The highly anticipated event of the year Noche UFC 306 live at the Las Vegas Sphere is finally among us!

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - SEPTEMBER 12: (L-R) Opponents Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes of Brazil face off during the UFC 306 at Riyadh Season Noche UFC press conference at Sphere on September 12, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

This fight card will have excitement throughout the entire night and we are going to talk about the featured bout on the main card between Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes.

These two were supposed to face off against one another at UFC 303 but Ortega wasn’t cleared to fight moments the event. Now they are finally ready to lock in this weekend, so lets’ take a look at our Ortega-Lopes prediction and pick.

Noche UFC 306: Brian Ortega Betting Predictions September 14th

Brian Ortega (16-3) the former two-time UFC featherweight title challenger attempted to step up on short notice to save the day at UFC 303 against Diego Lopes but unfortunately couldn't make it to the fight. However, he looks like he is ready to go and put on a show for the fans and finally get his chance to fight the surging Brazilian this weekend at Noche UFC.

• Brian Ortega is coming off a dominant performance over Yair Rodriguez who he submitted in the third round.
• Ortega is now 8-3-0, 1 NC in his UFC but is 1-2 over his last three fights.
• Of his 8 UFC wins, 7 of them have come inside the distance with 3 coming by KO/TKO and 4 by submission.

Brian Ortega is a high-level Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and came into the UFC primarily as a grappler but quickly improved his striking fight by fight in the UFC. He is now a complete fighter that can take this fight no matter where it goes.

This will be Ortega's first fight against a fighter who's outside of the top 5 in the featherweight rankings in a while. However, Lopes has been surging looking like a legitimate title threat making him no slouch in this fight.

As for this matchup, these two's grappling is likely going to cancel itself out and we see a striking match where we could see Ortega excel in this fight. His distance management on the feet was thoroughly impressive against a striker like Yair Rodriguez until he was able to mix in the takedowns.

That's going to be key in this fight against an aggressive striker like Lopes. If Ortega can make Lopes make mistakes on the feet, Ortega can make him pay potentially rocking Lopes and then jumping on him to get the finish showing that he is still one of the best featherweights in the UFC.

Noche UFC 306: Diego Lopes Betting Predictions September 14th

Diego Lopes was getting ready for his first top-5 opponent at UFC 303 until Brian Ortega had to pull from the fight by not medically fit to compete. He then went and accepted a fight against Dan Ige on 6 hours notice at 165 lbs who he beat via unanimous decision in a very tough grueling fight.

• Diego Lopes is now 4-1 in his UFC career with 3 of those wins coming by finish.
• Of Lopes' 25 wins, 22 have come inside the distance which is split between 10 KO/TKO and 12 submissions.

Lopes has been looking like a legitimate title threat ever since stepping up to face Movsar Evloev on short notice at UFC 268. Since taking that loss, Lopes went on to finish each of his next three opponents finishing them all in the first round, and then had his hardest test to date against Ige in which he passed with flying colors.

Now, Lopes gets to show the UFC and the fans that he should be in the title mix when he takes on former two-time title challenger Brian Ortega.

While these two are great Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners which should normally cancel each other the way Lopes fights he doesn't care how great someone's Jiu-Jitsu is because he thinks his is better and so far his has always been better.

We should see a ton of striking between these two but Lopes most certainly will mix in the grappling and from there we should see some exciting scrambles between these two.

However on the feet, Lopes undoubtedly is the more aggressive striker who packs more power in his strikes and if you mix that with his grappling this could be a dangerous proposition for Ortega.

If Lopes can avoid gassing or getting caught on the feet or on the mat he should walk away with the biggest win of his career and put his name in the mix for a potential title shot.

NOCHE UFC 306: BRIAN ORTEGA vs DIEGO LOPES FANDUEL ODDS FOR SEPTEMBER 14TH

MONEY LINE

• BRIAN ORTEGA: +146
• DIEGO LOPES: -180

PROPS

• BRIAN ORTEGA BY POINTS: +370
• BRIAN ORTEGA BY SUBMISSION: +800
• BRIAN ORTEGA BY KNOCKOUT/TKO: +650
• DIEGO LOPES BY POINTS: +230
• DIEGO LOPES BY KNOCKOUT/TKO: +310
• DIEGO LOPES BY SUBMISSION: +600

OVER/UNDER (ROUNDS TOTAL)

• OVER 2.5 ROUNDS (-128)
• UNDER 2.5 ROUNDS (+100)

BEST NOCHE UFC 306 ODDS FOR BRIAN ORTEGA vs DIEGO LOPES

• Brian Ortega finally returns to the Octagon and this time he's the betting underdog in this matchup. comes into his first-ever title fight as the slight underdog. BetMGM Sportsbook has the best odds for Ortega at (+165)

• The surging Brazilian Diego Lopes comes into his 6th UFC fight as the betting favorite. Bet365 Sportsbook comes in with the best odds at (-175)

• FanDuel Sportsbook has the best odds when it comes to the over/under on the total rounds, which is set at 2.5 Rounds (-128) for the over, and (+100) for the under

FINAL ORTEGA-LOPES PICK & PREDICTION

We finally get to see these two featherweights square off in the Octagon, something we've been waiting months for.

Ultimately, we can expect the toughest fight of Lopes' career on Saturday but it's not one he will lose as Lopes will come out there putting it on Ortega early but it will be up to Lopes to stay composed and not gas himself out, and if he's able to do that he should outwork Ortega throughout the fight coming away with his 5th victory inside the Octagon and a potential title shot looming.

FINAL ORTEGA-LOPES PICK & PREDICTION: DIEGO LOPES (-146)