Prime Picks: UFC Vegas 115 ‘Moicano vs. Duncan’

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday will plow ahead with its breakneck schedule when it stays close to home at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, where UFC Fight Night 272 calls upon two action-minded lightweights to carry the freight. The five-round main event pits Renato Carneiro against American Top Team stablemate Chris Duncan at 155 pounds. Strap in, as we examine the card from a bettor’s perspective and do all we can to get the most bang for our buck in the latest installment of Prime Picks: ’DOG WILL HUNT Renato Carneiro (+136) Perhaps familiarity does breed contempt.

Carneiro finds himself in desperate need of a victory as he approaches a potential 25-minute battle with his teammate. The Brazilian has suffered back-to-back defeats for just the second time in his 28-fight career, albeit to pound-for-pound ace Islam Makhachev and divisional mainstay Beneil Dariush . Carneiro has never lost three fights in a row.

His recent missteps aside, no real evidence suggest he has diminished in terms in potency. This is the same man who battered Benoit St. Denis and Jalin Turner to second-round stoppages less than two years ago.

While Duncan (-162) does enter the cage on the strength of a four-fight winning streak, he was fortunate to escape his most recent outing unscathed, as he rallied to submit the dangerous-but-flawed Terrance McKinney with an anaconda choke at UFC 323 in December. Carneiro should have the edge in experience, speed and defensive know-how, all of which combine to make him a live underdog at the top of the ticket. STRAIGHT-UP PASS Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev (-1650) No one doubts Yakhyaev’s capabilities, and many see him as the Next Big Thing in the relatively shallow light heavyweight division.