UFC 234 heads to Melbourne, Australia as Robert Whittaker defends his Middleweight Championship against Kelvin Gastelum.
Having fought in the United States in his last three bouts, Whittaker now gets the chance to defend his title in front of his home crowd at the Rod Laver Arena.
There is bound to be plenty of action, and our MMA expert is on hand to guide you through the best bets from UFC 234.
Momentum for Whittaker
Robert Whittaker goes into the bout having won nine fights on the spin with his two most recent wins coming against Cuban MMA artist, Yoel Romero.
The last bout between the two did not count as a formal title defence after Romero failed to make the weight, but Whittaker certainly left no doubt about his position as champion by beating him once again.
‘The Reaper’ Whittaker is an improved fighter and now ranked 12th, while another win could see him break into the top-10 UFC’s Pound-for-Pound rankings. The New Zealand-born Australian goes into the bout 2/5 favourite.
Big opportunity for Gastelum
Kelvin Gastelum’s career was at a crossroads after a failed drug test in his UFC Fight Night 106, before losing to Chris Weidman.
However, he knocked out Britain’s Michael Bisping in the first round back in November 2017, before another good win for Gastelum in the Fight of the Night at UFC 224 against Ronaldo Souza has earned him the opportunity to fight for his first world title this weekend.
The Californian will go into the Octagon slight underdog at 15/8 but he will be keen to spoil Whittaker’s homecoming
Whittaker on points
Both fighters have had their last bouts go to points, and I’m expecting the same again in the main event at UFC 234 which can be backed at 11/8.
I think experience could get the better of Gastelum so I’ll favour Whittaker to get the points decision in front of his home crowd at 2/1.
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