UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Duffy betting preview

Mixed martial arts bettors hope to have the lucky of the Irish when the UFC heads to the Emerald Isle for Fight Night Saturday. The Dublin, Ireland card is headlined by a lightweight bout and features another interesting fight at flyweight. Here’s a look at those matchups and some MMA betting tips:

Dustin Poirier (+188) vs. Joseph Duffy (-248)
If the 1.5-round total was a dead giveaway, both of these guys have been known to finish fights. Duffy is a big favorite in this one, getting a massive home-field advantage in Dublin but also bringing a four-fight winning streak into Saturday’s showdown. While he’s making a jump up in competition versus Poirier, he’s still big chalk based on his pedigree, with a 2010 win over Conner McGregor acting as a feather in his cap.

Poirier enters Fight Night with back-to-back wins – both via KO – after suffering a loss to McGregor last year. He’s not only facing a hostile environment in Ireland but takes on an opponent with plenty of ways of winning a fight, especially via submission – a method in which Duffy has won nine of his 14 fights. Poirier has only been submitted once and will use his speed to keep Duffy guessing.

Patrick Holohan (-110) vs. Louis Smolka (-120)
This should be a flyweight war with the winner jumping plenty of rungs in the division. Holohan is in his home town as a slim underdog, coming off a pair of decision victories which followed a loss to Chris Kelades just over a year ago. He’s a slick submission fighter who will look to take this bout to the mat without running the risk of mixing up with the Hawaiian, who has shown knockout power in recent fights.

Smolka finished Richie Vaculik with a third round KO last November and followed that with a decision victory over Neil Seery this July. He’s a bit smaller than Holohan but is a more versatile fighter, with four of his nine career wins coming via submission. He has more options to win this matchup, which is why we’re seeing a slight lean towards him with the odds – regardless of the home-field edge for “The Hooligan”.