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UFC Vegas 118 Betting Picks: Three Fights to Target on Saturday Night
With just eight days to go before the highly anticipated night where they take over the White House, the UFC returns to its Las Vegas home at the Meta Apex for UFC Vegas 118.
The main event will be a welterweight battle that sees former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad return to the Octagon to take on the rising Gabriel Bonfim.
Muhammad went on an 11-fight unbeaten streak between 2019 and 2024, culminating in his win over Leon Edwards to capture the UFC welterweight title at UFC 304. Muhammad, however, dropped the belt in his first defense to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315. He enters tonight’s fight off a loss to Ian Machado Garry at UFC Qatar in November.
Bonfim is 6-1 in the UFC since winning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022. Bonfim has won four straight and two performance bonuses, as well as a Fight of the Night bonus in his loss to Nicolas Dalby. Bonfim enters tonight off a finish of Randy Brown at UFC Vegas 111 this past November.
The co-main event will be a middleweight matchup between Brendan Allen and Edmen Shahbazyan. Allen has won two straight and nine of his past 11 fights, most recently finishing Reinier de Ridder on short notice in the main event of October’s UFC Vancouver. Shahbazyan, meanwhile, had a career rebound in 2025, winning three fights, most recently knocking out Andre Muniz at UFC 320.
The rest of the main card will feature Fares Ziam vs. Tom Nolan, Bryce Mitchell vs. Santiago Luna, and Iwo Baraniewski vs. Junior Tafa.
BRENDAN ALLEN VS EDMEN SHAHBAZYAN
While it’s understandable that Shahbazyan is on a winning streak, this is not the same “Golden Boy” that the UFC had as an unbeaten prospect in 2019. Allen is one of the more talented names in the 185-pound division and has stacked up a solid resume since arriving in the UFC in 2019. After taking out Reinier de Ridder on short notice as he did, you could have assumed he’d be in talks for a middleweight title shot, or at least getting a contender’s bout against someone like Dricus Du Plessis. Instead, he faces an unranked fighter who started 2025 at risk of being cut.
Shahbazyan needs to establish control early. He needs to come out bringing pressure right away, and he needs to show solid takedown defense. If he can overwhelm Allen early, he gives him a better shot at getting his hand raised. If not, it’s going to be big trouble – and it might be hard for him to last five rounds with Allen.
BET: Brendan Allen to win (Moneyline) (DraftKings, FanDuel, & Caesars: -180)
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FARES ZIAM VS TOM NOLAN
After a 2-2 start to his UFC stint, Fares Ziam is on a solid six-fight win streak and slowly developing into a well-rounded fighter. Tom Nolan is on a four-fight win streak and has a big opportunity in front of him to make some noise at lightweight.
This fight will come down to whether Nolan can use his size and press his way inside, or if Ziam can keep distance and fight a well-rounded battle from the outside. Ziam’s opponent history and longer win streak should give him the upper hand here.
BET: Fares Ziam to win via KO/TKO OR decision (FanDuel: -180)
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IWO BARANIEWSKI VS JUNIOR TAFA
Billy Elekana was supposed to be in this fight instead of Junior Tafa, who is normally a heavyweight. It won’t make a difference; someone’s going to sleep in this fight.
Baraniewski is 8-0 in professional MMA, all first-round finishes and nothing has gone past 90 seconds since his appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series. Tafa has struggled in his UFC tenure, but he just knocked off Kevin Christian at UFC Perth last month. Both men have one-punch power that can change a fight in an instant. Baraniewski loves to make things short and sweet; however, the other key is his judo and jiu-jitsu background. For a kickboxer like Tafa, that could be problematic even if he tries to get inside and land that one punch.
BET: Baraniewski via KO/TKO in Round 1 (FanDuel: +140)
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Sports
Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s 2-run homer in 9th lifts Yankees past Nationals
Jul 10, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Ryan Weathers (40) throws to the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a two-run ninth-inning homer and the New York Yankees rallied past the Nationals 5-3 in Washington on Friday night.
With New York trailing 3-2, Jasson Dominguez singled with one out against Matt Krook (0-1) and Chisholm homered into the second deck in right, his 13th of the season. Austin Wells provided some insurance when he homered off Justin Lawrence with two outs.
Keibert Ruiz and James Wood hit back-to-back solo home runs in the seventh to give Washington a 3-2 lead.
Ben Rice hit his third homer in two games for New York and Dominguez also homered.
David Bednar (3-3) pitched the final two innings for the win.
Wood finished a triple short of the cycle and scored twice.
The start of the game was delayed two hours by rain, and Rice gave the Yankees a quick 1-0 lead when he lined a 2-2 pitch the opposite way for a solo homer in the first. One out later, Paul Goldschmidt snapped an 0-for-34 skid with a single and Cody Bellinger singled, but Dominguez struck out.
Washington tied it in the third. Wood led off with a double, went to third on Curtis Mead’s single and scored when Dylan Crews grounded into a double play.
Bellinger singled with one out in the New York fourth. He was caught stealing just before Dominguez homered to right center to make it 2-1.
