Date: Saturday, August 20, 2022
Main Card: 10 PM ET
Venue: Vivint Arena
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Where to watch: Pay Per View & Prelims on ESPN
UFC 278 takes place August 20th and it’ll be a first for the circuit as they head to Salt Lake City in Utah.
The headline event features one of the biggest stars in the sport as Kamaru Usman takes on veteran challenger Leon Edwards in their second career fight.
Several other intriguing fights are on the card and here we’ll preview them and make our picks.
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Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards 2 – Welterweight Championship
Usman comes into this fight ranked as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He has multiple wins over both Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal in his last five fights and has not lost since 2013, amassing a record of 19-0 in that time with eight knockouts, one submission and ten wins by unanimous decision.
Edwards has been almost as good, as he has not lost since Usman beat him by unanimous decision in December 2015. He has nine wins since then and one no-contest. Six of the wins were by unanimous decision, one a split decision, one knockout and one submission. Most recently he beat Nate Diaz at UFC 263.
The Breakdown
Kamaru Usman vs Leon Edwards
Kamaru Usman -360
Leon Edwards +270
Usman’s greatest strength is as a wrestler and master tactician. He simply wins with his incredible physicality, and has become an excellent striker and wrestler.
Edwards is more of a striker. He’s got great length and is a southpaw. That combination, along with the experience accumulated since their last bout makes him a dangerous opponent.
But Usman is superior as a tactician and has more big game experience against the very best in his weight class.
The Pick: Usman by decision
Props Predictions coming soon when available!
Previewing Jose Aldo vs. Merab Dvalishvili – Bantamweight Bout
Aldo is one of the most experienced fighters in the sport with 38 career MMA fights and 27 of those coming in UFC. He’s been fighting since 2008 and he’s seen it all.
He’s a three-time former champion who has also lost championship fights four different times in his distinguished career.
Aldo was at the peak of his powers from 2011-2014 when he won and defended his title seven straight times. But he is coming in on a three-fight winning streak. He remains the third ranked challenger in the division after taking out seventh ranked Rob Font last time out.
Dvalishvili is sixth-ranked in the division and has been a fast riser. After losing his first two career UFC fights, he’s now won seven straight. That includes earning performance of the night honors after knocking out Marlon Moraes at UFC 266.
The Breakdown
Jose Aldo vs Merab Dvalishvili
Jose Aldo -115
Merab Dvalishvili -105
Aldo gets it done as an all-around fighter with a strong ground game and wrestling, formed by his experience as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist. To that he adds one of the best stand-up packages in the division.
The biggest question mark is if at age 35, with a ton of mileage under his belt, how much he still has in the tank.
Dvalishvili’s background is in the Russian fighting style called Sambo. It is a style of wrestling, which he also pairs with an extensive Judo background. That combination has turned him into a takedown artist and one of the best wrestlers in recent MMA history.
Aldo is as good as it comes in avoiding takedowns and dominating on his feet. He is the best opponent Dvalishvili has faced by far thus far in his career.
That experience still means a lot
The Pick: Aldo by Decision
Props Predictions coming soon when available!
Previewing Paulo Costa vs. Luke Rockhold – Middleweight Bout
Costa will be looking for a big win, to help vault himself back up the competitive middleweight rankings. He was a classic fast riser, winning his first five career UFC fights which earned him a title shot against Israel Adesanya in 2020.
He did not make it out of the second round, losing by KO.
Next up came a match against Marvin Vettori. It was a tight affair, but he lost there as well, which dropped him down to his current sixth spot in the rankings, while Vettori jumped up to third.
Now he takes on former champion Rockhold, who does not seem to be aging gracefully.
This will be Rockhold’s first fight in over three years, last seen getting knocked out by Jan Blachowicz. He’s lost three of his last four fights since beating Chris Weidman for the belt back in 2015.
The Breakdown
Paulo Henrique Costa vs Luke Rockhold
Paulo Henrique Costa -265
Luke Rockhold +215
Rockhold is 37 years-old and is a major unknown at this point due to inactivity. He’s fought just four times in the last seven years. But he sounds fired up and motivated to prove he’s still got something left in the tank after suffering a herniated disc in training for his last scheduled fight against Sean Strickland last November.
Costa’s reputation took a serious hit in his fight against Vettori when he showed up 25-pounds overweight for the middleweight bout. They fought as light heavyweights instead.
He had to withdraw in fights against Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier before that. Add it all up and it speaks to a fighter that might not have his head fully wrapped in the game.
Still, at this point, purely from a talent standpoint, Costa is significantly better.
The Pick: Costa by KO
Props Predictions coming soon when available!
UFC/MMA Odds source: Bovada Sportsbook
