Robert Whittaker is favored against Paulo Costa at UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria on Saturday, February 17 in Anaheim, California. This event is one of five fights on the main pay-per-view card. Whittaker is 24-7 in his career, including 15-5 in the UFC, while Costa is 14-2 in his career, including 6-2 in the UFC. There are a total of 12 fights with five on Pay-Per-View, four on ESPN/ESPN+, and three on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass at UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria. Let’s look at the bout between Whittaker and Costa and UFC predictions.
UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on Saturday, February 17 with 12 fights with five Pay-Per-View, four on ESPN/ESPN+, and three on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria Betting
Robert Whittaker (24-7, 15-5 UFC)
Whittaker came into the UFC with a record of 9-2 and he has 15 wins and five losses in the UFC. In his last six fights, he has four wins and two losses. He defeated Darren Till by unanimous decision, Jared Cannonier by unanimous decision, Kelvin Gastelum by unanimous decision, and Marvin Vettori by unanimous decision; while losing to Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision and Dricus du Plessis by TKO. Whittaker has been a pro since 2009 and he has nine wins by TKO/KO and five by submission. He has 11 first round finishes.
Whittaker said this to sportingnews.com about his upcoming fight against Costa, “I feel like last fight I didn't show up, I didn't turn up. I want to get in the fight with Costa and just perform like all the other times, and that's what I want you to expect - the Rob Whitaker that shows up, puts on a show. In a perfect world, I can just land my mitts on his face and he goes away. That's a perfect world and that's what I'm training for, I'm training to hit him for the entire 15 minutes, trying to put him away, trying to switch him off for 15 minutes, that's what I've been working.”
Paulo Costa (14-2, 6-2 UFC)
Costa came into the UFC with a record of 8-0 and he has six wins and two losses in the UFC. He defeated Garreth McLellan by TKO, Oluwale Bamgbose by TKO, Johny Hendricks by TKO, Uriah Hall by TKO, Yoel Romero by unanimous decision, and Luke Rockhold by unanimous decision; while losing to Israel Adesanya by TKO and Marvin Vettori by unanimous decision. Costa has been a pro since 2012 and he has 11 wins by TKO/KO and one by submission. He has nine first round finishes.
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Whittaker 4.47 / Costa 6.50
Striking Accuracy: Whittaker 42% / Costa 60%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Whittaker 3.39 / Costa 6.38
Defense: Whittaker 60% / Costa 47%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Whittaker 0.85/ Costa 0.53
Takedown Accuracy: Whittaker 39% / Costa 75%
Takedowns defended: Whittaker 82% / Costa 79%
Submission average: Whittaker 0.0/ Costa 0.0
UFC Picks
Whittaker is listed as more than a 2-1 favorite in UFC odds to win this fight. If we get the Whittaker that looked good a few years ago then I could understand this price, but who knows if we get that fighter. Whittaker didn’t look good last time out against Dricus du Plessis. I am definitely not laying the price with Whittaker. I am not sure what to make of Costa. He hasn’t fought that often and when we have seen him lately, he hasn’t been that impressive. I know he is coming off a win against Luke Rockhold, but even that win was nothing special.
The rounds on this fight are listed at 2.5 with the over listed at -150. Whittaker hasn’t really shown a lot of finishing ability lately, while Costa has shown a lot of power in his career. That being said, I don’t know that Costa has the power to finish Whittaker, so I think this fight should go to a decision. I’ll go over the rounds total in this fight.
| DATE | FIGHTERS | MONEY LINE |
| 02/17 | Ilia Topuria | -110 |
| Alexander Volkanovski | -120 |
| 02/17 | Paulo Costa | +178 |
| Robert Whittaker | -228 |
| 02/17 | Henry Cejudo | +172 |
| Merab Dvalishvili | -220 |
| 02/17 | Geoff Neal | +170 |
| Ian Machado Garry | -217 |
| 02/17 | Mackenzie Dern | +110 |
| Amanda Lemos | -140 |
| 02/17 | Justin Tafa | +120 |
| Marcos Rogerio de Lima | -150 |
| 02/17 | Carlos Vera | +583 |
| Rinya Nakamura | -995 |
| 02/17 | Brendson Ribeiro | +109 |
| Mingyang Zhang | -137 |
| 02/17 | Andrea Lee | +150 |
| Miranda Maverick | -190 |
| 02/17 | Val Woodburn | +231 |
| Oban Elliott | -305 |
| 02/17 | Josh Quinlan | +156 |
| Danny Barlow | -197 |
| 02/17 | Roman Kopylov | +152 |
| Anthony Hernandez | -192 |
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