks and Predictions!

0:00Oh yeah, get fired up. Welcome into the early edge UFC 331 show presented by Ben MGM, make it legendary. My name is Brian Campbell. And of course, UFC 331 going down this Saturday from Los Angeles and live and direct on Paramount Plasma before we get to fight night. You know, we have to set the stage for the wage that we got going on here. Lots of matchups to talk about from a flyweight title rematch in the main event to a pretty loaded card top to bottom. So let me bring in my two betting experts to help us move this along. Of course, from Wisconsin with love, you know, I'm Hayden Iverson in the house. A man who knows just as much about ragers as he does wagers apparently. And how about New York City's finest Danny Brasco and gentlemen, you know, I'm fired

1:06up to be here. But when we're talking about UFC 331, we are talking about the rematch 10 months later, the flyweight title at stake. But boy, have a lot changed in 10 months since December when Joshua Van scored a first round TKO in just 26 seconds over the Brazilian ledger and Alejandra Pantosa, a dislocated elbow took place before we really found out what was up between these two. So when we look at the biggest story lines heading into this Saturday's main event, Hayden, what has your focus for Van Pantosa part two? Well, it's got to start with the first fight and what happened in that fight was exactly what nobody wanted to happen. Pantosa losing the belt off of an injury and as a champion, you don't want to win the belt because of an injury. But either way, we've seen Joshua Van go out there and beat Tatsuro. It's Ira since then. So he's gone and gotten another win. But the guy that held the belt, you always want to take the belt from the champion

2:07in a way that you can be proud of. And I don't know that Joshua Van could be proud of the way he beat Pantosa in that first fight. A lot of people call it a fluke and it kind of was a fluke, a fluke injury. But in some aspects, Joshua Van was able to cause that injury catching the kick. Pantosa had to post on the arm and he dislocates his elbow. So going into this when we get to find out was that actually a fluke or was Joshua Van going on his way to win the fight? And for Pantosa, going into this one, I think he's going to have to bring a different set of mentality because after you dislocate your elbow, you're probably going to be thinking about it a little bit. You've already lost this guy by injury, but he can't have that in his mind in this one. He's going to go have to take it from Joshua Van who goes into their and fights every single time in a way that brings a lot of people to their to their feet and also gives everyone a lot of excitement because he's going in there really trying to knock you out with a lot of significant strikes on your face. I think

3:09Pantosa is going to eat a lot of those in this matchup. Pantosa, of course, made four defenses of that 125 pound title that he won in 2023 now trying to win it back. So along with the title, Danny Brasco, what is that stake in your eyes in this rematch? All of a sudden, it feels like his whole flyweight legacy is on the line, B.C. I put him as the second greatest just behind Dmitrius Mighty Mouse Johnson, but you look at the way that he was dominating this era of flyweights, which you could argue is a class above the era that Dmitrius Johnson put together 11 flyweight title defenses against and the his finishing ability. He's got 20 finishes to Johnson's 13. So I felt like Pantosa with a fifth title defense, if not for that fluke injury that Hayden laid out, might be having this debate of who's the best flyweight of all time. All of a sudden, Joshua Van who takes no pity in him for that injury and telling him at the press conference, get this guy some milk. He looks like he's stealing his aura and the kid is just storming through taking over the flyweight division like Hayden mentioned cemented himself as the rightful title holder with an epic fifth round stoppage in one of the best flyweight fights of all time against

4:13Tatsuto Taito. So coming into this fight, what's interesting is that Taito took Van down eight times, but he got back up. He put together his combination punching and does what Van did. So, you know, what can Pantosa come in here and do? Can he get his aura back and cement himself as maybe the greatest flyweight ever improve? Like Hayden said that that wasn't fact of fluke. He's got so much to live up to here all of a sudden. A guy that's one of the UFC's best. Yeah, man, what's at stake here? I got to play off a bit off of what Hayden said regarding the fluke thing. Look, this is Joshua Van's opportunity. So I think to fully legitimize the turn into the idea of being UFC's next big star still just 24 years old. He's won what seven fights since that 2024 knockout lost to Charles Johnson. It's like it never happened. The title defense in May and Newark against Tyra certainly raised the idea that he's not a paper champion because he went out there and defended it. But if he can beat the legend, maybe the second greatest flyweight of all time, we are talking about somebody that certainly deserves the power for pound votes and certainly will continue to get

5:17that push from the new generation, right? There's a youth movement that's hit the flyweight generation. There's also new fans sprouting left and right here in the Paramount era in 2026. And Josh Van has that cool factor and for as humble as he was as a titled challenger, right? Coming from Myanmar, having a proud representation of his country and of course fighting out of Houston, since becoming champion, we've seen him wearing sunglasses indoors, talking a little trash back and forth with Pantosha. Data White had to separate the two during the press conference in Philly in August. So a lot of spice to get excited about a lot of things there. But Danny, back to you quickly here, the odds have certainly fluctuated when we talk about the 10 month difference between then and now in terms of who the betting public likes. Yeah, the storyline here for me is from Fluke to favorite. I mean, Pantosha posting on his arm awkwardly and dislocating his elbow makes him open from initially a minus 270 favorite in their first fight to now flip to the plus 110 underdog,

6:18which is alarming to me. Now, since then, we've seen Van go out there and put the beat on Tatsuto Taita defend against an elite ace of a grappler. So perhaps the odd shift is warranted. But to me, a year more of age for a guy like Pantosha coming off an injury, I understand why the odds have moved, but this much, this drastically for a guy with more motivation and willpower determination that mentality that he brings than ever. I mean, I think odds makers may be sleeping on Pantosha. This feels a little bit drastic to me. Yeah, and Pantosha told me when I sat down with him in August, he said, look, I accept the loss. I get the rules, but he said I wasn't defeated. I wasn't beaten. How do I fall out of the UFC's pound for pound rankings because of that? Well, certainly has that second chance. So continuing the storylines here, Hayden, we know Pantosha is the only men's flyway to win a title fight at the age of 35 or older. If he wins back the title at 36, it's kind of like the cherry on top of his legendary legacy. Yeah, I mean, nobody in the flyway division had won the

