Tai Tuivasa will get an enormous heavyweight check towards Robelis Despaigne at UFC 331 on Saturday, September 19, at Crypto.com Enviornment in Los Angeles. Despaigne is a steep favourite, however heavyweight betting hardly ever comes with a stress-free ticket particularly when Tuivasa carries actual one-punch hazard.
The bout is scheduled for the UFC 331 prelims, with the occasion headlined by flyweight champion Joshua Van’s rematch with Alexandre Pantoja. Present market pricing lists Despaigne round -625 to -650, whereas Tuivasa sits between +455 and +512, with pricing topic to motion earlier than the walkouts.
Despaigne’s value provides him an implied win probability within the mid-80 p.c vary. One market had him at 84 p.c towards Tuivasa’s 16 p.c as of September 16. That could be a robust vote of confidence within the Cuban striker’s measurement, size, latest exercise and early-finish historical past.
A straight Despaigne wager at -625 would require risking $625 to make $100 in revenue. A $100 Tuivasa ticket at +455 would return $555 whole if he pulls off the upset, together with the unique stake. Australian gamers can play extra numbers with Valter Casino in the event that they’re a fan of the New South Wales striker “Bam Bam.” The Cuban favourite has the cleaner route, however the value leaves little room for error in a division the place one alternate can change every part.
Tai Tuivasa vs. Robelis Despaigne Odds, Prediction and Greatest Bets for UFC 331
Despaigne brings a 6-2 MMA report with six knockouts, a 6-foot-7 body and an 84-inch listed attain. He’s an Olympic taekwondo bronze medallist and stopped Josh Parisian 18 seconds into his UFC debut in March 2024. His four-fight run earlier than that UFC look included three finishes in 20 seconds or much less, together with a four-second knockout of Miles Banks.
Tuivasa enters at 14-10 and is attempting to halt a seven-fight skid. His final victory got here in February 2022, when he knocked out Derrick Lewis with an elbow within the second spherical. 13 of Tuivasa’s 14 MMA wins have come by knockout, and his monitor report contains UFC finishes of Greg Hardy, Augusto Sakai, Stefan Struve and Rashad Coulter.
The priority is latest kind. Tuivasa dropped unanimous selections to Tallison Teixeira in February and Louie Sutherland in Could, with a third-round illegal-knee level deduction towards Sutherland including to a troublesome evening. Earlier than these bouts, he misplaced to Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Marcin Tybura, Alexander Volkov, Sergei Pavlovich and Ciryl Gane.
Nonetheless, that is extra favorable stylistically than a matchup with a dedicated wrestler or submission specialist. Despaigne has struggled when opponents made him defend clinches, takedowns and prolonged management. Tuivasa doesn’t want to show right into a stress wrestler, however he ought to pressure contact, crowd the long-range kicking lanes and make Despaigne combat whereas shifting backward.
Despaigne has the key bodily benefits, carries the more energizing ending kind and faces a fighter whose protection has not held up by means of the present shedding streak. Tuivasa stays stay early, however Despaigne ought to have room to land straight punches and kicks earlier than Tuivasa can pressure the exchanges he desires.
