The UFC welterweight title will be on the line Saturday when champion and top-ranked Kamaru Usman goes into the Octagon to face top contender Leon Edwards at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. This will be the second meeting between them. Usman won the first bout by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Cowboy 2 in 2015. The two have been dominant ever since. Their rematch is the main event on the UFC 278 fight card from Vivint Arena. The prelims get underway at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the main card at 10 p.m. ET. Usman has been the UFC welterweight champion since a unanimous decision victory over Tyron Woodley in March 2019.
Caesars Sportsbook lists Usman as the -380 favorite (risk $380 to win $100) in the latest Usman vs. Edwards odds, while Edwards comes back at +300. Elsewhere in the UFC 278 odds, Paulo Costa is the -370 favorite against Luke Rockhold (+290) in the co-main event. Before making any UFC 278 picks, make sure you check out the MMA predictions and betting advice from SportsLine expert Kyle Marley.
Marley won the first-ever "ToutMaster" UFC betting contest sponsored by MMAOddsBreaker and appears regularly on multiple MMA betting and daily Fantasy shows. He watches every single fight for every professional MMA card and does extensive research before each event.
Over the past three-plus years, $100 bettors who have followed Marley's picks are up more than $13,000. The accomplished MMA analyst kicked off the 2022 UFC season in January by telling SportsLine members to support Calvin Kattar (+200) against Giga Chikadze (-240) in the featherweight main event. Kattar's lopsided unanimous-decision victory gave Marley's followers another easy winner. Anyone who has followed him is way up.
Now, he's turned his attention to the UFC 278 fight card and locked in his best bets. You can only see his MMA picks at SportsLine.
UFC 278: Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards preview
Usman has been red hot since suffering his lone setback in May 2013, a near-naked choke submission to Jose Caceres at CFA 11. Since then, Usman has rattled off 19 consecutive wins, and has defended his welterweight title five times since first winning it three years ago.
Among his many other accomplishments, Usman won the Ultimate Fighter 21 Welterweight Tournament in July 2015. He also won Performance of the Night at The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters Finale in November 2018.
Edwards, meanwhile, has put together a solid resume of his own. He has gone 9-0-1 in his last 10 bouts with the only blemish a no contest when he accidentally poked Belal Muhammad in the eye and the fighter was not able to continue.
In Edwards' last fight, he earned a unanimous decision win over Nate Diaz at UFC 263 in June of last year. Edwards also has a Performance of the Night under his belt, earning that distinction with a knockout of Seth Baczynski at UFC Fight Night: Gonzaga vs. Cro Cop 2 in April 2015. You can see who to back here.
UFC 278 predictions
We'll share one of Marley's UFC 278 predictions here: He is backing Wu Yanan (+100) to get past Lucie Pudilova (-120) in a close women's bantamweight matchup on the main card.
Yanan (12-5), who is on a three-bout losing streak, is looking for her first win since winning by submission at 4:00 of the first round over Lauren Mueller in a flyweight match in November 2018. She has been a professional competitor since 2013.
Pudilova (13-7) has won her last two bouts and five of her last six. In April, she won a unanimous decision over Carol Yariwaki at OKTAGON 32 in the Czech Republic.
"Pudilova has a good jab but that is the only clear advantage I see from her on the feet, but Yanan has the better movement and more tools in her striking toolbox," Marley told SportsLine. See who else to pick here.
How to make UFC 278 picks
Marley also has strong picks for Usman vs. Edwards and every other bout on the UFC 278 card. He's also backing "a dangerous fighter" to emerge with a dominant victory. Marley's picks and predictions are only available at SportsLine.
Who wins Usman vs. Edwards? And how exactly does each fight end? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed picks on every fight at UFC 278, all from the incomparable expert who's up more than $13,000 on MMA in the past three years, and find out.
UFC 278 odds, fight card
See full UFC 278 picks, best bets, and predictions here.
Kamaru Usman (-380) vs. Leon Edwards (+300)
Paulo Costa (-370) vs. Luke Rockhold (+290)
Merab Dvalishvili (-140) vs. Jose Aldo (+120)
Alexander Romanov (-380) vs. Marcin Tybura (+300)
Tyson Pedro (-800) vs. Harry Hunsucker (+550)
Jared Gordon (-300) vs. Leonardo Santos (+240)
Lucie Pudilova (-120) vs. Yanan Wu (+100)
Sean Woodson (-340) vs. Luis Saldana (+270)
Miranda Maverick (-550) vs. Shanna Young (+400)
A.J. Fletcher (-160) vs. Ange Loosa (+135)
Amir Albazi (-470) vs. Francisco Figueiredo (+360)
Aori Qileng (-140) vs. Jay Perrin (+120)
Victor Altamirano (-175) vs. Daniel Da Silva (+150)