7:20title or won a title fight past the age of 35, but Pantosha was the guy to break that. He's the only guy that's done it. And the fighters who are 35 or older are two and four in title fights in UFC history and Pantosha won against Asakura to get him one and also against Kai Cara France. But when he fought Joshua Van, added another L to that record. And now at 36, nobody's ever done at age 36. So I think a reason why we do see that line difference going into this fight is for one, the performance that Joshua Van put on against Tatsuro Tire, but also the falloff of Pantosha. There's a reason there's not a lot of winning going on with guys over the age of 35. And now that he has taken that loss and he's a year older, you can understand why Joshua Van would be the slight favorite here. Yeah, a lot's going to be asked here of Pantosha at 36, but like he told me, he was planning to take a month off after the first van fight because of the pack schedule of four title defenses in two years, two days after the injury, he was in their arm and a sling,

8:23punching one handed back training. And here he is all these months later, ready for the rematch, put some respect on the elders name right there. All right, fellas, let's get into our pick here for Van versus Pantosha this weekend. The 24 year old Van, the slight betting favorite after Pantosha, nearly being a three to one betting favorite the first time around. Danny, what is your pick for Saturday night? You just can't make the second greatest flyweight of all time an underdog. And I have to, I'm forced to wager at this price because I do think that his style can give Joshua Van problems. Now Van has proven that his MMA boxing is legitimately elite. It's amongst the best of the UFC. The way he rips to the head and body, his combination punching, his low kicks, his improved takedown defense. We see even against Taita getting taken down eight times. He worked back to his feet. He avoid giving up his back and even got out of full mount a couple times. Really bad positions Van was able to work out of and then turn the ties, flip the momentum. But I think Pantosha's back takes are even more savvy. I think he'll be able to do what Taita could not.

9:24Lace up that body triangle. Keep Van stuck in bad positions where you're forced to defend submissions until the clock runs out and the round ends and you can just get back to your corner and figure out what to do. Because Pantosha can set up these exchanges, these abilities, the ability to scramble and take Van down with his aggressive style. He throws these unorthodox winging punches from odd angles. He moves forward with heavy pressure. And even though he's going to put himself into the fire, I still think at 36 years old, his durability is going to be there. The pace, the pressure, the determination. Pantosha is one of the most mentally strong guys in the UFC, I believe, and with this kind of edge and motivation, I think he's going to bring it to Van. Now, I think it could be a nasty scrap. But in that kind of a fair, I'm going to favor the veteran with all the experience. It's going to be a great one, no matter what. But I think after weathering the storm, Pantosha starts to break down Van and he wins this fight. I'm taking him as the dog BC. Look, I'm leaning that way too. I like the plus 110 odds. I remember a time when Pantosha won the title at age 33 in a war with Brandon Moreno that we thought, okay, he got the title, but

10:25he's not going to be able to do it, defend it and make a rain given the damage he accrued, given his age. And what did he do? He went out and defended the title four times, got better, got more efficient, got more technical, became number four on the UFC's Pond for Pond list. Can he do it at 36? I say yes with the experience edge and with the fact that he's more well-rounded. Hayden, give us a side for the youngsters here. Why at minus 130 is Joshua Van the right pick? Well, I agree with a lot of what you guys said. I do think Pantosha's a little cut from a different cloth. He's going to go in there. He's always durable. That was the first time that he had ever been finished when he dislocated his elbow. So you know, you're going to get a durable guy that has cardio, elite grappling game and a ton of experience. But where I think Joshua Van is a little bit different in some of the opponents that Pantosha has beaten, at least from what we've seen when he fought Tetsu Otaira is he is just not going to give up those backtakes. And if Pantosha can't get to the back, I don't think he's as effective of a grappler. We saw Tetsu Otaira never

11:29get the back once against Joshua Van. And in fact, Joshua Van got Tetsu Otaira's back. And Tetsu Otaira is one of the best backtakers in the UFC. And I don't really think Pantosha's going to have an easy time getting to the back in this matchup. So we have the 12-year age difference for Joshua Van, which I love. I love that Joshua Van has gained a ton of confidence. He's always been active. And I think from performance to performance, he's shown improvements every single time out. He's fought good grapplers as well. Are they on the level of Pantosha? I'm not really sure. I'm not I'm not really confident to say there's a ton of value on Joshua Van at minus 135 considering where the line was in their first fight. But I do like everything more on the side of Joshua Van at 36 coming off an injury 10 months off as well. I don't love that side to back. You're getting plus money, but I don't love it. I would much rather be on the Joshua Van side. A guy that has a ton of volume on the feet. Great cardio is very good defensively with his grappling. Although he can be taken down. He's

12:29very hard to hold down. And in the flyweight division, I would much rather have the guy with the higher upside with the volume. Great cardio. Good take down defense. Good grappling defense. Jimmy Joshua Van. Yeah, a lot to think about. You got the young legs of Van, although he has been on a killer schedule, seemingly, seemingly fighting every three or four months. And yes, including that fight of the year in 2025 against Brandon Royville. So hey, staying with you, you got the minus 130 money line on van. But if you want to get a little bit better odds and go to a props as it says to a finish, are we looking at a decision? Are we looking at a sub a KO? Where do you find the best value? Yeah, there's one thing that's different with the lines as well because Pantosha was minus 200. Now he's a slight underdog, but the total is different as well. The over four and a half was near a pick him in the first match up. But now the over three and a half is near a pick up. So they're bringing the line down. I'm not really sure why because Pantosha didn't get cleanly knocked out. I don't think his chin's going to be bad in this matchup. He just had an injury. And Joshua Van showed great submission defense, great grappling defense

