Kamaru Usman ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is a heavy favorite to defeat Sean Strickland at UFC 210 on Saturday night in Buffalo, New York. Usman is 9-1 in his career, including 4-0 in the UFC, while Strickland is 18-1, including 5-1 in the UFC. This fight is one of four on the FS1 preliminary card in advance of the main pay-per-view card, which features Daniel Cormier taking on Anthony Johnson. Let’s look at Usman vs. Strickland including odds for the fight and UFC picks.
UFC Odds
Usman -340 vs. Strickland
Kamaru Usman (9-1, 4-0 UFC)
Usman is getting a lot of respect from the oddsmakers, as he is nearly a 4-1 favorite. The odds opened up with Usman a 2-1 favorite and they are now nearly double at -340. Usman doesn’t have as much experience as Strickland but he has won his last eight fights. Usman looked really good at TUF 21 in beating Hayder Hassan and he followed that win with victories against Leon Edwards, Alexander Yakovlev and Warlley Alves.
Usman believes he can be the champion in the 170-pound class. He said on radio late last year that he needs four fights to be champ. “Every outside ranking other than the UFC, I’m sitting about 16 or 17,” Usman said, “So I think it’s literally four fights.” Usman wanted to fight Dong Hyun Kim, Neil Magny or Demian Maia but he will have to get past Strickland first.
“I want to fight Dong Hyun Kim next,” Usman said. “I think I’ll beat the brakes off him. And then I want Neil Magny, and don’t get me started on that. I think I will run him over. And if Demian Maia is still hanging around and he wants it, of course, he didn’t want the fight. I already asked him for the fight, if he wanted to make easy money, but no. If he feels like I’m easy prey, I’ll be happy to take him on.”
Sean Strickland (18-1, 5-1 UFC)
Strickland is coming off a tough split-decision win last time out against Tom Breese at UFC 199. It was the third straight win for Strickland and his fifth in his last six bouts. He has finished 12 of his 18 wins.
Strickland beat Bubba McDaniel at UFC 171 about three years ago and he followed that up by beating Luke Barnett by split decision a couple of months later. The only loss for Strickland came in 2015, as he was beaten by Santiago Ponzinibbio. Strickland came back later in 2015 to defeat Igor Araujo and last year he beat Alex Garcia and Tom Breese.
The problem for Strickland is that he really hasn’t beaten anyone of note. He is ranked well outside the Top 20 in the latest MMA rankings and he is not getting much respect in this fight, as bettors are taking Usman in a big way.
UFC Picks
It sure seems like the wise guys know what is going on with this fight, as Usman opened up about a 2-1 favorite and he is now nearly a 4-1 choice. I am leery about laying that type of price, so I will avoid picking a side and just take the rounds to go under.
Main Card (pay-per-view)
Anthony Johnson -126 vs. Daniel Cormier (rounds 1.5 over -150)
Gegard Mousasi -127 vs. Chris Weidman (rounds 2.5 over -180)
Patrick Cote -162 vs. Thiago Alves (rounds 2.5 over -185)
Will Brooks -272 vs. Charles Oliveira (rounds 2.5 over -130)
Cynthia Calvillo -256 vs. Pearl Gonzalez (rounds 2.5 over -195)
Preliminary Card (FS1)
Kamaru Usman vs. Sean Strickland
Charles Rosa vs. Shane Burgos
Patrick Cummins vs. Jan Blachowicz
Myles Jury vs. Mile De La Torre
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Josh Emmett vs. Desmond Green
Andrew Holbrook vs. Gregor Gillespie
Irene Aldana vs. Katlyn Chookagian
Jenel Lausa vs. Magomed Bibulatov
UFC 210:Cormier vs. Johnson 2 takes place on Saturday, April 8 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. The event features a rematch between Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson with Cormier defending his light heavyweight title.
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