UFC 271 Betting: A Saturday Night Parlay

Several big names will be entering the Octagon in UFC 271. There is a ton of hype for this promotion in the run-up to Super Bowl Sunday, and Dana White has delivered with a spectacular card. The headline fight will see Israel Adesanya defend his UFC Middleweight Championship against Robert Whittaker. Jared Cannonier will face Derek Brunson in another clash of top middleweights, while heavyweights Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa will each look to add another knockout to their resumes.

UFC 271 will be held on Saturday, February 12, 2022, from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The preliminary fights will kick off at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN Plus, while the main card will get underway at 10 p.m. ET on PPV through ESPN Plus.

UFC 271 Picks

Israel Adesanya -275 vs. Robert Whittaker

Current UFC Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has held the title since unifying the belt by beating then-champion Robert Whittaker in UFC 243 by second-round knockout. Adesanya is 21-0 as a middleweight, and his lone loss came when he challenged Jan Blachowicz for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship last March. This will be his second rematch while defending the middleweight belt, as he scored a unanimous decision win over Marvin Vettori in June.

Former title holder Robert Whittaker has won three straight matches since losing to The Last Stylebender. Whittaker showed that he had power early in his UFC career, but he has had to go to the cards for his last five wins. There is a reason he is a hefty underdog to Adesanya by the UFC betting lines, and it’s hard to have a lot of faith in him to win this time.

Tai Tuivasa vs. Derrick Lewis Under 1.5 Rounds -175

The best bet in this fight is the under. You have to lay a lot of juice for a fight to end in the first round, but both Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa are heavyweights that have prodigious knockout power.

Lewis has more knockouts than any other competitor in the history of the UFC. He has recorded 13 knockouts in the promotion, and he sent Chris Daukaus to the canvas in December. In his career, Lewis has won 21 of his 26 fights by knockout.

Tuivasa has won 12 of his 13 fights by knockout and 11 of those knockouts came in the first round. He is not shy about running down opponents, and he will challenge Lewis early. Whether or not he will celebrate a win by doing a shoey is up in the air, but you can feel confident that this fight won’t last long.

Jared Cannonier -160 vs. Derek Brunson

Although he is 37 years old, this will only be Jared Cannonier’s 20^th professional MMA fight. Cannonier is 14-5 in his career with nine knockouts, but three of his losses have come to current or former champions like Glover Teixeira, Jan Blachowicz, and Robert Whittaker.

It might be tempting to take Derek Brunson as an underdog considering he has won five straight fights. However, his lone signature wins were against Darren Till and a past-his-prime Lyoto Machida. Brunson no longer has the power we saw earlier in his career, so take the favorite in Cannonier.

Parlay Payout: $100 to win $248.21

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