After one of the biggest fight cards of the year in Newark, the UFC heads to Atlanta for a Fight Night. 

Thirteen UFC fights are getting primetime treatment on ESPN, beginning at 10 p.m. ET.

Last week’s card, though highly entertaining, didn’t go great from a betting perspective with a 4-8 mark that included a loss on the main event with a bad bet on Sean O’Malley. 

We look to turn things around this weekend in Atlanta. 

Former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has been dealing with physical issues for most of his career, unable to run due to the accumulation of knee injuries dating back to his college wrestling days. 

Usman once won 19 straight fights, resulting in a lengthy title reign that spanned nearly three years and included five title defenses. 

All of this is to say that Usman is a legend, and seeing him as a +220 underdog to fifth-ranked Joaquin Buckley is a tough reality for him. 

Usman is unlikely to win any striking exchanges in this fight, and the only hope is that his cardio can outlast Buckley’s. But even there, I don’t have much hope for Usman. 

Buckley’s takedown defense has improved dramatically, stopping wrestling attempts from fellow college wrestler Colby Covington last time out.

If Buckley is as improved as we’ve seen in recent fights, I suspect he wins this fight rather easily, especially if Usman is getting hit with hard punches.

Buckley wins this one, potentially by knockout, but I’ll again go to a same-game-parlay to lower the price of a big favorite at the top of the card. 

Recommendation: Buckley wins in Over 5.5 minutes (-150, DraftKings) 

The “Golden Boy” is back in the Octagon after previously being on the fast track to welterweight title contention.

Edmen Shahbazyan then fell on hard times, unable to stop a takedown, seemingly even if his life depended on it.

At one point early in his career, Shahbazyan was headlining fight cards, but his 65 percent take-down defense rate is simply not going to cut it at this level. 

From a fight promotion perspective, I hate this booking for Shahbazyan, as Petroski is a college wrestler from the University of North Carolina and Bloomsburg University. 

Petroski is always game and trains at Marquez MMA in Philadelphia, home of Joe Pyfer and Sean Brady.

Shahbazyan has the better striking, but we have zero proof he’s improved his takedown defense enough that he can compete on the ground with a college wrestler. 

Back Petroski here as the underdog, as Shahbazyan’s suspect takedown defense makes him a major liability as a favorite. 

Recommendation: Andre Petroski ML (+154, FanDuel) 

Rose Namajunas vs. Miranda Maverick: Maverick ML (+200, Caesars Sportsbook) 

Cody Garbrandt vs. Raoni Barcelos: Fight goes to decision (-102, FanDuel) 

Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Cody Brundage: Abdul-Malik by KO/TKO (+110, BetMGM) 

Alonzo Menifield vs. Oumar Sy: Sy by KO/TKO in Round 2 or 3 (+650, FanDuel) 

Paul Craig vs. Rodolfo Bellato: Bellato by KO/TKO (-125, Fanatics Sportsbook) 

Michael Chiesa vs. Court McGee: Chiesa by submission in Round 2 or 3 (+460, FanDuel) 

Malcolm Wellmaker vs. Kris Moutinho: Wellmaker by KO/TKO in Round 2 or 3 (+210, FanDuel) 

Cody Durden vs. Jose Ochoa: Pass 

Ricky Simon vs. Cameron Smotherman: Over 2.5 rounds (+105, DraftKings)

Phil Rowe vs. Ange Loosa: Loosa by decision (+125, FanDuel) 

Jamey-Lyn Horth vs. Vanessa Demopoulos: Horth inside the distance (+400, BetRivers)

Erich Richter is a brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt but he has a black belt in MMA betting. During the football season he’s showcased massive profits at The Post in the player prop market the last two seasons. While constantly betting long shots, his return on investment is 30.15 percent since 2022.