13:35against Tatsuro Tyro who's an elite finisher on the ground. So I think if Pantosha does get his take downs, I don't think he's going to be able to finish it and also trust the durability of Pantosha. I think Joshua Van wins this fight based on volume, landing the better shots, a little bit more defensively responsible on the feet. And over the course of 25 minutes, I think he does the better work. So we're getting a pretty hefty price tag here on Joshua Van by decision at plus 325. I think it's probably the best prop to play in this fight. Yeah, he did make some key adjustments in that tie-errified to take control midway through and eventually get that fifth round TKO. Danny Brasco, you like Pantosha here. Do you like him by finish? I do. I think he finds it laid in this fight. And I really do think that he's going to have to weather the storm of Joshua Van early on. But we saw even though we only got 30 seconds of their first fight, Pantosha came out aggressively. And I expect the same thing from him. He was throwing soccer style low kicks. You know, he runs into you with the right hand and throws a heavy low kick behind it. I think he's

14:35going to be looking to really beat up the lead leg of Josh Van and kind of make that boxing game a little less effective if he's forced to switch stances. And eventually, maybe in the second third round, if his if his takedowns are, you know, continually landing, I think he can break him down. Then has been in a lot of wars. And he's looked great in them, but he has sustained a lot of damage as well in that brand and Roy Val fight. He has been knocked out clean against Charles Johnson. And in that Totsuo tie-errified, he was taking a lot of damage. You know, they say if he a punch a black belt in the face once he becomes a brown belt, so on and so forth. Right? So I think his ability to land damage on the grapplers really makes their skills less effective as the fight carries on. But a guy with Pantosha's durability, I don't think that will be the case. And I think eventually, if he can land damage the way that Tieta was while mixing in his grappling, he can just be a little bit more, he can, he has the finishing upside there. And so I feel like maybe a fourth, fifth round submission is live here for Pantosha who just would not be denied in this revenge spot for him. I'm going with the finish BC. Yeah. Pantosha by finish plus 200. You want to go specifically

15:35on that submission, which I like plus 275. But like Hayden said, you get the back. You got a secure it though. We'll see what Van can do on the ground. When we return though, it's time to get in to that five round lightweight co-till where possibly a title shot is at stake for the winner when we return. Back at it with the early edge UFC 331, of course, this Saturday in Los Angeles, and how about this cold main event, Armand Saryukiyan returning to LA, the scene, by the way, where he had to pull out of that UFC 311 lightweight title rematch with Islam Mahjid Jeff one day before due to a back injury. Finally, this could be maybe his shot to break through and get to the title level when he welcomes the always dangerous Mauricio Hufi who replaces Charles Olivera on about one month's notice. So when we're talking about storylines for this one, Hayden, how do you sort of look at what jumps out as most important in this matchup? Well, I think it all comes down to Mauricio Rufi's adjustment since he fought Benoit Santanille.

16:39And what happened in that fight was he got submitted in the second round. And honestly, if you look at it, it kind of looked like he gave up. He wasn't fighting the choke, kind of mailed it in. And that was in Paris, a very tough crowd to go in there and fight against the home guy in Benoit Santanille. And since then, we've seen Benoit Santanille taken out. So that loss doesn't age beautifully. If Benoit Santanille can take him down and finish him, then you look at Armin Saroukian and say, well, he can do the same thing. But since that fight, Mauricio Rufi has left the fighting nerds. He's gone over to Australia and started training with Alexander Volkanovsky, who we know has elite grappling defense, elite takedown defense. We saw him go five rounds with Islam, Makachev and give him all kinds of fits up a weight class. So considering he's made those moves, how does he approach this fight differently compared to the Benoit Santanille fight? Because if I watch that fight, I don't really think that was the Mauricio Rufi that we should have been have seen that night. Now going into this one against Armin Saroukian, Saroukian's going to be a much tougher test than Benoit Santanille. But if he has made those

17:44adjustments, we know how good he is on the feet, anything can happen. Danny, is it as simple to break it this fight down as grappler versus striker? Well, this is an elite clash of styles. I think it is that simple. Of course, Armin Saroukian can use his grappling to set up punches. He's a skilled striker himself, but Mauricio Rufi is prolific. He might be the most skilled striker in the all of the UFC. He sets his opponents up in such beautiful ways. He's very creative. He's fluid in his motions. He's drawn comparisons to Conor McGregor that stinging right hand, the karate style, the range control. He's a master. And I'm going to love to see how he controls that range and forces Armin Saroukian to maybe hesitate when he tries to close that distance and cause a grappling match. Because if he can get this fight to the floor, Armin Saroukian's wrestling is world class. I mean, I think everyone like Hayden kind of laid out his thinking if Rufi's back hits the mat, you know, then Saroukian can do worse than BSD. His arm triangle submission, his top control, his ability to swim through positions and scrambles, his flexibility and athleticism. I mean, Armin Saroukian's one

