Sportsbooks for US players favor Charles Byrd over Maki Pitolo in their match at UFC 250 on June 6, 2020, at the UFC APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Both fighters were successful in Dana White’s Contender Series, but have struggled since joining the UFC. Maki Pitolo lost his Octagon debut to Callan Potter by decision in October of last year. Meanwhile, Byrd is 1-2 in the octagon and is coming off of back-to-back TKO losses to Edmen Shahbazyan and Darren Stewart.
MyBookie.ag Betting Lines:
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Maki Pitolo | +150 |
| Charles Byrd | -190 |
Betting Maki Pitolo Analysis and Stats
Maki will be the underdog according to the best online sportsbooks. Pitolo will be in his second UFC match. He is coming off a loss by unanimous decision loss to Callan Potter at UFC 243 last October. He’s 12-5 in his MMA career, and has nine wins by stoppage. The Hawai’ian might be more comfortable with the weight since he normally fights at 170, but he isn’t giving any reach or height advantage to his opponent. Pitolo made his promotional debut in October 2019 at UFC 243 at welterweight. A slight favorite across the best sportsbooks for US players, Pitolo was upset by home country boy Callan Potter by unanimous decision. In February, Pitolo was scheduled for his second UFC fight against Takashi Sato. However, Pitolo was a little under the weather as a result of his weight cut and the fight was scratched.
Having competed at 170 lb. for most of his career, he will be fifteen pounds heavier for this fight. Standing at 5’9″, it would seem that Pitolo will be a stronger, more powerful fighter. He already has six of twelve wins by way of KO/TKO (and three wins by submission for a finishing rate of 75% for his wins), but he will also be facing bigger fighters at his new class. Tends to sacrifice defense for aggression, and both of his losses by KO/TKO were a result of leaving his chin exposed while attacking. He will need to do his damndest to stay vertical in this fight, since his opponent is a much better grappler.
Betting Charles Byrd Analysis and Stats
Bye Bye Byrdie will be the favorite at sportsbooks for US players. Byrd is 10-6 in his MMA career, but only 1-2 since joining the UFC in March of 2018. He is coming off two losses in a row. With this bout, he will move down to 170 lbs. from 185. He is hoping to add one more to his eight career stoppages at this lighter division. He will most likely look to fight standing up, as he averages just 1.26 takedowns per 15 minutes in the octagon. Byrd will be looking to end a two-fight losing streak. After winning his UFC debut against John Phillips in March 2018, Byrd was finished with strikes in consecutive fights against Darren Stewart and Edmen Shahbazyan.
Byrd has a career record of 10-6 and half of his wins have come by submission. He can clinch harder than he can strike, and none of his three career wins by KO/TKO have taken place in the UFC. While his striking is decent, his power doesn’t pack that much of a punch. It may unwise to brawl with Pitolo. His best bet will be to look for takedowns. Once on the canvas, he should have a significant advantage and a strong chance to make Pitolo TapouT, which he has already done twice in his career. If he allows Pitolo to stay vertical, he will have the chance to finish the fight with the added weight behind his striking. Byrd is a quality grappler who needs to dictate where this fight goes. If it goes to the canvas, he will have a good chance to get an early finish bonus.
Our Pick:
Byrd’s punching power is nothing to write home about, but he is a competent boxer and will be less of a liability standing up than Pitolo on the ground. If his chin holds long enough, Byrd should be able to the takedown that gets him the submission win.
