UFC Vegas 73 Hot Prospect Betting Pick
Rodrigo Nascimento ML (-180) at Heritage Sports (visit our Heritage Sports Review)
We’re back again with another hot prospect betting pick. The UFC returns to Nevada for a Fight Night event filled with prosperous talent, and we’ve located the ideal wager.
Continue reading for our UFC Vegas 73 betting guide and best bets, taking a first look at Rodrigo Nascimento and his opponent, Ilir Latifi.
UFC Vegas 73 Information
- Date & Time: Saturday, May. 20, 2023 – 10:00 PM EDT
- Location: UFC Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Scheduled Fights: 12
- Main Event: Mackenzie Dern vs. Angela Hill (UFC Women’s Strawweight Bout)
Hot Prospect Profile: Rodrigo Nascimento
- Pro MMA Record: 9-1-0 (3 submissions, 5 decisions)
- UFC Record: 2-1 (1 submission, 1 decision)
Following the death of his mentor Everton Rabelo de Andrade, Rodrigo Nascimento kickstarted his professional MMA career on the Brazilian regional scene with an unblemished 8-0 record – finishing every opponent inside the distance split between KO/TKO’s and submissions.
Continuing his dominant streak, he locked up a round one arm triangle choke on Contender Series in 2019, earned himself a UFC contract, and then choked out Don’Tale Mayes in his promotional debut.
Nascimento has displayed diversity in all areas of the fight game thus far. And despite losing his first pro bout to Chris Daukaus, the 2-1-1 record under the UFC banner should be 3-1. But after his TKO win over Alan Baudot, it was declared a no-contest due to testing positive for a banned substance.
Ilir Latifi vs. Rodrigo Nascimento: The Fight Tape
Aged just 30, we should expect improvements by Nascimento from fight-to-fight. The same cannot be said for his 40-year-old opponent this weekend, Ilir Latifi.
Speed, size, age, and hunger to climb the rankings will unquestionably favor the Brazilian. Of course, he’ll be faced with an experienced fighter in Latifi, that boasts 15 UFC bouts on his record, but it isn’t easy to envision a clear path to victory for the vet.
Nascimento has excellent cage control, where he’ll often utilize trips in this position to gain grounded top control. He’ll throw jabs, hooks, and blend kicks into his combinations but often use these attacks to force opponents against the cage where he’s most comfortable.
The size discrepancy will assist Nascimento with this style, and a ten-year age gap is an additional assisting factor. He does, however, leave his chin high on the center line, but Latifi hasn’t won via KO/TKO since 2016.
Nascimento Moneyline (-180): UFC Vegas 73 Hot Prospect Best Bet
The available UFC odds at the top sportsbooks for US bettors show an excellent price on the younger, faster fighter with a higher finishing percentage.
Latifi’s UFC victories to date aren’t overly impressive. Although he’s riding a two-fight win streak, success against Tanner Boser and Aleksei Oleinik didn’t present him with the threats Nascimento will.
An aging veteran meets a young newcomer this weekend. Given the thin gap between moneyline prices, it makes sense to favor Nascimento with glaring advantages in size, speed, age, and finishing ability over a fighter in Latifi that’s reaching the latter stage of his career.
UFC Pick: Rodrigo Nascimento ML (-180) at Heritage Sports [1.80u to win 1u]
UFC Vegas 73 Main Card & Odds
- Mackenzie Dern vs. Angela Hill [UFC women’s strawweight main event bout]
- Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Anthony Hernandez [UFC co-main middleweight bout]
- Michael Johnson vs. Diego Ferreira [UFC lightweight bout]
- Andre Fialho vs. Joaquin Buckley [UFC Welterweight bout]
- Emily Ducote vs. Lupita Godinez [UFC women’s strawweight bout]
UFC Vegas 73 Preliminary Card & Odds
- Maheshate vs. Viacheslav Borshchev [UFC lightweight bout]
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Vanessa Demopoulos [UFC women’s strawweight bout]
- Ilir Latifi vs. Rodrigo Nascimento [UFC heavyweight bout]
- Chase Hooper vs. Nick Fiore [UFC lightweight bout]
- Victoria Leonardo vs. Natalia Silva [UFC women’s flyweight bout]
- Takashi Sato vs. Themba Gorimbo [UFC welterweight bout]
- Orion Cosce vs. Gilbert Urbina [UFC welterweight bout]
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
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