18:49of the best on the ground in the game. So it's really a matter of Rufi being able to keep this on the feet, keep that range and be that sniper style striker versus Armin trying to force it to the ground and smother him. And I think whichever elite style wins out, this guy wins himself a title shot. Yeah, Hufi no longer with the fighting nerds, but those back-to-back stoppages against Raphael Fuzi even Michael Chandler really putting that Ben Los Saint Denis loss in the rear view. My storyline still surrounds Aruuki and at 29 we know that he's built himself into a star over the past year plus during a time when he was clearly in the doghouse as it pertains to UFCCO and president Dana White only fought once in each of the last two years ever since pulling out of UFC 311 with that injury. Got into trouble a little bit outside the octagon with some recklessness, but to his credit, I think he did two things. He rebuilt himself into a star through social media to the point where even Dana White has tipped the cap to him and I think he became a more hungry fighter from being kind of kept out of this title picture. When we have seen him come back,

19:51he has been absolutely destructive. We know the wrestling sets up his offense, but boy, this Armenian Hulk can knock you out cold with the right shot. He is coming in here as the favorite. He's confident and the only thing I don't know is will this be the fight if he wins that gives him the title shot. So Aruuki and told media earlier this week in LA he's been promised that by the UFC two weeks ago. Dana White was on a radio show said hold up we got to see what the fight looks like first is just engaging in a fight again and defend that title. We don't really know, but we do know Armen's Aruuki and can certainly cash his ticket to be right there in terms of getting that opportunity here with a big win. So speaking of who wins, let's go right to hate and let's hear it. Who is your pick for Armen versus Marisio? Well, I don't really want to go with a pick in this one because Armen's Rukins the hefty favorite of minus 350 and they're kind of pricing you out of them because we know if he gets his fight to the ground, he's probably going to have his way with Marisa Rufi, but I don't know if it's that simple because Rufi makes it very tough for his opponents to close

20:57range on him. He kind of leans his head over his front foot, makes him, makes you feel like he's closer to you than he is and then he can pull back and hit you with some nasty counter shots. So I'd rather take this fight to just end by knockout. The fight to knock on the distance is pretty hefty chalk, but we rule out a submission for Armen's Suruken and we get pretty much even money for either guy to get a knockout here. Armen's Suruken has very, very good ground and pound. If you remember what he did to you all over us on the ground, smashed his face in from the guard position, just elbows, nasty elbows from the top. I think Rufi, considering he had that submission lost to Benoit Santani, it's going to be very cautious on the ground to not give Armen any type of submission attempts and in that realm, Armen's probably going to be able to land some ground and pound. So we get the upside of Rufi pretty much all of his upside is going to be within a KO and then we get Armin Suruken, ground and pound TKO or maybe he lands a big shot on the feet and even money for a fight that's likely not going to go to distance. I think it's a pretty solid play. Yeah, and five rounds for this Komein event gives you an even longer stretch there to potentially

22:00cash that plus 100 on the fight ending by K. Oh, I like Suruken by finish and finish if any kind is minus 135. So there's certainly some value there. Which where are you leaning, Danny? I just feel like you can't make Mauricio Rufi a plus 260 underdog against anyone and I'm forced to take the shot here. Of course, I think the argument from everyone, the most popular opinion you're going to hear online social media is that Mauricio Rufi has no chance on the ground, right? Look what BSD did. But to me, it's not so simple. I think it was a matter of cardio more than grappling deficiency that broke Mauricio Rufi in that fight. Some people misremember it. You know, Rufi actually got out of some bad positions. He reversed BSD. He also caught him with a flying knee on the way in. BSD is as tough as they come. So just because BSD got, you know, crazy choked out by Patty Pindlett doesn't mean he's trash. Don't go flipping your opinion so quickly. As many UFC fans do. To me, every round starts on the feet. And Mauricio Rufi is a puzzle to solve at range. Sniper style striking. We saw the long right hand totally just compromised Rafael

23:02Fazive made him do the chicken dance and finish the fight. Rufi can do that to anyone. The way that he set up Bobby Green with the ghost left hook right hand to put him perfectly in position to land the spin kick that he always wanted to lead him into. I mean, Rufi's striking vision is immaculate. So I'm going to trust the training with Alexander Volkanovsky. He's made some take down defense improvements in that there's a real world where the odds could look pretty out of whack if he keeps this fight standing for the first couple rounds. I think Armand could have a tricky fight. And I'll also put his focus into question because BC, yes, you mentioned he rebuilt his image. But all we're seeing of Armand Serookey and his him eating two decker cheeseburgers on private planes and in online streams and having a fake relationship and getting people all sorts of, you know, riled up and rage baiting them online. I don't know if he's totally dialed into fighting doing all this online stuff. So I question that and if his timing is slightly off only having two UFC fights in the last two years competing in RAF and the wrestling league, he's not ready for a striker like Rufi. He could get caught caught. I'm taking the dog here. Yeah, I don't know if Glob Trotting with

24:04Nina drama is the best base for fighting in a number one contender spot here. But when we're talking about props, you got Danny Takenhoofi here by upset interesting stuff here. I like the over two and a half rounds in this fight at minus one 20. I think regardless of a finish, which I believe we'll see, I think it comes later in the fight after they figure each other out. Both are dangerous. Are you getting routing a five fight win streak here after that? Disputed decision loss to Gamera. Hayden, give me a prop. I should focus on in this match. I agree with a lot of Danny sentiments about this fight. I mean, Armored Suryukhin's only had one fight in the last two years. I know he's done a lot of competitions outside of the UFC, but there's a difference between doing that and actually being in the cage fighting. And a Mauricio Rufi, I think is 100% locked in on fighting. He's not out there Glob Trotting with Nina drama. He's 100% locked in with a former or the current champion of the Featherweight division in Alexander Volkanovsky. So I can expect the best Mauricio Rufi this Saturday. For Armored Suryukhin, I don't know what I'm going to get to be honest. And at minus 350,

