Glory 49 & Redemption are the cards I am most looking forward to this weekend, and the action starts late Saturday morning so it should conveniently be ending about the time that the UFC prelims start. On the Glory 49 portion of the card on ESPN3 there are no odds, but I expect Tyjani Beztati to be the most likely to win the Lightweight Contender tournament. On the Superfight Series the greatest value of the card in my opinion is on Alim Nabiev at the +335 opener vs former welterweight champion Nieky Holzken. Nieky looked less than impressive in his last couple of fights has been vocal about being disenchanted with his treatment at Glory recently. I also really like the over 2½ rounds prop at -160 or thereabouts, because it's been quite a while since Nieky stopped an opponent or got stopped. In a heavyweight bout Ismael Londt is coming back off a torn bicep, surgery, recovery and year long layoff and he's fighting a former training partner and friend in D'Angelo Marshall, so even with two big guys, I like the over 1½ at -150 here. In the middleweight title fight that headlines the Superfight Series portion of the card, I smashed Yousri Belgaroui at the opener of -180 against reigning champion Alex Pereira. Belgaroui has height and size over Pereira and is very aggressive. I also like the under 4½ in the title fight at +100 expecting a stoppage by Belgaroui and the prop also acts as a hedge in case Pereira's boxing catches Yousri somehow.
On the Redemption PPV portion of the card the curtain jerker with Zakaria Zouggary vs Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao is a title eliminator in the featherweight division. Zouggary opened as a slight -105 underdog where I bet him, but the line has since switched to make the experienced Thai the favorite now. Petch's kicks are powerful but Zouggary has great boxing and the ability to close distance rapidly, which I like to shut down Petch's kicking game to some extent and probably win a decision. This could be FOTN. Glory veteran Anderson "Braddock" Silva now faces late step in opponent Brian Douwes since Xavier Vigney abruptly announced his retirement from kickboxing just days before the card. Douwes should be in reasonable shape since he was already training for another fight in January, but I think the super short notice and skill set makes Silva a rightful favorite at -275 in this heavyweight bout despite the fact that he has more losses than wins in his long tenure in Glory. I also like the under 2½ at +100, expecting Douwes to be out matched and stopped here. In the co-main event, a re-match of a FOTY contender from 2016 featuring LHW's Michael Duut and Danyo Ilunga has a lot to live up to in order to equal the first bout that Duut won in an extra round. There were multiple knockdowns by both fighters, so despite the fact that the last fight went four rounds, I'm taking a chance on the under 2½ rounds prop at +125.
Finally, in the main event Rico Verhoeven is a rightful favorite to Jamal Ben Saddik, even though Jamal knocked Rico out years ago in 2011 when Rico was a young up & comer. In the years since however, Rico has become the clear number one heavyweight kickboxer in the world on a long win streak. Jamal is a cancer survivor who may not yet be done with treatment, so the true state of his health is a bit of a wildcard. On the positive he is a 6' 9" giant who is difficult to get in on and a very hard puncher, so this could be a dangerous fight for Rico. Rico said in interviews that he wants to punish Jamal for his disrespectful behavior at the press conferences by beating him for five rounds. So rather than picking a side here, with the size and dangerous nature of the opponent I really think this goes a few rounds and therefore the over 1½ has value at -160.