UFC Fight Night 271: Israel Adesanya vs. Joe Pyfer picks, predictions and best bets: Adesanya or Pyfer Find a Finish

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

Matthew Lowrimore

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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.

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UFC best bet: Israel Adesanya vs. Joe Pyfer – Fight to go the Distance – No (-160)

Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to -160.

The Main Event at UFC Fight Night 271 will see Israel Adesanya take on Joe Pyfer. This will be a fight in the UFC Middleweight division. Adesanya enters this fight with an MMA record of 24-5 and 13-5 in the UFC. He is averaging 4.02 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 48%. Adesanya is absorbing 3.20 strikes and has a striking defense of 55%. His grappling is essentially nonexistent, averaging 0.05 takedowns every 15 minutes. Further, Adesanya has a takedown accuracy of 11% and a takedown defense of 76%.

Adesanya is the moderate-sized favorite; however, backing this fight to end inside the distance looks to be the best betting option. Pfyer has seen 7 of his 9 UFC fights end inside the distance, while Adesanya has seen 4 of his last 5 UFC fights do the same. Therefore, because both fighters have had a high finish rate recently, backing this fight to end inside the distance will be our play.

Read our full Israel Adesanya vs. Joe Pyfer prediction

UFC prediction: Maycee Barber ML over Alexa Grasso (-180)

Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook at the time of publishing. Playable to -180.

The Co-Main Event at UFC Fight Night 271 will see Alexa Grasso take on Maycee Barber. This will be a fight in the UFC Women’s Flyweight division. Barber enters this fight with an MMA record of 15-2 and 11-2 in the UFC. She averages 4.61 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 53%. Barber absorbs 2.76 strikes and has a striking defense of 54%. Her grappling has also been solid, averaging 1.58 takedowns every 15 minutes. Barber has a takedown accuracy of 45% and a takedown defense of 51%.

Barber is the clear favorite in this fight; however, she looks to be the best betting option. Grasso has been in poor form recently, going 0-2-1 in her last 3 UFC fights. As for Barber, she has won her last 7 UFC fights in a row. Further, Barber has the advantage in both striking volume and grappling; therefore, backing Barber to win will be our play.

Read our full Maycee Barber vs. Alexa Grasso prediction

UFC pick: Mansur Abdul-Malik ML over Yousri Belgaroui (-118)

Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing. Playable to -118.

The second fight on the Main Card at UFC Fight Night 271 will see Mansur Abdul-Malik take on Yousri Belgaroui. This will be a fight in the UFC Middleweight division. Abdul-Malik enters this fight with an MMA record of 9-0-1 and 4-0-1 in the UFC. He averages 4.18 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 48%. Abdul-Malik absorbs 3.46 strikes and has a striking defense of 51%. He has shown decent grappling ability, averaging 0.94 takedowns every 15 minutes. Abdul-Malik has a takedown accuracy of 50%, and he has a takedown defense of 83%.

Abdul-Malik is the slight favorite in this fight; however, he still looks to be the best betting option. Through 4 UFC fights, he has been perfect and has won all these fights by finish. Further, Abdul-Malik has the advantage in grappling. For that reason, backing Abdul-Malik will be our best bet.

Read our full Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Yousri Belgaroui prediction