UFC 263 betting tips: Edwards out to school Diaz
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Preview and odds for UFC 263
Leon Edwards insists he will show Nate Diaz “the new school of MMA” on Saturday and highlight why he deserves a world title shot.
The Birmingham-based welterweight will take on Conor McGregor’s old foe a month later than planned after his opponent picked up a minor injury which saw the contest switched from UFC 262 to UFC 263.
Edwards said: “Everyone knows Nate, he is a tough, durable opponent and it’s been like that since the start of his career.
“He is good at boxing, good at ju-jitsu but I feel this is the new school of MMA. I am able to do it all. I can strike, do wrestling, kick-boxing and boxing so I will be ready for wherever this fight goes.”
Edwards and Diaz feature on a card headlined by Israel Adesanya’s middleweight rematch against Marvin Vettori, with both contests likely to feature in plenty of UFC 263 betting tips.
Adesanya looks to bounce back
Adesanya suffered the first defeat of his MMA career against Jan Blachowicz after stepping up to light heavyweight at UFC 259 in March.
The Nigeria-born New Zealander is 4/11 to bounce back against Vettori, who he beat on a split decision in UFC’s last visit to Arizona three years ago.
Vettori has won all five of his bouts since then and is 21/10 to gain revenge.
Both fighters have had four of their last five contests go the distance and it is 4/5 for this renewal to be decided by the judges.
Edwards keen to keep world title hopes on track
Diaz, 36, handed McGregor the first loss of his career five years ago but has only fought on three occasions since and is 4/1 to prevail.
Edwards has won eight of his last nine bouts stretching back to 2015 and is priced at 1/6.
In March, the 29-year-old was left “heartbroken” after an accidental eye poke on Belal Muhammad 18 seconds into the second round of their Las Vegas fight led to a no-contest, but he is ready to get his world title hopes back on track.
With a record of 18 wins, three losses and one no-contest, Edwards feels ready to challenge for a world title at 170lb and a win over Diaz could set up a rematch with welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, who beat the Jamaican-born Briton by a unanimous decision six years ago.
Half of Edwards’ MMA wins have been by knockout or submission and he is 6/5 to secure victory inside the distance.
Muhammad returns from nasty injury
The injury sustained against Edwards left Muhammad needing stitches and he was fortunate to avoid permanent damage.
The American returns to action against Demian Maia and is 4/9 to win his comeback fight.
Brazilian veteran Maia is a 7/4 chance but has lost four of his last seven contests and Muhammad, who has seen 15 of his 22 fights go the distance, is 21/20 to get a decision win.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
