UFC Fight Night Best Bets: Hill vs. Roundtree, Blaydes vs. Kuniev Picks and Predictions

A full slate of intriguing bouts at UFC Fight Night offers plenty of betting value on Saturday, June 21st, with finishing potential looming large in each matchup. Let’s take a look at some top betting picks and predictions for UFC Fight Night Hill vs. Roundtree Jr.

Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizan Kuniev to not go the distance (-160)

Curtis Blaydes may be a wrestler at heart, having won an NJCAA national championship with Harper College in 2012. However, Blaydes has actually won 13 of his 18 professional MMA fights by TKO or knockout. Not only that, each of Blaydes’ last five fights has ended in a stoppage of some kind, whether he’s on the receiving or finishing end. Blaydes also hasn’t had a fight go beyond the second round since he beat Jairzinho Rozenstruik by unanimous decision at UFC 266 in September 2021.

Kuniev hasn’t exactly proven to be an endurance fighter either, but that’s largely because of his own finishing ability. Each of Kuniev’s last four wins on paper has come by stoppage, though he did have another win by unanimous decision over Renan Ferreira at PFL 2 in July 2023 that was vacated due to a failed drug test. Kuniev’s lone fight under the UFC banner ended in a victory via first-round stoppage against Hugo Cunha.

Khalil Rountree to win by KO/TKO or Disqualification (+115)

Both of these fighters have fallen victim to Alex Pereira within the last year and a half. Still, Rountree looked much, much better against the former middleweight champion in his title opportunity at UFC 307. In fact, before Rountree was sent to the canvas by Pereira in the fourth round, you could make a real case that he was leading that fight.

Before falling to Pereira on that fateful night last October, Rountree was on a five-fight winning streak and had won four of those bouts by knockout or technical knockout. Jamahal Hill, on the other hand, responded to his loss by first-round knockout to Pereira at UFC 300 by also getting knocked out by Jiri Prochazka at UFC 311 in January. Each of Hill’s three losses in the UFC has come by knockout, and it feels like the fourth is on the way Sunday.

Rafael Fiziev (+120) vs. Ignacio Bahamondes

If you were looking at the records and each fighter’s last three bouts alone, it would seem like Bahamondes is a no-brainer bet in this fight. Not so fast, however. Fiziev does enter on a three-fight losing streak, but that doesn’t tell the entire story, as he spent over a year and a half out of the octagon between his loss to Mateusz Gamrot in September 2023 and his loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 313. Two of Fiziev’s last three losses have come in classic bouts against the former UFC interim lightweight and BMF champion Gaethje, and Fiziev has garnered rave reviews from fans for his performance in each fight.

Ignacio Bahamondes is coming off a first-round stoppage against Jalin Turner on the same UFC 313 card that Fiziev also fought on in March. Having attended that card in person, I can attest that I’ve never seen a fighter enter as uninspired as Turner did, and it certainly won’t be adequate preparation for the punishment Fiziev is capable of inflicting.