UFC 271 Adesanya vs Whittaker 2 Predictions, Picks, Odds

• Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker rematch for the middleweight title
• Hometown heavyweight Derrick Lewis co-main events
• Another middleweight bout seems to have title implications on the line

UFC 271: Adesanya vs Whittaker 2

The odds for this match are provided by the FanDuel sportsbook. Click on the odds below to head to DraftKings and place a bet.

UFC 271: Adesanya vs Whittaker 2 Picks

(C) Israel Adesanya vs Robert Whittaker – Middleweight Championship

Robert Whittaker (+210)

Derrick Lewis vs Tai Tuivasa – Heavyweight Division

Derrick Lewis (-192)

Jared Cannonier vs Derek Brunson – Middleweight Division

Derek Brunson (+192)

Kyler Phillips vs Marcelo Rojo – Bantamweight Division

Kyler Phillips (-385)

Bobby Green vs Nasrat Haqparast – Lightweight Division

Bobby Green (-144)

More than two years have passed since Israel Adesanya defeated Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 to claim the middleweight championship. Since then, Adesanya has defended his belt three times while Whittaker went on to win three-in-a-row himself.

Whittaker is coming off wins over Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and a fight-of-the-night effort over Kelvin Gastelum. Adesanya defended his title against Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, and Marvin Vettori. During this time he also suffered his first professional MMA loss – coming at the hands of light heavyweight Jan Blachowicz when Adesanya attempted to achieve double-champ status.

Adesanya is known for his kickboxing prowess and will enter the cage five inches taller than Whittaker and boast a seven-inch reach advantage.

Whittaker, however, holds black belts in hapkido, goju-ryu karate, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

The champion is favored at -265 but a Robert Whittaker upset is far from impossible.

To find out how to place your bets for UFC 271: Adesanya vs Whittaker 2, check out our ultimate UFC betting guide to get started.

Derrick Lewis vs Tai Tuivasa – Heavyweight division

Is there anything more exciting than two fan-favorite knockout artists in the UFC heavyweight division going at it?

Two-time title challenger Derrick Lewis fights in his hometown for the second time in his last three fights boasting a four-inch reach advantage and the most knockouts in UFC history. He is coming off of a first-round KO over Chris Daukaus that took place just two months ago.

King of the shooey, Tai Tuivasa is currently riding a four-fight winning streak that includes back-to-back knockout wins over Greg Hardy and Augusto Sakai. Both wins earned him performance of the night honors.

Tuivasa is nine-years younger than his opponent but is still ranked just outside the top-10 of the division at number eleven.

Lewis enters the cage as the -192 favorite.

Jared Cannonier vs Derek Brunson – Middleweight division

Ranked as numbers three and four in the middleweight division, respectively, there aren’t many physical differences between Jared Cannonier and Derek Brunson heading into Saturday night’s fight.

The two are only one-year apart in age, have a height difference of one-inch, and a reach difference of just half of one-inch. Brunson has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu compared to Cannonier’s purple belt.

Cannonier recently had a three-fight winning streak snapped by former champion Robert Whittaker but bounced back with a win over Kelvin Gastelum last August.

Derek Brunson is currently on a five-fight winning streak that most recently saw him defeat Darren Till via submission last September. His current streak also saw him defeat Kevin Holland and Edmen Shahbazyan.

Brunson as a +142 underdog could be considered very enticing.

Kyler Phillips vs Marcelo Rojo – Bantamweight division

At -385, Kyler Phillips is easily the largest betting favorite on the main card.

Despite coming off of a majority decision loss to Raulian Paiva last July, Phillips had won four-straight prior to that defeat. He is 3-1 with the UFC and has a performance bonus in each of his wins with the promotion.

Saturday will mark just the second UFC appearance for Marcelos Rojo, who lost his debut to Charles Jourdain via TKO last March.

Phillips is seven years younger than his opponent and will have a one-inch reach advantage.

Bobby Green vs Nasrat Haqparast – Lightweight division

Both Bobby Green and Nasrat Haqparast have fought recently and both seem eager to jump back into the cage.

Bobby Green handily defeated Al Iaquinta by first-round TKO last November, earning performance of the night bonus. The win snapped a two-fight losing skid.

Haqparast last fought in September – a unanimous decision loss to Dan Hooker. Alternatively, this loss snapped a two-fight winning streak for Haqparast, who trains with the infamous Tristar gym.

Green is the elder of the two fighters and is significantly more experienced in the UFC octagon. Oddsmakers have him set as a -144 favorite to win and we’re inclined to agree.

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