James Purslove
Will DWCS Week Eight Punish Comfortable Favorites?
Five DWCS fights. Five contracts potentially sitting behind them. And several prices behaving as though the questions have already been answered. They haven’t.
Week 8 brings an undefeated LFA champion, a Senegalese wrestling convert, an elite kickboxer, a Peruvian Muay Thai finisher and a 6-foot-3 lightweight who has never won by decision.
Bookmaker Sportsbook‘s opening lines offer enough plus money to make it hard to resist.
My five picks: Camila Reynoso +340, Loai Abushaar +254, Luca Borando -129, Erick Visconde +103 and Adama Diop +286.
Reynoso Gets Four-Eighty-One Reasons to Swing
Aieza Bertolso is 7-0, owns the LFA strawweight title, and enters with the more polished professional résumé. -481 is still enormous.
Camila Reynoso is 9-1 and only 21. UFC’s profile describes her as a relentless pressure fighter, and Reynoso expects that pressure to lead to a first-round finish. That ambition could become recklessness against Bertolso’s technical aggression.
At +340, I’m buying the possibility anyway.
Pick: Camila Reynoso +340.
Abushaar Has Never Needed Scorecards
George Staines is the decorated prospect: 10-0, elite amateur pedigree, Next Generation Liverpool and Paddy Pimblett publicly backing his teammate.
Loai Abushaar presents the awkward part. He stands 6 feet 3 inches tall, is a lightweight, and has finished all seven professional victories, six in the opening round.
Staines describes himself as high-paced and dominant. Abushaar has built a career around making orderly fights disappear.
-340 asks Staines to make that volatility look routine.
No thanks.
Pick: Loai Abushaar +254.
Our MMA Betting Hub contains additional MMA guides and fight previews.
Borando Wants Escuza’s Best Weapon
Ian Escuza has finished all seven professional opponents. Five came by knockout, two by submission. His Muay Thai background is real, including an IFMA world championship.
Luca Borando is volunteering for the argument. UFC’s pre-fight profile says Borando respects Escuza’s striking credentials but intends to beat him at his own game.
That would sound unnecessarily adventurous without Borando’s own five-fight knockout streak. Escuza has never required judges. Borando has already experienced professional defeat and rebuilt beyond it.
At almost pick’em money, I prefer the fighter who’s already seen what happens when the script breaks.
Pick: Luca Borando -129.
Visconde Can Ask Bulaid Something Else
Standing with Ilias Bulaid for 15 minutes sounds like an unnecessarily complicated way to earn a UFC contract. The former elite kickboxer is 9-0 in MMA with six finishes.
Erick Visconde brings the alternative question. The LFA featherweight champion is 17-3, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and owns six submission victories alongside six knockouts. UFC reports that Visconde intends to push the pace and drag Bulaid into deeper water.
That is exactly where this matchup becomes interesting.
At +103, Visconde’s experience and grappling give me more than enough reason to oppose Bulaid’s striking premium.
Pick: Erick Visconde +103.
The MMA Betting Guide is another resource for MMA betting.
Diop Makes Minus-390 Look Nervous
Zaurbek Sabanov is 5-0 with four knockouts. He weighed 262.5 pounds Monday and has stopped his last four opponents.
Adama Diop weighed 261.5. This is not a smaller heavyweight being asked to survive the favorite’s physicality.
Diop abandoned Senegalese wrestling because combining it with MMA became impractical. Since committing fully, he has won heavyweight championships in Hexagone MMA and EFC.
Five of his six victories are knockouts. Sabanov may be the cleaner prospect.
-390 assumes he is already the solved one.
Against a 261-pound championship-level wrestler available at +286, I’ll make him prove it.
Pick: Adama Diop +286.
Betting Analysis
The prices create the DWCS card. Bertolso, Staines and Sabanov may all win. The opening lines demand considerably more certainty than their opponents’ records, finishing threats, and stylistic alternatives justify.
Best bet: Erick Visconde +103.
Long-shot lean: Adama Diop +286.
Ready to place your next wager? Check out the latest competitive odds, diverse market selections, and exclusive sign-up promotions available right now at Bookmaker Sportsbook.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and subject to change without notice.
Please gamble responsibly. Treat sports betting as entertainment, not a source of income or a way to recover financial losses. If you or someone you know needs support, visit our Responsible Gambling page for confidential help and recognized organizations available in your country.
Data Snapshot
| Fight | Records | Weight | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camila Reynoso vs Aieza Bertolso | 9-1 vs 7-0 | Strawweight | Reynoso |
| George Staines vs Loai Abushaar | 10-0 vs 7-1 | Lightweight | Abushaar |
| Luca Borando vs Ian Escuza | 9-1 vs 7-0 | Featherweight | Borando |
| Erick Visconde vs Ilias Bulaid | 17-3 vs 9-0 | Featherweight | Visconde |
| Zaurbek Sabanov vs Adama Diop | 5-0 vs 6-1 | Heavyweight | Diop |
Related articles
MMA Betting Guide: How to Bet on MMA and UFC Fights
Introduction MMA betting has rapidly evolved into one of the most active and unpredictable areas of sports wagering, fueled largely by the global rise of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the expansion of major combat sports markets worldwide. With weekly fight cards, international events, and constant movement across multiple weight divisions, MMA creates a betting […]
MMA / UFC Betting Hub
MMA Betting Beyond the Tale of the Tape MMA betting is built around uncertainty in its rawest form. A fighter can control a bout for two rounds before one defensive lapse changes everything. Styles clash, cardio fades, damage accumulates, and momentum can swing instantly inside the cage. In MMA, a fighter saying they feel “great” […]