25:07I would not want to touch that. And I would much rather take the shot. I'm Mauricio Rufi. I think he can get this one done on the feed. Every fight starts on the feed. Armored is not the best striker, but he's very serviceable in that aspect. But the thing I saw in the Benwaz Antoni fight was Benwawa was ripping a lot of body kicks to Huffy. And he had to respect those body kicks. I don't know that Suryukhin's going to be able to have that level of aggression that Rufi needs to respect on the feed. And I think that might allow more opportunities for Rufi to set up some shots, to look for big counter shots compared to BSD just bear rolling into you for these takedowns. And if he does get back up to the feet like he did against Benwaz Antoni, that's just more opportunities for Rufi to land those those kill shots, which he is nicknamed one shot for a reason. This isn't a guy that needs to break you down over the course of three rounds or five rounds. He just needs one opportunity to close the show. So at plus 500, we're going to get it done by KO in the first three rounds. I think it's probably the best prop that I'm seeing. Yeah, to close here on this

26:08co-made event, Danny, you can get some value with Suryukhin by submission. Are you feeling it? Yeah, it's funny because Hayden and I are both kind of hedging our initial predictions, right? Like the way he played Suryukhin, but then also a knockout prop on Rufi. I'm feeling the same thing. I want to hedge my bets because if this does get into deeper waters, if Armand Suryukhin is landing repeated takedowns, he's getting top control. Similar to way the way Hayden sees it raining down, some elbows and some ground and pound, but I actually think that there's a world where Rufi is forced to give up his back. He's forced to turn. He's trying to knock him up that submission, but as he's getting softened up, he's going to accept the lesser of two evils and he ends up getting choked out. So I think Armand could end up getting like an arm triangle from top mount. If the spike gets into the third, fourth round, I'm going to take him to win by submission as a hedge against my Rufi dog pick. Good stuff right there. All right, Man and Co Man in the book, but this main card for UFC 331 certainly has a lot of action potential. Also has the return of super heavyweight here at Gable Steve's in who many are calling the future with John Jones in his corner.

27:11I want to start off here when we're talking about props and main card bets here Hayden. There's a featherweight matchup that is almost guaranteed here. Fireworks when we're talking about the Bellatorium and May 2 division champ and Brazilian legend Patricio Pippal against Korean super man now at age 35 in Duho Choi. Choi gave us a hall, literal hall of fame brawl with Cubs Swanson in 2016. Will we see a repeat here in terms of collision and how you bet in this? I'm not quite sure we're going to see a I think we could see an exciting fight, but I don't think it's going to be a full on brawl because Patricio Pippal, his opponent is going to go in there and be a full he's going to put on a veteran performance. I mean, I think how he's going to approach this one is how he's approached most of his fights throughout his career and especially recently. He knows he's 39 years of age. He can't be going in there getting into brawl. He needs to be the professional in there. Look for some takedowns. Look to land big counter shots and not overexpose yourself to

28:14this damage that Duho Choi is going to want to put on you. And when I look at Duho Choi's opponents recently, they're kind of guys that are going there wanting to fight and getting the brawl. Danny Daniel Santos really just went in there trying to knock him out in the first round, gasped out and Choi got the second round KO Nate Landware, a guy that's always walking forward into punches. Bill Algeo retired after that fight. So this is a very different matchup. I think for Duho Choi and I expect to see some distance here. I'm going to go with the over two and a half rounds. I think we're getting some good values just based on how Duho Choi has fought recently. But he's going up against an opponent that I don't think is going to give him those exchanges. So over two and a half rounds out of pick him. I think it's pretty good. And Danny, we have the potential talking about fireworks for a light heavyweight duel here at the last, maybe until the first punch lands when Alonzo Menofield takes on Evo Bernuski, the Polish powerhouse who has recorded a bunch of first round KO's in the UFC and on beaten. How do we bet this when we've got two guys that are

29:16going for the home run in round one? Don't blink BC. This will be exciting for us long as it lasts because Evo Bernuski undefeated at nine and oh has yet to see the second round. He's finished all of his opponents inside five minutes and he's got the perfect dance partner. Alonzo Menofield is a veteran brawler, a guy that's down to swing for the fences with you. It's whoever connects first, right? And I'm just going to go with the youth side in this one BC. I'm going bare in Nuski, but I'm going to have to close my eyes and do it because we saw he was in a war against Evo Aslan. I mean Alonzo Menofield's been in wars against higher level light heavyweights than that. But I don't know how many he has left in him at 38 years old. Menofield's coming off an upset victory over Zhang Mingyang spoiled the party. A lot of people had him in his parlays and Menofield's a great parlay buster. He's cashed for me many times. I just don't know if he could sustain that style against the younger more explosive fighters. Like I said, 38 years old. So I'm going to bet that Baronuski maybe takes a huge shot, gets up and then the one that he lands is the one that finishes the fight on Menofield. Should be a wild one guys. Don't close your eyes for it because someone's

30:17going to get finished quick. Yeah. Evo by KO minus 135 bet the violence. What I like in this matchup is if it goes to round two where he was never been a Baronuski second round finish is plus 600. You got to like that chatter. Hey, then how do you see this fight going? Well, I think it's pretty much going to go the way we all think it's going to go. They're going to go in there and they're going to chuck hands. But I'm going to go with the big plus money, the guy that Ben in this division for a long time, 10 plus UFC fights against the guy and Evo who's just making a name for himself in the UFC with all due respect wins over junior Tafa Austin Lane and Evo Aslan don't exactly get me excited. Now he did exactly what he should do if he's going to be fighting Alonzo Menofield and KO in the first round. But Alonzo is a good veteran who's got power in real power. I mean, this guy's very explosive fighter at even at 38 years of age and you look at the guys that he's been knocked out by. They're kind of like rural class strikers. Volcan who's the mere Carlos Olberg azimuth Merza Khanov. I'm not confident to say Evo Barnusky is a world class striker. He's dangerous,

