Our Top Betting Pick for UFC Vegas 81
UFC Pick: Sodiq Yusuff ML (-165) at Heritage Sports (visit our Heritage Sports Review)
The UFC is set to deliver more intense action to ESPN+ this weekend on Saturday, October 14, 2023, as UFC Vegas 81: “Yusuff vs. Barboza” makes headlines at UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Featherweight contender Sodiq Yusuff is set to face his toughest opponent yet, Edson Barboza. Yusuff, holding a 6-1 record in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has recently secured back-to-back wins.
Read on for our complete betting guide with an early preview of the UFC Vegas 81 main event clash between Yusuff and Barboza, including updated UFC odds and our free expert UFC first-look picks, predictions, and analysis.
UFC Vegas 81 Information
UFC Vegas 81 Main Event: Yusuff vs. Barboza
Sodiq “Super” Yusuff
With a professional mixed martial arts record that’s a mere seven years young, watching Sodiq Yusuff reach the featherweight division’s top-15 ranking is an impressive feat alone.
Moving forward, the competition levels are undoubtedly beginning to heat up for the Nigerian, as evidenced by his UFC Vegas 81 opponent. However, a 6-1 UFC record collected since his debut in 2018 has already proved his worth as a top-tier athlete on the roster.
It’s worryingly been over a year since we last saw Yusuff compete in the octagon, but ring rust is one of the lone variables going against him this weekend. Age, durability, trajectory, and odds all favor the product of Team Llyod Irvin, and the addition of Barboza to his career successes would be massive for his profile.
Yusuff Best Moneyline Odds: -165 at Heritage Sports
Edson “Junior” Barboza
Despite only winning 4 out of his last 10 UFC bouts, Edson Barboza, a renowned Muay Thai-style kickboxer from Brazil, is still considered one of the most dangerous fighters in the company.
Throughout his career, Barboza has showcased some of UFC’s most brutal leg kicks and emphatic knockout or technical knockout victories. Although his professional record has declined since 2017, it is important to acknowledge the high level of competition he has faced during this period.
As history shows, Barboza often performs well when matched against opponents ranked lower than him. However, it is concerning when a fighter has been competing at the sport’s highest level for 13 consecutive years and has recently been involved in intense battles against formidable lightweight and featherweight fighters.
Barboza Combat Sports Accomplishments
- UFC Fight of the Night (Eight times)
- UFC Performance of the Night (One time)
- Tied for most Fight of the Night bonuses in UFC history (8)
- Renaissance MMA lightweight champion (One time, two defenses)
- Ring of Combat lightweight champion (One time)
Barboza Best Moneyline Odds: +145 at BetOnline
UFC Vegas 81 Yusuff vs. Barboza: Tale of the Tape
UFC Vegas 81 Skillset Analysis: Styles Make Fights
Barboza exhibits exceptional skills, particularly as a sniper in stand-up combat. However, concerns arise when he is forced out of his preferred range. He excels at kickboxing range, where he can unleash powerful kicks, and his boxing skills inside the pocket are commendable unless he’s faced with high output at close range.
Furthermore, Yusuff possesses respectable abilities in close quarters, such as the clinch, which can exhaust Barboza's questionable stamina. We have observed Barboza's decline in later rounds due to this particular game plan in the past.
Alongside his footwork, age, output, ability to close the distance, and determination to climb the rankings, it feels like most of the advantages side with him in this matchup.
The UFC Vegas 81 Best Bet Formula
The available UFC odds at top sportsbooks have placed Yusuff as the betting favorite, and rightfully so.
The most noteworthy attribute that makes Yusuff a rightful favorite is his ability to close the distance, as the aforementioned kickboxing range of Barboza will be eliminated by default of his opponent's style.
UFC Pick: Sodiq Yusuff ML (-165) at Heritage Sports [1.65u to win 1u]
UFC Vegas 81 Main Card & Odds
- Sodiq Yusuff vs. Edson Barboza [UFC featherweight main event bout]
- Jennifer Maia vs. Viviane Araujo [UFC co-main women’s flyweight bout]
- Jonathan Martinez vs. Adrian Yanez [UFC bantamweight bout]
- Michel Pereira vs. Andre Petroski [UFC middleweight bout]
- Edgar Chairez vs. Daniel Lacerda [UFC catchweight bout]
- Christian Rodriguez vs. Cameron Saaiman [UFC bantamweight bout]
UFC Vegas 81 Preliminary Card & Odds
- Darren Elkins vs. TJ Brown [UFC featherweight bout]
- Tainara Lisboa vs. Ravena Oliveira [UFC women’s bantamweight bout]
- Terrance McKinney vs. Brendon Marotte [UFC lightweight bout]
- Irina Alekseeva vs. Melissa Dixon [UFC women’s bantamweight bout]
- Chris Gutierrez vs. Alatengheili [UFC bantamweight bout]
- Ashley Yoder vs. Emily Ducote [UFC women’s strawweight bout]
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
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