UFC Fight Night Holloway vs. Oliveira: Betting breakdown

The MMA schedule hits the dog days of summer after a busy July. The next installment of the Fight Night series takes fight fans north of the border to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, where Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira headline Saturday’s card. Here’s a look at that matchup and another notable bout at Fight Night 74 while you choose your MMA betting picks:

Max Holloway (-233) vs. Charles Oliveira (+173)
These featherweight contenders look to make leaps and bounds in the division with a win this weekend. Holloway enters as a sizable favorite on a six-fight winning streak, but his focus may be spread with the native of Hawaii looking past Oliveira and to a rematch with interim featherweight title holder Conor McGregor, who defeated Holloway back in August 2013.

Oliveira has won four in a row since losing to former champ Frankie Edgar via decision back in July 2013. He wants to take this bout to the ground and nullify Holloway’s standup game. The Brazilian has taken 12 of his 20 wins via submission and will try to slow the pace against a busy opponent, who throws a high volume of kicks and punches. However, Holloway is a much stronger foe and even if Oliveira is able to get him down, he might not be able to wrestle with or submit the American.

Erick Silva (-178) vs. Neil Magny (+148)
This welterweight battle got a facelift when Rick Story withdrew from Fight Night 74 with an injury, leaving Silva to scrap a game plan he’d been polishing for more than four months. Instead, he’s going against replacement Neil Magny, who he believes won’t test him like Story would have. Magny had a seven-fight win streak snapped by Demian Maia, who submitted the former TUF star at UFC 190 more than a year ago.

Silva is also a lethal submission artist with 11 of his 18 career victories coming after making opponents tap. The Brazilian has won his last two fights, including a resume win over UFC gatekeeper Josh Koscheck by submission at a Fight Night event this past March. He is, however, at a major size disadvantage with Magny standing 6-foot-3 with an 80-inch reach compared to Silva, who is just 5-foot-11 with a 74-inch reach.