Matthew Lowrimore
UFC on ESPN 69 takes place on Saturday at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. This card features a UFC Welterweight fight between Kamaru Usman and Joaquin Buckley as the Main Event.
Here are our best bets for this UFC card, which will include 3 fights on the Main Card. Be sure to also check out the rest of our UFC predictions for all of the UFC on ESPN 69 Main Card fights.
UFC on ESPN 69 Main Card Best Bets
Andre Petroski ML over Edmen Shahbazyan (+154)
Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook at the time of publishing.
The fourth fight on the Main Card at UFC on ESPN 69 will see Edmen Shahbazyan take on Andre Petroski in the UFC Middleweight division. Petroski enters this fight with an MMA record of 13-4 and 8-2 in the UFC. He is averaging 2.89 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 50%. Petroski is absorbing 2.65 strikes and has a striking defense of 50%. He also has elite grappling ability, averaging 3.38 takedowns every 15 minutes and 1.5 submission attempts during the same period. Petroski has a takedown accuracy of 54% and a takedown defense of 85%.
Shahbazyan is the heavy favorite in this fight, but he has been wildly inconsistent in the UFC recently. He is just 3-5 over his last 8 UFC fights, while Petroski is 6-2 over his last 8 UFC fights. Shahbazyan still has the advantage in striking, but Petroski has a major advantage in grappling, especially when it comes to forcing submission. Given that Petroski is in much better form, backing him to pull the upset will be our best bet.
Read our full Andre Petroski vs. Edmen Shahbazyan prediction
Cody Garbrandt vs. Raoni Barcelos – Fight to go the Distance – No (-125)
Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook at the time of publishing
The third fight on the Main Card at UFC on ESPN 69 will see Cody Garbrandt take on Raoni Barcelos in the UFC Bantamweight division. Instead of backing either fighter to win, we are going to be looking at this fight to end inside the distance. Garbrandt has seen 7 of his last 9 UFC fights end inside the distance, while Barcelos has seen 2 of his last 4 UFC fights do the same. Based on this, backing this fight to end inside the distance will be our best bet.
Read our full Cody Garbrandt vs. Raoni Barcelos prediction
Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Cody Brundage – Fight to Start Round 2 (-125)
Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing
The second fight on the Main Card at UFC on ESPN 69 will see Mansur Abdul-Malik take on Cody Brundage in the UFC Middleweight division. Abdul-Malik is the overwhelming favorite; therefore, backing this fight to start round 2 will be our focus. Brundage has recently seen several of his UFC fights end in the first round, but Abdul-Malik looks to be a much more formidable opponent, considering he has yet to lose a fight in his career. As for Abdul-Malik, he has already seen 2 of his 3 UFC fights go to at least the second round; therefore, backing the same here will be our best bet.
Read our full Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Cody Brundage prediction
