The UFC 277 kicks off at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, this Saturday night. The headliner of the event is the ladies’ UFC bantamweight title bout between the reigning champion, Julianna Pena and the former champion, Amanda Nunes. 

The main card has a few more very interesting fights, including the flyweight clash between Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France, the heavyweight encounter between Derrick Lewis vs. Sergei Pavlovich. 

BetXchange will make a short preview for all these bouts, and provide the pick and the odds. 

Julianna Pena VS Amanda Nunes

The Venezuelan Vixen shocked the world in its last bout once she dethroned Nunes to win the belt. She submitted the Lioness after a fantastic performance during which she outplayed the champion in almost every aspect of the fight. 

Nunes deflated pretty early on, and it was evident that her cardio wasn’t at the needed level. After her slowdown, the Brazilian began making mistakes, while on the other hand, Pena punished all of them. Her left jab did an amazing thing, smashing Nunes’s face each time she tried to attack. It was interesting not seeing Nunes taking the fight to the ground at one point, but that is something she and her staff have to work on.

We believe that the Lioness will be prepared better for this bout than the previous, and we recommend betting on her victory here. 

Pick: Nunes wins 2/5 at BetXchange

Brandon Moreno vs. Kai Kara-France

The second bout between the Mexican and the New Zealand fighter is, for many, a potential title eliminator. Whoever wins here will challenge Deiveson Figueiredo. Moreno held the belt for a while following his victory over the Brazilian but lost it in the previous battle against the God of War. 

Kara-France improved a lot over the last two years, and has three straight wins against impressive names, Bontorin, Garbrandt, and Askarov. He craved one significant but and finally got a chance to show his capabilities on the big stage. 

Kara-France might be on the rise, but we are in for Moreno here, who showed incredible fighting spirit and quality against Figueiredo, going toe-to-toe with one of the best fighters in the organization. 

Pick: Moreno wins 1/2 at BetXchange

Derrick Lewis vs. Sergei Pavlovich

The Black Beast didn’t enjoy a couple of his last fights. He lost to Ciryl Gane, then knocked out Chris Daukas before losing to Tai Tuivasa in February this year, via KO as well. Lewis is apparently on the decline, but still, you can’t underestimate a guy with such a huge KO power.

On the other side, Pavlovich is one of the young lions, and may we add that he is a very talented young lion. Of 15 of his wins, 12 were after a knockout, and the last three fights he had were all ended in the first round, against Golm, Greene and Abdurakhimov. His only loss so far was in 2018 against Alistair Overeem, who knocked him out in the first round. Still, that was a debut for Pavlovich in the UFC. 

The Russian is our pick here because he seems in better shape than his rival. Apart from that, from our point of view, he has been progressing a lot lately, especially in terms of counter-attacking and moving inside the octagon. 

Pick: Pavlovich wins 2/3 at BetXchange

Magomed Ankalaev vs. Anthony Smith

The bout between the former and the projected light heavyweight title challengers is very interesting and promises good fun. 

Ankalaev is 17-1, and that single loss was against Paul Craig on his debut. After that, he went on to win eight bouts, the last one against Thiago Santos. On the other side, Smith is one of the most popular characters in the UFC and the former title challenger. After two straight losses, he bounced back, winning three times in a row, all via stoppages in the opening round. 

Our pick here is Ankalaev because of his impeccable physical condition and the swing he has over the past few bouts. 

Pick: Ankalaev wins 1/5 at BetXchange

 

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