31:22light heavyweight division. He's going to throw. But I expect when both guys throw and you're giving me plus 480 on Alonzo to get it done by KO, I have to take a shot. Yeah, good underdog value there for sure. I teased it off the top fell as this heavyweight till to kick off the main card. Now that Brian Ortega's cut over his eye has broadened into that rematch against high not on Moicano gives us UFC stop number two for the 2020 US Olympic gold medalist the five time all American wrestler at Minnesota, Gable Steve Sinfore and own his pro career all first round finishes. But in his UFC debut, no wrestling out of the wrestler and even though his striking lead to a finish, he did get hit. Maybe a more than we expected or would have liked. He's a record breaking favorite here. Some was it minus 2000 to defeat Sean Sharaf who is 0 and 2 in the UFC both losses by stoppage. But he is a former Marine here. So when we look at how to bet this with

32:26astronomical odds, Danny, where are we going to find the value? Well, when you have a hyped up prospect that's as big as betting favorite is this you just have to bet on them to live up to their expectations. So I think he finishes this fight inside two and a half minutes. I'm playing under half a round at plus odds because it's going to be hard to find betting value on Steve Sinus, expected to do just that. Get Sharaf out of there. Sharaf's got some boxing skill. He doesn't like Steve Sin very much. So I expect him to try to put up a fight, but the Olympic gold medal level wrestling, I think, will show out here. I think maybe in the first fight you saw a little bit of an ego thing there. The kid wants to come in and prove he's not just a wrestler. He's not looking to be a one dimensional fighter training under John Jones. He's got a more tie game. He's got kicks, landing some tips, but like you mentioned, he put himself in some danger. I think this one is a much cleaner win. Shoot's an explosive double leg takedown. Slams Sharaf to the ground and the ground and pound just ends the fight quick. So if Steve Sin puts together his wrestling game shows us how good he is there on the floor. This one's over quick BC. Yeah, Steve Sinus, just a plus, plus, plus athlete with some clutch ability. When you look back at how we won that gold medal with

33:31one second to go there, but you got to learn it. And it's not easy transitioning here after. I guess you could say failed runs in the WWE and the NFL. We'll see if Gabel can keep this train moving. If there's any value there, I like Gabel by submission, plus 470. If he mixes in the wrestling, it could open up an opportunity for him to show us that. I think we need to see a little bit more of the dual threat in this matchup. But when we return, fellas, lots of talk about on the preliminary side of this guard. We got props. We got parlay's. We got upset fix. It is the early edge. Back at it with the early edge UFC 331 this Saturday on Paramount Plus from LA. Hayden Iverson Danny Brasco and your boy BC here. So fellas, when we're looking at the prelims here, some interesting names jumping out. Where are you jumping Brasco for a bet here? Come prelim time. I'm really high on the potential of KCO Neal at Flyweight. So I'm going to take her as a decent favorite, but I'm willing to lay the chalk because after I saw what she did to Gabi Fernandez

34:34standing TKO, I am damn impressed. O'Neal has been a fighter that has lost some of her momentum due to injury and inactivity. But when she's fighting man, she's a gritty scrapper who is down to move forward, put punches in your face. She's got wrestling skill. And I think she keeps it moving, keeps that momentum rolling against Eduardo Mura, who is perhaps the more skilled grappler, maybe with her backtakes, her jujitsu. She's pretty, you know, physical, but she always has trouble making 125. She's missed weight in three of five UFC appearances. So I'm just not confident she's figure out her fitness at Flyweight. And in the third round, she fatigues in multiple fights. She's been competitive against some solid competition in this division, but I think that she's met her match here in KCO Neal. And as the punches string together in rounds two and three, if that fatigue is setting in, she's in dire straits. I think O'Neal has the potential to finish despite, but I'm down to lay the chalk at her a minus 190. Yeah, Hayden, I don't think we talk enough about King KCO Neal on this division. She fights mean she had some injuries that kept her away for a while, but a great camp there at Extreme Catoran Vegas. How do you see this fight with Mura going?

35:38Well, I think this is going to be a pretty exciting fight for women's MMA. And a lot of the women have been getting finishes recently. And I'm going to stick to that trend at plus 155 for this fight to not go the distance. I think there's a lot of value. I think it should be closer to even money if I do say so myself because Edward and Mura is going to go in there and grapple. And if she, her grappling is not working. She doesn't really have a backup plan. She's not much of a striker. And I think her cardio is definitely in question in almost every single fight. I think if she does have early grappling success and she doesn't get it, she tends to fade as the fight goes on. And KCO Neal's not going to let you breathe in there. She's going to throw a lot of volume. She has good offensive and defensive grappling as well. So if she is able to stuff those takedowns, maybe end up on top. That's not a spot where water Mura wants to be. She should be able to rain ground and pound, look for some some some submissions. And I think going into this one, a KCO Neal with the momentum coming off of the round one K.O. Should be able to go in there and stick with that momentum, bring the fight to the water Mura early. And I think somebody gets finished here more likely

36:39than not KCO Neal's the one getting the finish. But 15 minutes between these two girls, I think somebody's going to get finished. Yeah, we'll see what happens there. Fellows, I think there's a lot of value on this prelim card from the standpoint of veterans needing a big win, maybe to protect their job. You know that can produce hunger. It can put the chip on their shoulder. It can back them up against the wall. So when we're talking about parles, if I could take KCO Neal's light favorite with the monster underdog tied to evasa, the king of second, third, fourth, and maybe even eight chances. I'm didn't count lately. Tied to evasa a monster dog here against a returning in the UFC rebellious dispound. But if I could take O'Neal and to evasa together on a parle money line, I'm getting plus 809 there. The question for to evasa, Danny Brasco is this seven straight losses, many extra chances. He came back after a long layoff this year and was overweight and gashed out in two decision losses. He's let us down time and again and yet the UFC says,

