Kamaru Usman, the UFC welterweight king, will try to make history in Salt Lake City on Saturday when he defends his welterweight title against Leon Edwards.
Usman is trying to set Anderson Silva’s record of 16 consecutive wins in the octagon. This main event is a rematch seven years after he defeated Usman Edwards by unanimous decision on December 19, 2015.
SI MMA: Othman came out to a record tie
Nigerian Nightmare (-350) enters his sixth title defense as a big favorite over Edwards (+275) in SI Sportsbook.
Here are our staff’s best bets at UFC 278.
Date: Saturday 20 August 2022
Site: Vivant Arena | Salt Lake City, Utah
Early Prelims 6pm ET
Daniel da Silva (+140) vs Victor Altamirano (-167)
Urquilling (-143) vs. Guy Perrin (+125)
Amir El Bazi (-500) vs. Francisco Figueiredo (+375)
AJ Fletcher (-163) vs. Angie Llosa (+138)
Prelims 8pm ET
Shawn Woodson (-350) vs. Luis Saldana (+275)
Leonardo Santos (+225) vs. Jared Gordon (-275)
Marcin Tibora (+310) vs. Alexander Romanov (-400)
Main card 10PM ET
Tyson Pedro (-800) vs. Harry Hansucker (+550)
Wu Yan’an (+105) vs. Lucy Podilova (-125)
Jose Aldo (+110) vs. Merab Dvalishvili (-133)
Paulo Costa (-350) vs Luke Rockhold (+275)
Camaro Usman (-350) vs. Leon Edwards (+275)
Robin Lundberg from SI.com:
Kamaru Usman is a huge favorite here, and for good reason. Not only has Usman been one of the best fighters in the UFC overall, he has defeated Edwards by unanimous decision in the past. Of course, a lot has changed since then but Usman has only improved. Betting on Kamaru doesn’t pay much, so some might swoop in with a big surprise. But the safest play is probably Osman in a distant fight.
Bet: Kamaru Usman via DEC (+110)
Julian Pinto from SI Video:
Kamaru Usman retained his title by decision. I think the fight will be mostly on foot at the start of the fight and Leon Edwards will have the upper hand in terms of hitting. Trevor Whitman and Henry Hooft have done a good job improving Usman’s hits, and I don’t think he’s good enough against Edwards, whose bread and butter is Muay Thai. This will force Usman to take advantage of his wrestling and I think you will see Usman bring Edwards back to the cage and bring him down. I don’t think Edward can do enough to get himself out of those situations and this is where I think Usman will win the fight.
Bet: Kamaru Usman via DEC (-110)
Justin Barrasso from SI MMA:
Kamaru Usman’s record-setting pace won’t stop on Saturday at UFC 278. Leon Edwards is a very tough match, but Usman is a better wrestler. This advantage should be the difference, as the hero retains – most likely – a unanimous decision.
Bet: Kamaru Usman via DEC (-110)
Doug Vasquez from SI Video:
This card’s co-main event should produce some pure violence when Paulo Costa competes against former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. Once a certain hope to be a UFC champion one day, Costa has struggled since Israel Adesanya’s title fight in September 2020, losing in the second round. This was followed by a unanimous loss decision against Martin Vittori last October. I think this fight goes very differently, as Rockhold hasn’t fought since 2019 and lost his last two battles. Costa’s strength will be too much for Rockhold to bear, and this fight ends with Rockhold falling asleep.
Bet: Paulo Costa via KO (-185)
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