UFC 262 is the Ultimate Fighting Championship's latest major event, and in the headline bout we will finally discover who succeeds the retired and undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov as lightweight champion of the world.
Who will walk out with the gold: Charles Oliveira or Michael Chandler? Here's what the DAZN team thinks.
Steven Muehlhausen
If Oliveira can get Chandler down to the ground to work his world class jiu-jitsu, he can win via submission. But that’s going to be difficult to do as Chandler is an All-American wrestler from the University of Missouri. If Chandler can stuff Oliveira's submission attempts, it’s his fight to lose as he has the advantage on the feet with his exceptional punching power. Chandler will be able to stifle Oliveira’s attack and connect on a right hand like he did to Dan Hooker at UFC 257.
Winner: Chandler via second-round KO.
Mark Lelinwalla
Chandler will rise to the occasion on his grandest stage yet. I see him applying pressure and dropping Oliveira in the first round, threatening a stoppage, before the Brazilian fighter is able to clinch and stop the American's momentum. From there, expect Oliveira to tilt things in his favor, threatening that guillotine choke that he loves to cinch in on opponents. Chandler will hang tough after dropping the round. With it being a round apiece, I see Chandler surprising and dropping Oliveira with a sharp right, before pouncing and smothering him enough for the stoppage to avoid late rounds and more importantly hoist the lightweight title in the air.
Winner: Chandler via third-round TKO
Liam Happe
Chandler may be the slight underdog here, but I feel this is the night we see the absolute best of him for the first time since he joined the MMA juggernaut promotion. With the last champion never beaten for the belt, we could really do with an epic title fight here and a big performance from both. I truly believe that will happen, but that Chandler will stick the landing in the late rounds and do enough to win the belt.
Winner: Chandler via split decision
UFC 262 odds
Unikrn have the following odds on the main UFC 262 bouts as of Friday, May 14:
Charles Oliveira 4/6 (-150)
Michael Chandler Evens (+100)
Tony Ferguson 5/4 (+125)
Beneil Dariush 1/2 (-200)
Katlyn Chookagian 4/6 (-150)
Viviane Araujo Evens (+100)
Shane Burgos 5/8 (-160)
Edson Barboza 11/10 (+110)
Matthew Christopher Schnell 4/7 (-175)
Rogerio Bontorin 5/4 (+225)