More than four years ago, Conor McGregor and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone planted the seeds for a potential future fight when they exchanged words at a UFC news conference. The MMA icons will finally square off in the main event of UFC 246 on Saturday, Jan. 18 in Las Vegas. The 13-bout UFC 246 card from T-Mobile Arena features the main fights starting at 10 p.m. ET. McGregor (21-4) and Cerrone (36-13-1) are meeting at welterweight (170 pounds) in a non-title bout at the top of the UFC 246 fight card.
McGregor is a -320 favorite (risk $320 to win $100), while Cerrone is the underdog at +260 in the latest McGregor vs. Cerrone odds. In the co-main event, Holly Holm (-135) faces Raquel Pennington (+115) in a clash of bantamweight contenders. Before making any UFC 246 picks of your own, check out what SportsLine MMA analyst Kyle Marley has to say.
Marley won the first-ever “ToutMaster” UFC betting contest sponsored by MMAOddsBreaker and also appears regularly on multiple MMA betting and DFS shows. Over the past year, $100 bettors who have followed Marley’s picks are up more than $19,000.
At UFC Fight Night 165 in December, Marley told SportsLine members that Chan Sung Jung, aka “The Korean Zombie” (-185), would dominate veteran Frankie Edgar (+165) in the featherweight main event. He predicted a knockout finish for Jung, and the South Korean delivered with a flurry to stop Edgar in the first round.
Moreover, at UFC 245, Marley accurately predicted that welterweight champ Kamaru Usman (-175) would prevail in his title defense against challenger Colby Covington (+155). The result: Usman scored a fifth-round TKO to secure the victory. Anyone who has consistently followed Marley is way up.
Now, with UFC 246 fast approaching, Marley has carefully studied every matchup on the card, identified the best value in the UFC odds and released his MMA picks for every single fight. He’s sharing those selections only over at SportsLine.
Marley knows the main event will likely be a defining moment in the careers of both fighters. McGregor has seen his star power and popularity take a hit because of a series of negative incidents outside the octagon. The 31-year-old Irishman also saw his reputation take a blow following his lopsided loss to Nurmagomedov following a nearly two-year hiatus from the UFC, during which he lost a highly-publicized boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.
For all of his accolades, Cerrone, 36, has just one title bout in his UFC career, a loss to Rafael Dos Anjos in December 2015. The Denver native appeared perhaps headed toward another title run when he reeled off three straight victories, but was stopped by Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje in his last two bouts. A third consecutive loss would give his critics more fodder. Go see the top UFC 246 picks now.
We’ll reveal one of Marley’s UFC 246 predictions here: He is backing Aleksei Oleinik (+105) to get a submission victory against Maurice Greene (-125) in a clash of heavyweight contenders on the main card.
The No. 12-ranked Oleinik (57-13-1) is looking to get back on track following two consecutive losses. The 42-year-old submission specialist had won four of his previous five and was climbing the rankings before his recent setbacks. Greene (8-3), who is unranked, has won two of his three UFC bouts, but suffered his first loss with the promotion in his last outing. He was stopped by Sergei Pavlovich in the first round in October.
“Greene is going to be the better overall fighter and will win the striking exchanges, but I don’t know that he can stay out of Oleinik’s chokes,” Marley told SportsLine.
Marley also has strong picks for McGregor vs. Cerrone, Holm vs. Pennington and every other bout on the UFC 246 card, including backing a fighter who’s a “stud on his feet and looks like a future title-contender.” Get every pick for every fight at SportsLine.
Who wins Cerrone vs. McGregor? And how exactly does each fight end? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed picks on every fight at UFC 246, all from the expert who’s up more than $19,000 on MMA in the past year, and find out.
