Best Bets of the Weekend for All Sports | March 9-10

UFC 299 is Saturday in Miami and we’re giving you the best bet for the Main Event between Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera for the Bantamweight title. In golf and in tennis, it’s the unofficial fifth major for both, with the tennis tour out in Indian Wells while the golfers honor Arnold Palmer at Bay Hill.
 

Carlos Alcaraz Winner (+450) at FanDuel

Indian Wells is the unofficial fifth major in tennis with the sprawling tennis complex in the desert in California. The big news early in the week was Rafa Nadel was in, but then withdrew (Nadal is close to retiring).

Alcaraz was the It player on the Men’s tour last season, winning Wimbledon but has gotten off to a slow start in 2023. He’s 6-3 this season losing in the semis in Buenos Aires and he lost in the quarterfinals in the Australian Open to Alexander Zverev.

He’s the defending champion at Indian Wells and he beat Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev on his way to the title there. The draw sets up nicely for him to face Zverev in the quarters this year. He’s still only 20 and he’s still getting better. These are great odds for him to win it all.

Scottie Scheffler Top American (+450) at BetMGM

While Indian Hills is like an unofficial fifth major in tennis, the Arnold Palmer Invitational is sort of the same thing for golf. Arnold’s name still draws a big, talented international field and Bay Hill is a beast of a course, measuring almost 7,400 yards and is a par-72.

Entering the second round, Scheffler was tied for 20th and has some work to do to pass the other Americans ahead of him, and I’ll admit I almost went with Will Zalatoris here, but Scheffler knows this course better than anyone else.

Scheffler has placed in the top 10 in four of his five events this season. He was fourth at Bay Hill last year and won the tournament in 2022. He’s the most consistent American on tour.

Under 4.5 Rounds (+124) at DraftKings

This is the Main Event for UFC 299 in Miami as O’Malley (and his colorful hair) puts the Bantamweight title on the line against the only man to beat him in his career.

That fight came back at UFC 252, when Vera kicked O’Malley and stunned a nerve in his leg making him incapacitated. Vera pounced. The end. Of course, O’Malley says he wins the fight if his legs worked.

O’Malley is the big favorite to win the fight. He’s 17-1, while Vera is 23-8-1, with five wins in his last six. Instead of taking some bad odds, let’s look at the round total and there’s no way this fight goes long. O’Malley has never gone past three rounds in his career. Vera has gone to the fourth round in three of his last four fights, but both men will try to end this early.