The 12th International Fight Week is headlined by UFC 303 on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Saturday's UFC 303 main fight card kicks off at 10 pm ET and features a light heavyweight title rematch between current champion Alex Pereira and No. 1 ranked fighter Jiri Prochazka in the main event. Pereira won the vacant light heavyweight title with a second-round TKO over Prochazka at UFC 295 last November. This will be Pereira's second title defense since knocking out Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 in April.
The latest UFC 303: Pereira vs. Prochazka 2 odds have Pereira as the -160 favorite to win (risk $160 to win $100) and Prochazka is offered at +135. The original main event was former UFC lightweight and bantamweight champion Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler, but it was postponed due to an injury to McGregor. Before making any UFC 303 picks, be sure to check out SportsLine expert Daniel Vithlani's MMA predictions and betting advice.
Visrani covers the broad gamut of MMA betting from end to end, from analyzing footage and closely following fighters and their camps to tracking sharp action and betting market signals. He also coaches amateur boxers and regularly speaks with MMA fighters to understand the nuances of the sport.
Vislani made his SportsLine debut in January 2023, winning the main card of UFC 283 with a 5-0 record and has been a consistent winner ever since. In the past 12 UFC pay-per-view events, Vislani has an 8-4 record in main event picks, earning followers over $1,500 in profits from his main card selections in that span.
His highlights include predicting an upset of Sean O'Malley (+210) vs. Aljamain Sterling (-250) at 4-1 on the main card of UFC 292, and underdog picks of Poirier (+190) vs. Saint-Denis (-230) and Michael Page (+110) vs. Kevin Holland (-130) to win at UFC 299. Anyone who follows him has reaped huge rewards.
With UFC 303: Pereira vs. Prochazka 2 now upon us, Vislani has thoroughly studied the card and unveiled his top selections, and you can see his picks and analysis exclusively at SportsLine.
UFC 303: Pereira vs. Prochazka 2 Preview
In just under two years, Pereira (10-2) has gone from relative unknown among UFC observers to perhaps the promotion's most dynamic star — and “dynamic” is the operative word here. For the second time in just 10 weeks, the mercurial 36-year-old Brazilian striker has salvaged the wreckage of the promotion's matchmaking woes by taking a last-minute bout as the main event of a pay-per-view event.
Pereira (10-2) was scouted by UFC and promoted early solely to provide a potential rival for former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who was dominating the division and lacking a qualified challenger. Pereira, who beat Adesanya twice in professional kickboxing bouts, knocked out Sean Strickland in the first round of a title eliminator in July 2022 and then rallied to deny Adesanya a title shot in November of the same year.
He later won a second light heavyweight title, but his stardom really soared thanks to the event he saved: After UFC executives couldn't stage a superfight that had been promised as the main event of April's historic UFC 300 card, Pereira and Jamahal Hill were rushed into the main event, where Pereira won by first-round knockout.
He and Prochazka both fought on the UFC 300 card and agreed to headline the UFC 303 card with about two weeks notice. Prochazka (30-4-1), a ruthless and reckless brawler who won the UFC belt in just his third fight at UFC, knocking out Aleksandar Rakic in the second round of a hard-fought battle to earn himself a coveted $300,000 performance bonus and a chance at a rematch with Pereira.
The McGregor vs. Chandler fight appeared to be in jeopardy after the kickoff press conference was canceled in Ireland, and the iconic Irish fighter officially announced his withdrawal from UFC 303 the following week. Soon after, UFC president Dana White announced that Pereira vs. Prochazka 2 would be the headline UFC betting this week, replacing McGregor vs. Chandler in the top slot at UFC 303. You can see more UFC 303 picks at SportsLine.
Top predictions for UFC 303
Here's one of Vislani's picks for UFC 303: He predicts Anthony Smith (+120) will beat Roman Dolidze (-140) in a patchwork light heavyweight matchup on the main card. Smith was originally scheduled to fight promising up-and-comer Carlos Ulberg, but Ulberg withdrew from the bout without giving any reason. Dolidze agreed to take his place and save the bout, but he's on a losing streak for the first time in his career.
Smith also lacks experience compared to his rivals as he returns to light heavyweight for the first time since 2020. Smith is coming off a first-round submission win over Vitor Petrino at UFC 301 in April and previously fought for the UFC light heavyweight title against Jon Jones at UFC 235. Smith has five submission wins in the weight class, which is third-most in UFC history.
“Dolidze is a skilled grappler, so he gets into the clinch a lot and it's more comfortable for him,” Vislani told SportsLine. “The problem with this matchup is that Smith performs best in the clinch. Dolidze's fight IQ is unreliable, and Smith knows how to capitalize on his mistakes.” Check out SportsLine for more UFC 303 predictions.
How to choose UFC 303
Vithlani has strong predictions for Pereira vs. Prochazka and other bouts on the UFC 303 card. He's betting two units on another underdog winning outright. Vithlani's predictions and analysis are available exclusively at SportsLine.
The winner of UFC 303: How will Pereira vs. Prochazka 2 end? Visit SportsLine now for detailed UFC 303 predictions from an MMA expert who has made over $1,500 on his UFC main card predictions.
UFC 303 odds, fight card
See our complete picks, predictions and best bets for UFC 303 here.
Alex Pereira (-160) vs. Jiri Prochazka (+135)
Brian Ortega (+120) vs. Diego Lopez (-140)
Mayra Bueno Silva (-105) vs. Macy Chiasson (-115)
Ian Machado-Garry (-140) vs. Michael Page (+120)
Charles Jourdan (-130) vs. Jean Silva (+110)
Anthony Smith (+120) vs. Roman Dolidze (-140)
Andre Fili (-245) vs. Cub Swanson (+200)
Joe Peifer (-300) vs. Marc-Andre Barrio (+240)
Vinicius Oliveira (+190) vs. Ricky Simon (-230)
Andre Arlovski (+210) vs. Martin Budai (-260)
