Brothers at Odds

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Guess who’s back back – back again! BOBBY’S BACK! Ahhh the SWEET VICTORY to tie us up at 5-5 in Brother’s Battles. And what an epic card with UFC 328 to determine who takes the lead 6-5. Let’s start with the fatal errors made by Chris this week: Tuivasa and JDM. Who in their right mind was backing Tuivasa in a fight in 2026? Did no one see how much he loved to accept bottom position in his previous fight? Or the fact that he was on a massive loss streak? You always have to pick against a fighter like that out of pur logic – make them show you that they can win again before backing them. But silly Chris – like much of the public – had hope for the possibility of a Shoey. I cannot blame him for that, I would have loved the throw back myself. But I had faith in Sutherland to put forth a quality game plan in this spot because he was starving for a win himself. And now to JDM… I was originally torn on the pick between JDM and Prates but my confidence in Prates grew exponentially as we approached the fight. The wide skillset and damaging strikes of Prates made a massive difference in this matchup. JDM certainly has hyper elite boxing but that is in the close range – in the pocket. What I thought would happen came true: JDM could not manage the range enough to have an advantage. I feel for JDM in this spot because he has now been dominated twice: once in grappling by Islam and now once in the striking – JDM’s strongest skillset – against an elite Prates. A truly epic striking fight! I do not feel for Chris though, the $10 he put in my pocket is very appreciated!

For the whole week, I went 5-6 on the main card! Chris went 4-6, which is also pretty solid! My one loss was a foolish one because I was star struck by the odds on Rahiki’s opponent – Ollie Schmid. My shot in the dark did not pay off and I pay LONGTIME! Outside of that, my main card reads were a sweep and I constructed my greatest Pick of the Week yet! The two pick parlay with Brando Peričić and Quillan Salkilld started out at +115 and worked its way up to +152. I could not believe the value on a play with two hyper elite prospects – who proved to be worth their value. I do not think we will see playable odds for either of these two fighters in their next fight and I wish I had bet the house on this play! But hindsight is always 20/20 and you never truly know what will happen in the cage! It was a phenemenal week overall and I look forward to sweeping Chris up this next week to go up 6-5!

I wish I could really enjoy the magnificent performance by Carlos Prates. I really wish I could. Unfortunately I picked JDM to win the Brothers Battle of the week and Prates absolutely picked him apart and broke him down. I really thought Della Maddalena’s boxing skills would carry him to a victory but he had almost nothing to offer Prates. JDM’s disciplined guard only held up for so long as “The Nightmare” terrorized him with power punches, leg kicks and knees repeatedly. Prates had JDM broken by the start of round 3. Unfortunately this means Robert has done the impossible and evened the Brothers Battle score to 5-5. I don’t yet know what the matchup will be for the Chimaev vs Strickland card but I guarantee victory! Robert must be defeated!

As for the rest of the card, Quillan Salkilld made easy work of Beneil Dariush in less than a round. Salkilld stuffed Dariush’s early takedown attempts and then immediately pummeled his opponent once he broke free. Looks like Dariush’s career is close to over while Salkilld is on his way to stardom. Steve Erceg handily outpointed Tim Elliott for 15 minutes, dominating the striking and negating all of Elliott’s grappling attacks. As expected Marwan Rahiki sliced through last minute replacement Oliver Schmid with one brutal counter punch that sent Schmid to the floor. Brando Pericic and Shamil Gaziev went to war for a little over eight minutes in a fantastic fight. In the end Pericic proved that his cardio is up to the task as he was able to out pressure Gaziev late for an impressive knockout victory. In the opening fight on the main card Louie Sutherland was able to out wrestle Tai Tuivasa for all three rounds much to the disappointment of the home crowd and myself. I really thought Sutherland would have been an easy KO victory for Tuivasa. But overall the card was fantastic with memorable performances from Prates, Salkilld and Pericic. I went 4-2 in straight up picks and our ultimate pick of the week hit so a pretty solid week overall. But I need revenge in Brothers Battle picks more than anything! Can’t wait for our next matchup on the stacked UFC 328 card next weekend. I’ll be back!