37:40hey, 33 year old will give you maybe one more chance. He went to ATT in Florida. He got relatively thin. Do you ride the underdog against rebellious? That ATT angle could be everything BC because if tied to evasa decides to shoot a takedown and ends up on top in this fight, everyone is going to scream for their plus 500 to evasa ticket because rebellious to Spain as intimidating and colossal of a striker. He has zero wrestling defense. This guy cannot be trusted as a massive favorite again. Yes, he stands six foot seven 84 inch reach. He has a world ending right hand that he can land from halfway across the cage. But in the UFC, he went one and two and lost to guys like Austin Lane and Waldo Cortez Acosta who ended up being good, but wrestled him. Waldo is not a wrestler. So you can beat this guy. Now he's gone to karate combat. He's looked really dominant there, but this is not UFC level competition. So as bad as two evasa's looked, I'm always a believer in the shoe he coming back BC. I'm always rooting for it. You're going to

38:43make him a huge dog. I'll always reference when he drops zero gone in that fight as a plus 450 dog. He can do it. He's got power. He's still got durability. He has heavy low kicks. And in that talism to share fight, we saw that he still has some will to win. He's got to bring that back. But there's a world where Robelle's disbanded doesn't knock him out with that big shot. And tied to we've also flips the odds here. So a ride with you. It's certainly hard to get confident, but I think there is an angle there because it is now or never speaking of parlay's hate. And what do you got for us on this preliminary card? Well, I got to say it's been four years since tied to evasa's done a shoey and four years since I've done a shoey. So I'm hoping we're doing one this Saturday. I would love to see it. But I'm going to go for some more violence as well. Two under one and a half's paired together. Ryan Gondra versus Ozzy Diaz. I think Gondra gets a first round KO, dangerous guy. But he's also there to get hit. Ozzy can knock you out as well. And then I'm going to pair that with you. Obar Newski and Menifield under one and a half like we laid out earlier. I think these guys are going to go in there and throw you always never been out around one. I

39:46don't think Menifield is going to shy away from a brawl. So I think somebody's going down. That gets you a little over plus 100 on that two leg under one and a half parlay. I like the way you work that parlay. No dignity. But Brasco, I think you got a three leg parlay. You're trying to sell us here. Yeah, we're going with King Casey. We like her to finish that fight potentially. But I like her on the money line there. The volume boxing will be too much for a gassed and war to more as despite carries on. I'm going with the matured Edmund Shabazzy and a guy that's grown up in the UFC. But really seems to be improving his overall skills for the longest time. His grappling defense was the glaring hole in his game. But he seems to have fixed that. He even went the distance despite losing to Brendan Allen top five ranked middleweight. So I'm going to trust him to be able to avoid bad positions against a jujitsu guy like Ferreira who can submit you on the ground, who can explode with his blitzes on the feet. But might not be up to the task in terms of the technical striking with Shabazzy and long range kickboxing game. I think a body kick, a head kick, a long straight right hand could end up winning this fight. So as a short favorite, I'm going with Edmund Shabazzy and the show he's continuing to improve his overall game,

40:49MMA game. And finally, I'll close that out with a spread. I like Marlon Vera plus three and a half. I think he can win at least around on the combined judges or cards in this fight. It's going to be about his aggression, right? Chito always starts too slow. But even in that David Martinez fight, his last loss, he won the final round stalking him with that pressure, the durability, the volume. It's going to be there later in the fight, just a matter of Chito can get going early. But regardless, I think he wins around in this fight. And that'll get us to almost three to one par lab. You see, yeah, it's a perfect transition to our talk about underdogs. I got to hear what Hayden thinks about Marlon Chito Vera here, former title challenger, 33 years old, not ancient, riding a four fight losing streak, including five of his last six. It wouldn't be a Marlon Chito Vera fight if he didn't fight hard for three rounds lose, but still feel when they read the decision like he won and be confused as to what happened. So if this is the card come Saturday that your boy BC's telling you bet big on people who have a lot, pushing them back to the wall here,

41:52is this the fight for Marlon Chito Vera that he breaks the stride? I hope it is because I've been on Marlon Chito Vera for his past few fights. And it's just so annoying to watch because he gives up the first round and then in round two, he starts to come on a little bit, loses it. And then round three, he takes it. But this is a matchup that I think is winnable for him. It's not like in these fights that he's going into and losing by decision, he's not competitive, right? The most of the work 29, 28 comes down to one round where it kind of swings the other guy's way. But Charles Jordan isn't exactly a guy that has won a lot of decisions in his career either. So if you're going to go to decision with Chito and you haven't shown to me that you're elite at winning minutes in the UFC and we're getting a plus 185 plus 190 price tag on Chito Vera, I got to take the shot again. I mean, at least we've seen Chito come out and say that he's gone to a different camp. He's left Jason Paredllo and he's trying to figure out what he needs to do to win fights at this point. He's not losing badly because he's being competitive,

42:53but there's just that that edge that he needs a little bit more to get his hand rays on the scorecards. But also we got to say Cheetos is a great finisher as well. Great power. Good Jiu Jitsu on the ground. Charles Jordan has a nasty guillotine. He needs to worry about but considering the number, I don't think Charles Jordan should be minus 225 to Chito Vera at this point. He hasn't shown it to me. So I got to take a shot on Chito Vera plus 190 and hope he's made the adjustments. Like he's one of my big underdogs. I'm riding. I think you laid it out perfectly. He hasn't been getting beaten pillar to post. He's just not throwing enough. That's it. He's just not doing enough. Well, the new camp created a new mindset for him. That's certainly what you're betting on come Saturday and fellas, I got to bring up one more underdog. I heard the case from Danny Braski over there about Edmund Shabazi and I'm a huge Shabazi infant. He's rebuilt his body. Changing camps has given him more confidence. He's not necessarily the guy who's going to look great for four minutes and then gas out and implode. But there is a fragility to him that every

