UFC 295 picks and predictions: Odds, best bets and more

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The UFC's return to New York is finally here with UFC 295 this Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

It looks to be another night of bangers -- we've got two title fights and a ton of fights to get through beforehand.

Here's a look at the best fights on the main card:

• UFC Light Heavyweight Championship: Jiri Prochazka (+100 ML) vs. Alex Pereira (-128 ML)
• UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship: Sergei Pavlovich (-104 ML) vs. Tom Aspinall (-122 ML)
• UFC Women's Strawweight fight: Jessica Andrade (+164 ML) vs. Mackenzie Dern (-215 ML)
• UFC Lightweight fight: Matt Frevola (+186 ML) vs. Benoit Saint-Denis (-245 ML)

UFC 295 preview: A look at how we got here

The much anticipated return of former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic will take a little bit longer after current UFC heavyweight champ and legend of the sport, Jon Jones, suffered a torn pec just a few weeks before UFC 295.

Now, No. 2 ranked Sergei Pavlovich and No. 4 ranked Tom Aspinall will fight for an interim heavyweight title in the co-main event of the night.

That brings us to the now-main event of the evening: Former UFC middleweight champion and No. 3 ranked light heavyweight Alex Pereira faces off against former UFC light heavyweight champ and the current No. 1 contender Jiri Prochazka, for the vacant title.

UFC 295 main event best bet: Alex Pereira to win via KO/TKO (+125 or better)

Both men in this fight are large strikers that can finish an opponent with one shot. Pereira will chop at your legs enough until he's ready to end your night with a left hook, while Prochazka is much more of a wild card and can finish you in many different ways -- see his spinning elbow KO vs. Dominick Reyes for reference.

Either way, this fight isn't going the distance -- Vegas thinks as much too, setting the fight not going the distance at -700 or better. We like Pereira here because of two major things -- neither include the fact that Pereira's skills on the feet are just about second to none.

First, he's being trained by Glover Teixeira, the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champ who Prochazka beat in his last fight for the belt.

That bout was one of the best matchups of the year and was heading towards a likely decision win for Teixeira. But he made a mistake with less than a minute to go in the fight and gave Prochazka his back to finish the fight with a rear-naked choke.

Nevertheless, Teixeira's been in the octagon with Prochazka and will help Pereira prepare accordingly.

Second, Prochazka hasn't fought in nearly a year and a half. He had to vacate the title with a right shoulder injury and has been out ever since.

That lack of octagon time should be troubling for him, while Pereira has fought four times since Prochazka's last fight -- including twice for the Middleweight Championship.

Pereira's natural weight class is Light Heavyweight and he's already got a win under his belt over a former champ in the division in Jan Blachowicz.

Expect fireworks throughout and a Pereira KO win to finish off the night.

UFC 295 picks: Tom Aspinall to win (-122 or better)

Aspinall is such a jack of all trades, that it's hard to pick exactly how he'll win it, but we like him to do so one way or another in Saturday's co-main event of the night.

In all likelihood, Aspinall will need to withstand Pavlovich's early flurry of strikes in order to make it to the promised land. 

The Russian is riding a six-fight winning streak -- all coming via first-round KO or TKO. He hits fast and he hits hard, so Aspinall will have to be very careful.

However, he's the more polished fighter at the end of the day. Once Aspinall tires Pavlovich out, he'll have a variety of ways to end of the fight.

This fight is -1450 or better to not go the distance, so don't expect things to reach the judges score cards. However, it's possible that Aspinall finishes the fight via submission rather than knockout -- or vice versa.

Play it safe, take the ML.

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Coby Green is a managing editor for Catena Media based out of New York. Since graduating from Rutgers University with a degree in journalism and media in 2019, he has worked as an editorial producer for SNY and an associate SEO editor for The Action Network. His go to sports for both watching and betting include the NFL, NBA, MLB and UFC.