CJ Abrams doubled with one out in the Washington sixth. Jacob Young singled to left, but Abrams fell rounding third and had to stay there. Fernando Cruz replaced Weathers and Daylen Lile, pinch hitting for Andres Chaparro, struck out. Jorbit Vivas pinch hit for Nasim Nunez and struck out.
Yankees starter Ryan Weathers pitched 5 1/3 innings and gave up a run on six hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
Nationals opener Carson Palmquist allowed a run on three hits over three innings, and bulk reliever Zack Littell allowed a run on five hits over four innings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Nneka Ogwumike's big night lifts Sparks over Sky
Jul 10, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike (30) looks to pass against Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud (9) during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images Nneka Ogwumike scored a season-high 25 points and collected 12 rebounds and five assists to lead the Los Angeles Sparks to a 102-87 victory over the visiting Chicago Sky on Friday night.
All three of Ogwumike’s 3-pointers came in the fourth quarter as Los Angeles recorded its second straight victory. The Sparks made 11 of 15 shots in the final quarter, including 4 of 5 from behind the arc.
Dearica Hamby added 17 points and seven rebounds, Ariel Atkins had 17 points and six assists and Rae Burrell made four 3-pointers while also scoring 17 for the Sparks (10-11).
Erica Wheeler had 15 points and eight assists for Los Angeles, which outscored the Sky 29-17 in the fourth quarter.
Kamilla Cardoso (eight rebounds), Sydney Taylor and reserve Gabriela Jaquez scored 15 points apiece for Chicago (7-15).
Azura Stevens registered 10 points and eight rebounds and backup Jacy Sheldon added 10 points for the Sky.
Skylar Diggins (right knee) missed her second straight game for the Sky, who connected on 43.7% of their attempts, including a lowly 6 of 25 from behind the arc.
Los Angeles made 51.3% of its shots and hit 14 of 31 from 3-point range while continuing to play without Kelsey Plum (lower left leg).
Ogwumike buried a 3-pointer to give Los Angeles an 80-72 lead with 7:46 left in the contest. Burrell hit a 3-pointer 45 seconds later and the Sparks led by nine.
A short time later, Ogwumike canned another 3-pointer and Hamby converted a layup as Los Angeles led 90-80 with 4:32 remaining.
Chicago crept within six before Burrell scored on a layup and Ogwumike sank another trey to make it 95-84 lead with 2:29 left as the Sparks closed it out.
Chicago trailed by five at halftime before starting the third quarter with a 13-5 run. A three-point play by Cardoso and a trey by Taylor capped it to give the Sky a 61-58 lead.
Los Angeles answered with an 11-3 burst. Emma Cannon sank a 3-pointer and Ogwumike made two free throws to end it as the Sparks took a 69-64 lead with 3:10 left.
Cannon scored another basket with just under a minute left as the Sparks led 73-70 entering the fourth quarter.
Wheeler scored 15 points in the first half as the Sparks held a 53-48 advantage. Sheldon scored 10 in the half for Chicago.
–Field Level Media
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Kazuma Okamoto's 3-run homer helps Blue Jays power past Padres
Jul 10, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) hits an RBI single during the fifth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images Kazuma Okamoto belted a historic three-run homer Friday night during a four-run fifth inning as the visiting Toronto Blue Jays stopped the San Diego Padres 5-2.
Okamoto’s 22nd homer of the year came off reliever Jhony Brito, who fired a sinker down and in that was golfed an estimated 377 feet to the left field seats. It scored Ernie Clement and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and tied Shohei Ohtani’s Japanese major league rookie record.
Mason Fluharty (4-0) got the win after striking out Gavin Sheets to end the bottom of the fifth. Four other relievers finished up, with Louis Varland pitching the ninth to garner his 19th save in as many chances despite allowing a two-out RBI single to Jackson Merrill.
JP Sears (2-2) absorbed the loss, yielding six hits and three runs over 4 1/3 innings while walking one and fanning three. Toronto starter Shane Bieber fell an out shy of qualifying for the win, getting hooked after 4 2/3 innings and 97 pitches. He permitted six hits and two runs with three walks and four strikeouts.
Sears entered the fifth with a 2-1 lead but found trouble via Myles Straw’s bunt single and Clement’s one-out single that pushed Straw to third. Brito relieved but Guerrero legged out an infield hit, setting the stage for Okamoto’s blast.
The long ball put San Diego up 2-0 after an inning. Bieber walked Merrill with one out and then fired a 2-0 fastball to Xander Bogaerts, who slugged it an estimated 401 feet to left-center for his ninth homer of the year.
Sears kept Toronto off the board until the fourth. He walked Guerrero to start the inning and then allowed a one-out single to George Springer. Alejandro Kirk cashed in Guerrero with an RBI double to center.
Meanwhile, the Padres missed on a chance to add on to the lead in their half of the fourth. Miguel Andujar walked with one out and Rodolfo Duran singled with two outs but Bieber fanned Fernando Tatis Jr.
–Field Level Media