43:57time you think he's ready to turn the corner, even with that competitive decision loss to Brendan at Brendan Allen last time out, that you can potentially punch a hole in it. And Bruno Fajeda may not be championship level. He may be riding a two fight skid, but he does have big time fight changing, fight ending power. And if I got an opportunity, I plus 140 to ride him to break a two fight losing skid. He's got that knockout over Robo Coppa, Gregory Rodriguez, who's streaking right now, even though Rodriguez knocked him out in the rematch. I'm not going to stop betting on Bruno Fajeda. I feel like there's one more move in him, one more run to try to make him so a little bit more dangerous. So another dog, I'm putting some effort behind here. Let's see if he can bounce back in a big way. I mean, should I be more confident about him or to evasa? I don't know what to do with my hair, fellas. I mean, come on, come on, let's go. All right, those are your parlays. Those are your dogs, but now let's bring it all home here, fellas. UFC 331 this Saturday

44:57in LA. It's time for your best bets, Danny Brasco. Don't give me the bets that aren't going to win here. Give me the best ones. Let's make it unanimous on Marlon Chito Vera. We talked about the camp switch up, leaving Jason Porello, I think, was a very hard decision, he said, but it really important one because he needed to do something to switch his game up. And I think mentality-wise, that was huge, but also he's changed up his training regimen. He's not doing these super long runs anymore. He's focusing more on that explosive burst. And that's what we need to see a more aggressive early on, Marlon Vera. And Hayden talked about it. Charles Jordan as the betting favorite in this spot. I know he's three and no since moving down to Bantamway. He's looked really good. But if he doesn't have the ability to finish his opponent, I'm not sure he's going to look great in the third round. Jordan's best win so far in the UFC is over Kyler Phillips, whereas Marlon Vera despite being on a four fight losing streak and having some trouble, he's faced nothing but elite competition his entire career, former champions and title challengers. So this could be where the rubber meets the road. This could be where he finally snaps the skade, shows a different version of

45:59Vera. I really like him. I'm going to take him to a win at least around, but I think he can win the fight as a big dog. And guys, you're going to make a dog. You're going to make Pantasia dog. One of the greatest flyweds of all time. I'm forced to take it. I just think his mentality is too strong. And I think if this does go five rounds, it's going to be really competitive, but Pantasia can do what Taita could not with the back takes with the control time and with the ability to make it count on the ground. I'm taking him to win this fight and reclaim his flyweight throne. Yeah, how dare you anger that Brazilian cannibal legend there in Pantasia. My best bet is going to circle around the Pantasia money line just the same. Hayden, what's your best options here? I really like that fight to not go the distance in the case, Jonil and Edward Amorafide at plus 155. I think there's great value there. I think Edward Amoraf kind of got a sellout for the grappling here. She can't really hang in the striking. And I don't think she's going to have a lot of success with that. Or if she does have success with it, she could get the finish early, but I expect Casey to put a pace on her and ultimately get a finish here. So at plus 155, I think it's a great bet. And then the over two and a half in the duo joy and Patricia Pippo fight whenever I see

47:03an over two and a half or a line set at two and a half and there's a pick them. I tend to, you know, like that over because you cash more than you don't. A lot of betters go to the window and they want to see finishes. They see that under two and a half at minus one 10. They think it's a great bet. But I like those overs because generally you're getting more value on this fight to go the distance when one guy has most of the finishing upside and duo joy. But I just don't think Patricia Pippo is going to go in there and give him a lot of opportunities. He's too much of a veteran. I don't think he takes enough risk for Troy to finish him early in this fight. So at a pick him, I thought it'd be close to the minus 150 at pick him. I think it's a great price. Yeah, and I love that. So are you keen by finish minus 135 in that five round, co main event. So we'll see what happened Saturday night UFC 331 live and direct from Los Angeles on Paramount Plus. Danny Brezko first time, by the way, UFC has been in downtown Los Angeles since 2018. Right? Who would

48:05have thought? Wow. And no T city, Ortega to represent California. What a bummer that we're missing out. I was really looking forward to that rematch too. Yeah. The freak I caught injury, he said, was caused by jujitsu training. Unfortunately, Ortega just can't put it together there. Danny and Hayden, this has been spectacular there. The only thing left I want to know, Hayden, who are we going to be talking about the most after Saturday's card? Well, if Rufi can get it done, I think we'll definitely be talking about Rufi. But I think it's going to be Joshua Van. I think Joshua Van at 24 is going to be looked at as one of those guys that for the next five to 10 years is going to be competing at a very high level. One of the biggest stars in the division and in the UFC overall because this is a guy that's 24, but also kind of hitting his prime right now. Or maybe we haven't even seen his prime. There's a lot of questions as to what he can do. Flyway division hasn't always been the most talked about division. But I think he could bring a different spice that a lot of the fans will get behind. Flyway red hot here, but

49:09don't count out. Pantasia, Danny. That's my MVP for Saturday night. We'll see how it plays out, brother. Yeah, there we go. All right. For Hayden, I've heard the great Danny Brasco. My name is Brian Campbell. Enjoy the fights. UFC 331 this Saturday night. And don't forget, check out that QR code on the screen and download the early edge podcast. Wherever you get fine audio for the fellas and for myself, we are out. We'll see you next time around. Wow. See you someday with the NFL on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus.