UFC Vegas 49 seems like a dismal card for betting and I think there are much better spots on the smaller shows this weekend.

Nevertheless, here are my main card MMA predictions.

Armen Petrosyan vs. Gregory Rodrigues

Coming from a Muay Thai background, Armen Petrosyan has fast hands, devastating body kicks and a dangerous clinch game.

Grappling looks like his weakness, although he is taking steps to improve this by training in Dagestan. I believe he did the first half of his camp there before finishing things off at American Top Team.

While Petrosyan’s takedown defense is sub-par, he is adept at scrambling back to his feet.

The Armenian is vulnerable to having his back taken, and this is the biggest risk against a strong wrestler/grappler in Gregory Rodrigues.

On the feet, Rodrigues is still a work in progress. He puts together combinations well and has natural power, but is very rigid and hittable.

He is a heavily-muscled dude with a significant cut to middleweight, so his cardio bears watching. It would be wise for him to get the fight to the floor and hunt for a submission as fast as possible.

Rodrigues has good takedowns in open space as well as in the clinch. He’s a slick transitional grappler and will look to manoeuvre his way to a dominant position against Petrosyan.

I think a rear-naked choke finish is possible for the Brazilian early in the fight.

However, if Rodrigues wrestles and doesn’t get any reward for it, I believe he will slow down and get picked apart by the more sophisticated striker. Body kicks from the Armenian could expedite a cardio collapse from Rodrigues.

I can see this going either way, but I’m picking Armen Petrosyan to withstand the early grappling onslaught and find the knockout. I think there was solid value on him around the +165 mark.

Arman Tsarukyan vs. Joel Alvarez

Standing 6’3 with a 77-inch reach, Joel Alvarez has a preposterous frame for a lightweight athlete. In fact, he missed weight for his last two fights and it’s inevitable he will move up to welterweight in the near future.

When he first joined the UFC, I didn’t think much of him. He’d spam kicks from the outside and then look for guard submissions when opponents wrestled him to the mat.

To his credit, he seems to be making improvements, particularly with his striking. He utilized all eight limbs to batter Thiago Moises into a bloody pulp and I believe he’ll have the striking edge in this contest.

The thing is, he won’t be able to stop the takedown and I don’t like his chances of submitting Arman Tsarukyan off his back.

Tsarukyan is a fantastic wrestler. He floats well on top and gives no room for opponents to breathe.

You need to be a top tier wrestler to stop Tsarukyan’s game, not an opportunistic guard player like Alvarez. Hilariously, Alvarez is so content to play off his back that he has 0% takedown defense in the UFC!

The Spaniard needs to strike with reckless abandon, because a standing TKO seems like his primary path to victory.

The bookmakers have Arman Tsarukyan lined at -220, and that feels about right to me.

Priscila Cachoeira vs. Yi Jeon Kim

Coming from an amateur boxing background, Yi Jeon Kim throws clean straight punches and will catch opponents as they close the distance on her.

Unfortunately, she is defensively void and does not manage range properly.

Despite a 10-inch reach advantage, Molly McCann was able to push forward and land on her repeatedly.

It wasn’t just the forward momentum that caused problems for Kim. McCann was able to feint, slip and counter effectively – which won’t be an issue here.

Priscila Cachoeira is also a pressure fighter, but an extremely crude one. She literally marches forward and swings like a meathead.

Nicknamed “Zombie Girl”, Cachoeira doesn’t bother with defense – she just relies on her toughness.

Cachoeira doesn’t have much of a ground game, but I don’t think Kim will capitalize on it (unless she’s learned some new tricks from John Wood over at Syndicate MMA).

I think we’re in for an ugly boxing match, with Yi Jeon Kim landing the cleaner blows over fifteen minutes.

Misha Cirkunov vs. Wellington Turman

Skill for skill, Misha Cirkunov is a high level mixed martial artist – he’s just a hard guy to trust.

He dropped to middleweight to rejuvenate his career, but looked slow-footed against the agile and unorthodox Krzysztof Jotko.

Stylistically, this looks like a much better match-up for him. I consider Cirkunov to be a better striker, grappler and athlete compared to Wellington Turman.

At only 25-years-of-age, Turman has plenty of room for improvement – particularly now he is training under legendary light heavyweight champion, Glover Teixiera.

Currently, I don’t rate him highly. His striking is awkward and unrefined, and while he’s reliable to grapple proactively, he often loses position when he’s on the mat.

I don’t think he’ll be able to hit takedowns on Cirkunov, but will surely try to test his chin.

I’m not confident by any means, but I have to side with Misha Cirkunov in a closely contested fight.

Islam Makhachev vs. Bobby Green

I really, really want to throw half a unit on Bobby Green at +550.

The guy is a certified badass and just turned out the best performance of his career at 35-years-of-age. It’s great to see him get the respect he deserves with this main event slot.

Even if he wasn’t on short notice, this would be a supremely tough task.

Green has slick boxing, good defensive wrestling and can scramble his way out of most situations – but I think this is going to be a frustrating evening for him.

Islam Makachev is one of the best wrestlers in the sport, with well-timed entries and a suffocating top game.

Unlike his mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev isn’t known for his explosive ground strikes. Instead, he methodically advances positions until submission opportunities reveal themselves.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Green does a good job at defending the first few shots, but I expect him to wilt eventually – especially as the cardio discrepancy manifests in the later rounds.

Green’s most likely path to victory would be to catch Makachev on the chin and put him out, but that doesn’t seem probable.

The Dagestani is no schmuck on the feet.

Makhachev is defensively sound, throws hard kicks from the southpaw stance and is an adept counter-striker. He is not going to stand in the pocket and throw down with Green (much to the displeasure of us fans watching at home).

I’m picking Islam Makhachev to win by submission in the second half of the fight.