So, last month, one of the great champions of the sport, Amanda Nunes, reclaimed her belt while solidifying herself as a legend. She also proved the loss to Julianna Pena that precipitated the rematch was nothing more than a one-off. This Saturday evening, there’s another rematch, Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards for the welterweight crown headlining UFC 278 in Salt Lake City.
Both are on impressive winning streaks. Usman has won 19 bouts in a row, including five defenses of the title he won in 2019. Edwards is on a nine-fight streak, his last loss coming in 2015, against Usman.
It’s been awhile since these two met in the octagon, and both have changed a lot. However, you can be sure that the fight from back in 2015 is at the forefront of both of their minds.
Usman is the prohibitive favorite, priced at -400, according to MMA odds.
UFC 278 Main Fight Card Odds by BetUs
Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards – Welterweight Title Bout
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Usman | -400 |
| Edwards | +300 |
Kamaru Usman says that he’s “lapping” the other fighters in his weight class. He’s not wrong. nor is it really bragging, since it so clearly is true. See those 19 straight wins and five title defenses-twice against Colby Covington, twice against Jorge Masvidal, once against Gilbert Burns-and no one is even close to him.
Leon Edwards has been quite good, and he won his ninth straight fight by beating one of the favorites in the sport, Nate Diaz. That was more than a year ago, however, and you have to wonder if this rematch with Usman is coming a bit too late now.
Usman is the deserving, heavy favorite. All of the smart money is going his way. The 35-year-old is the most dominating fighter in his class, and it there’s going to be a knockout, the stats favor Usman to do that, too.
Paulo Costa vs. Luke Rockhold – Middleweight Bout
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Costa | -270 |
| Rockhold | +210 |
Luke Rockhold is the story here, even though he’s the 2-1 underdog. He is returning to the middleweight class after a brief (and unsuccessful attempt) at light heavyweight. He did fight at that weight in 2019, getting knocked out cold by Jan Blachowicz.
This will be just the fifth fight for Rockhold since 2016, and he gets a very good Paulo Costa, who at one point won 13 fights in a row.
Jose Aldo vs. Merab Dvalishvili – Bantamweight Bout
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Aldo | EV |
| Dvalishvili | -130 |
Jose Aldo is a former featherweight champion who’s looking to climb the rankings at the bantamweight class. Aldo has won three straight fights, and is equally matched against Merab Dvalishvili and his seven-match win streak.
Jose Aldo has a 57% knockout rate, compared to 21% rate of Dvalishvili. Aldo has the longer reach.
Marcin Tybura (+350) vs. Alexandr Romanov (-500) – Heavyweight Bout
Marcin Tybura is the 11th-ranked heavyweight in the UFC, while Alexandr Romanov is No. 13 in that category. Clearly, the actual rankings have very little in common with which direction this fight is expected to go.
As per MMA odds, this is the longest (+320) price Tybura has ever been in his career, and no doubt it’s related to his last fight, a loss to Alexander Vokov. That ended his five-match winning streak, and dropped his record to 22-7. Romanov is 16-0 with six knockouts.
Tyson Pedro vs. Harry Hunsucker – Light Heavyweight Bout
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Pedro | -800 |
| Hunsucker | +550 |
Harry Hunsucker is the bigger of these two fighters, having dropped down to light heavyweight for this bout, though still outweighing Tyson Pedro by 30 pounds. Hunsucker is the longshot in this one, as he’s looking for his first UFC win after two promotional appearances that were losing efforts.
Pedro hasn’t fought since 2019, beating Ike Villanueva back then. Expectations here have him cruising to an easy win in this fight.
Leonardo Santos vs. Jared Gordon – Lightweight
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Santos | +210 |
| Gordon | -270 |
Wu Yanan vs. Lucie Pudilova – Women’s Bantamweight
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Yanan | +110 |
| Pudilova | -140 |
Sean Woodson vs. Luis Saldana – Featherweight
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Woodson | -350 |
| Saldana | +250 |
Early Prelims
AJ Fletcher vs. Ange Loosa – Welterweight
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Fletcher | -155 |
| Loosa | +125 |
Amir Albazi vs. Francisco Figueiredo – Flyweight
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Albazi | -400 |
| Figueiredo | +300 |
Airiqileng vs. Jay Perrin – Bantamweight
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Airiqileng | -165 |
| Perrin | +135 |
