UFC 287: Alex Pereira vs Israel Adesanya picks, predictions and best bets: Another wild fight for the middleweight title

Mar 7, 2020; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Israel Adesanya (red gloves) fights Yoel Romero (blue gloves) during UFC 248 at T-Mobile Arena.
Photo of Matthew Lowrimore

Matthew Lowrimore

UFC

Show Bio

Matthew has been with Pickswise for a while now, covering a wide variety of sports. His main passions are college football and UFC, and those are the sports he has covered the most. Matthew uses a variety of methods to handicap games, including stats, trends, injuries, and situational factors. His goal is to consistently give out winners and will put in the research to try and achieve this. For Matt Lowrimore media enquiries, please email contact@pickswise.com.
Read more about Matthew Lowrimore

UFC 287 takes place on Saturday at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. This card features a middleweight title fight between Alex Pereira vs Israel Adesanya as the Main Event. We are sharing our UFC 287 best bets here, but head over to our main UFC 287 predictions for picks on every Main Card and Preliminary Card fight. Let’s get into our best bets for Saturday’s card.

You can bet on UFC 287 at DraftKings Sportsbook, which has thousands of betting options available and a great new customer offer where you can bet $5 on any money line and get $150 in bonus bets if your team wins! Click here to sign up for DraftKings.

UFC 287 Main Card best bet

Alex Pereira vs Israel Adesanya: Fight to go the Distance – No (-135)

Despite the fact that Israel Adesanya lost his title in his previous fight, he is still the favorite to reclaim the middleweight belt. Just like in the last fight, a finish looks to be the most likely result. Adesanya has won 15 fights in his career by KO/TKO, while Alex Pereira has won 6 of his 7 fights by the same method. For that reason, backing the rematch to end inside the distance will be our best bet.

UFC 287 Preliminary Card best bets

Chris Curtis ML over Kelvin Gastelum (+110)

Chris Curtis comes into this fight with an MMA record of 30-9. He is 5-1 in the UFC, most recently beating Joaquin Buckley by KO/TKO back in December of 2022. Curtis is averaging 5.82 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 56%. He is absorbing 6.39 strikes and has a striking defense of 55%. He has yet to show any grappling ability, but does have a takedown defense of 100%.

Kelvin Gastelum is a small favorite in this fight, but his form makes backing him too much of a risk. He is 1-4 in his last 5 UFC fights, while Curtis is 4-1 in his last 5 UFC fights. Curtis has the superior striking and has perfectly defended takedowns, therefore backing the small upset by Curtis will be our best bet.

Need a new sportsbook? Check out SuperBook, which is the top-rated sportsbook in Vegas and has a great new customer offer where you can claim up to $250 as a sign-up bonus when you use promo code “Pickswise”! Click here to join SuperBook.

Joe Pyfer win by finish over Gerald Meerschaert (-130)

Joe Pyer comes into this fight with an MMA record of 10-2. He is 2-1 in the UFC, most recently beating Alen Amedovski by KO/TKO back in September of 2022. Pyfer is averaging 3.49 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 44%. He is absorbing 2.55 strikes and has a striking defense of 55%. His grappling is also solid, averaging 2.01 takedowns per every 15 minutes and 1.0 submission attempts during the same time period. His takedown accuracy is 100% and his takedown defense is 50%.

Pyfer is a large favorite in this fight, but Gerald Meerschaert’s submission ability is no joke considering he has 27 wins by this method in his career. Pyfer has only ever lost by submission once though, and has shown plenty of power with 4 KO/TKO wins in his last 5 fights. He has 9 wins by finish in his 10 career fights, therefore backing Pyfer to win by finish will be our play.

BetMGM is the king of online sportsbooks, and right now they have a great new customer promotion where you can get $1,000 paid back in bonus bets if you don’t win! Click this link to join BetMGM.

At Pickswise we provide free expert MMA picks and MMA Predictions for all of the top UFC Cards. Our UFC predictions and UFC picks include a pick and analysis for all of the Main Card and Preliminary Card fights.

Pickswise
*
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy