Zuffa Boxing 08 -- Edwin de los Santos vs. Jose Valenzuela: Start time and predictions for lightweight fight

Zuffa Boxing 08 goes down on Sunday from The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, and the fight card promises action. In the main event, Edwin De Los Santos clashes with Jose Valenzuela in a lightweight showdown.

>The fight between De Los Santos and Valenzuela is a rematch of a 2022 bout that saw De Los Santos score a third-round knockout. Despite the quick end to the first meeting, the bout was a firefight that saw both men hit the canvas as they exchanged heavy punches from the opening bell.

>De Los Santos built on that success, taking a decision over Joseph Adorno, to secure the biggest fight of his career, a November 2023 bout with Shakur Stevenson.

>The fight between De Los Santos and Stevenson was a miserable affair, with De Los Santos landing just 14 power shots to 19 from Stevenson as Stevenson edged out a narrow decision victory.

>After two years out of action, De Los Santos returned to the ring this past November, scoring a first-round knockout of Eliot Chavez to set up his Zuffa Boxing debut.

>After his loss to De Los Santos, Valenzuela dropped a highly controversial decision to Chris Colbert before knocking Colbert out in an immediate rematch.

>Valenzuela then picked up the biggest win of his career, edging out a split decision over Isaac "Pitbull" Cruz. Much like De Los Santos saw his momentum stalled out by Stevenson, Valenzuela's win over Cruz was followed up by losing a near shutout on the scorecards to Gary Antuanne Russell.

>After picking up a bounce-back win in his Zuffa Boxing debut, Valenzuela is now ready to look for revenge against De Los Santos.

>Let's take a closer look at the complete fight card for Sunday in Las Vegas with the latest odds from DraftKings before getting to a prediction and expert pick on the main event below.

>The result of the first meeting between De Los Santos and Valenzuela should not be seen as predictive. Both men landed big shots that night, it's just that De Los Santos had Valenzuela hurt more frequently and was able to pour it on for a finish. That said, Valenzuela is tough as nails and can take a shot, so another knockout isn't guaranteed, even if De Los Santos can land clean shots again.

>Where De Los Santos has the edge is in technique, as Valenzuela can sometimes fight a bit too wide open and De Los Santos' ability to land clean counters is a strong advantage in this fight. The odds tell the story here; this is either man's fight, which likely means it comes down to who can grab control of the fight early and ride that momentum. I'll shade things slightly in Valenzuela's favor since De Los Santos has less than one round of ring time since November 2023. Pick: Jose Valenzuela via UD