Sodiq Yusuff makes his first appearance in a UFC main event when he takes on Edson Barboza at UFC Fight Night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday (7 p.m. ET on ESPN+, with prelims at 4 p.m. on ESPN+).
Yusuff (13-2) enters the fight on a two-fight win streak and currently ranked No.11 in the UFC's featherweight rankings. His last win was a first-round submission over Don Shainis last October. Barboza (23-11) ended a two-fight losing streak in April with a first-round knockout win over Billy Quarantillo.
Brett Okamoto spoke to UFC featherweight Dan Ige to get his perspective on the UFC main event. ESPN's betting experts Reed Kuhn and Ian Parker add their insights and analysis on the main event and other intriguing bets they like on the card.
Editor's note: Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Featherweight: Sodiq Yusuff vs. Edson Barboza
Dan Ige, UFC featherweight
How Yusuff wins: Yusuff has great kickboxing. A difference for him is his power. And his physicality. He's a big, strong guy, and I think he can put Barboza on the back foot. Yusuff likes to switch stances, but I wouldn't do that in this fight. Just stick to fundamentals. Put Barboza on the back foot, as he's just not as dangerous moving backward as he is moving forward. Also, make it an MMA fight. Yusuff has power in his hands to hurt Barboza, but keep the wrestling threat. Barboza has been taken down a lot in his career and he accepts bottom position sometimes. That's something I'd look to impose.
How Barboza wins: Keep the fight at a kickboxing range, utilizing his calf kicks and up-the-middle strikes. Barboza needs to keep everything straight, because he tends to get loopy. If he can control the distance with straight punches, that's his best way to win. He also has really good teap kicks and knees to the body. When I fought him, he caught me with a weird kick to the body, where his knee glanced off my rib. It hurt so bad. If he can get back to that, he's dangerous. Sometimes he's hesitant, especially when someone puts pressure on him. If he lets his stuff go, he can hurt anyone.
X-factor: Yusuff's hunger. He's young and on the rise. It's his first big-name opponent. And his first main event. I think he's a guy that will rise to the occasion. Barboza has been in this spot forever. Sometimes, it can become repetitive.
Prediction: Yusuff by decision.
Betting analysis
Kuhn: Lean Yusuff to win (-165). Barboza has wielded a brutal striking arsenal for a long time, and fortunately, offense doesn't decline much with age. That said, taking on a much younger opponent who is more likely to utilize a ground game changes the dynamics for this matchup.
Yusuff's striking stats are similar to Barboza's on paper, and Yusuff has held up against other long-range strikers, like Andre Fili and Alex Caceres. Barboza hits harder than those two, but Yusuff is still relatively young and less damaged. He's a slight favorite, justifiably so, but there's not much value in the line, given Barboza's threat of power.
Parker: Barboza to win (+140); Over 1.5 rounds. Minus a decision loss to Arnold Allen, Yusuff has been nearly flawless in the UFC. However, Allen is the only fighter he has faced that's on the level of Barboza. Unless Yusuff can take Barboza down and grind out the win, like Bryce Mitchell did, I think Barboza has a good chance at winning what could be a five-round standup fight. Surprisingly, Barboza is the betting underdog here, which doesn't make sense to me. Give me the underdog in Barboza and Over 1.5 rounds in a fun fight between two excellent strikers.
Best bets on the rest of the card
Women's flyweight: Jennifer Maia vs. Viviane Araujo
Kuhn: Araujo to win (+125). There's some plus money to be found in Araujo. Maia is a boxer and would certainly prefer to remain standing. But Araujo has decent striking of her own, behind a four-inch reach advantage. She can probably hold her own long enough to set up some takedowns and exploit Maia's weak takedown defense. Once on the ground, the advantages all point to Araujo. She needs to be aware of round-to-round scoring to set herself up for success.
Parker: Maia to win (-150). Maia is well-rounded and makes few mistakes. That will be important in this matchup. The only path to victory for Araujo is if she can land a knockout punch, which I don't see happening. Maia has good enough striking to disguise her takedowns. Once she gets the fight to the floor, she can control Araujo.
Middleweight: Andre Petroski vs. Michel Pereira
Parker: Pereira to win (-190). Originally slated to fight Marc Andre-Barriault, Pereira will now take on late replacement Petroski. Petroski is a dangerous wrestler with strong top position and good submissions. However, his striking is sloppy and predictable. He also tends to gas out in fights if he doesn't get the finish early. This is a terrible matchup for Petroski in general, even if he didn't take the fight on short notice. Pereira is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, has good takedown defense, good cardio, and will be the better striker. As long as Pereira doesn't do any unnecessary flips or circus moves, I believe he can easily stuff the takedowns and win this fight.
Men's bantamweight: Christian Rodriguez vs. Cameron Saaiman
Parker: Rodriguez to win (-150). Saaiman may be the better striker, but he gets taken down too easily, and on the ground, Rodriguez will have a significant advantage. Rodriguez has shown that he is willing to stand and strike, but he doesn't need to in this matchup. In his last fight, Saaiman was taken down by someone with a lesser ground pedigree than Rodriguez. And with Rodriguez winning 44% of his fights by submission, it shouldn't be long before the fight hits the mat and he takes over.
Men's bantamweight: Chris Gutierrez vs. Alatengheili
Kuhn: Gutierrez to win (-450). The line on Gutierrez keeps rising, and for good reason. As long as this fight is standing, he has advantages in almost every striking area. Gutierrez has excellent accuracy and defense, meaning he is technically sound and offers much more power.
The wild card is whether Alatengheili can get this to the ground, where Gutierrez is most vulnerable. But Alatengheili's takedown offense is average, while Gutierrez has solid takedown defense. And Alatengheili has only spent 8% of fight time wrestling, so that seems like a long shot. Gutierrez makes a reasonable parlay anchor.