UFC Vegas 89: Amanda Ribas vs. Rose Namajunas kick off the main card with a fight in the featherweight division between Billy Quarantillo and Youssef Zalal. Quarantillo is coming off of a dominant victory in his last time out meanwhile, Zalal will be making his second stint in the UFC on short notice after securing three wins in a row. With that said, check out our UFC odds series for our Quarantillo-Zalal prediction and pick.

Billy Quarantillo (18-5) was originally scheduled to face off against Gabriel Miranda but Miranda withdrew from the fight. Now, he will have to take on former UFC featherweight will be making his second UFC debut Youssef Zalal this weekend as he looks to extend his winning streak to two this weekend at UFC Vegas 89.

Youssef Zalal (13-5-1) left his first stint with the UFC with a 3-3-1 record losing three out of his last four before getting released. He has since gone 5-0 (3-0 MMA, 1-0 Boxing, 1-0 Kickboxing) as he made his way back to the big show. Now, Zalal has a chance to make a good second impression when he steps in on short notice to take on Billy Quarantillo at the UFC Apex.

Here are the UFC Odds, courtesy of BetOnline. 

UFC Vegas 89 Odds: Billy Quarantillo-Youssef Zalal Odds

Billy Quarantillo: -124

Youssef Zalal: +104

Over 2.5 rounds: -260

Under 2.5 rounds: +200

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Why Billy Quarantillo Will Win

Billy Quarantillo was originally set to square off against Gabriel Miranda but unfortunately, Miranda had to withdraw from the bout. Stepping in on short notice is a familiar face that hasn’t been seen in some time, Youssef Zalal. Quarantillo is got back into the win column after suffering his first knockout loss of his UFC career against Edson Barboza and is now looking to extend his winning streak to two this weekend.

Quarantillo is one of the tougher fights for anyone outside of the top-15 and the reason is that he is good everywhere and he has exceptional cardio that can drown even the best fighters. He was able to dominate Damon Jackson and finish both Alexander Hernandez and Gabriel Benitez in his last three wins. Also what Quarantillo does well is that he’s puts the pace and pressure on his opponents and just breaks them over time which is something he must do against someone like Zalal who will be looking to utilize his lateral movement to combat that forward pressure. As long as Quarantillo can cut off the cage and mix in his strikes with his grappling he can keep his winning ways going this weekend.

Why Youssef Zalal Will Win

Youssef Zalal had a rough guy during his first stint with the UFC. They pit him against some of the top prospects in the featherweight division like the now-current featherweight champion Ilia Topuria and Sean Woodson just to name a couple. Now, after going 3-0 he gets his second shot on the big show when he takes on Billy Quarantillo this weekend at UFC Vegas 89.

While this may be Zalal’s second stint with the company, he has certainly shown that he belonged in there against the competition he was fighting. He was one of the few to go the distance with the featherweight champion and he lost a razor-close decision that many believe he won against Sean Woodson and then fought to a draw against Da’Mon Blackshear. Zalal does a very good job at utilizing his movement to keep away from the power shots of his opponents and then mixes in the takedowns when you least expect it which seems to be the avenue to victory in this matchup. As long as he can mix things up and not let Quarantillo just march forward he can get himself back into the win column in the UFC.

Final Billy Quarantillo-Youssef Zalal Prediction & Pick

This is going to be a very interesting fight in the featherweight division. Billy Quarantillo is a fighter that will always be in an exciting fight while Zalal sometimes puts on technical but not very fan-friendly performances. Quarantillo’s pace and pressure is something that can’t be ignored but Zalal is something that works well under that pressure. Ultimately, Quarantillo will attempt what he does best and that is to march forward looking to land heavy strikes and use his grappling to wear out Zalal but Quarantillo will find it hard to do that with Zalal utilizing his footwork to keep his back off the cage and just potshotting and mixing in the takedowns to steal this one on the judge’s scorecards to get him on the right track in his second stint in the UFC.

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Final Billy Quarantillo-Youssef Zalal Prediction & Pick: Youssef Zalal (+104), Over 2.5 Rounds (-260)