Yan vs. Dvalishvili Odds, Picks, Predictions: Can Russian Get Back on Track at UFC Vegas 71?

A pair of top-five bantamweights are setto battle Saturday night when former champion Petr Yan squares off with MerabDvalishvili in the main event of UFC Vegas 71. Here are our UFC picks based on theodds from our best sportsbooks.

AlthoughUFC gold no longer occupies his waist, there’s an argument to be made that Yanis still the best 135-pounder on the planet. Embroiled in a two-fight losingstreak, “No Mercy” dropped a pair of controversial split decisions to SeanO’Malley and current kingpin Aljamain Sterling, and will likely need a couplemore quality victories before he’s tossed back into the title mix.

Conversely,Dvalishvili is riding high on an eight-fight winning streak, with his latesttriumph coming at the expense of Jose Aldo in what turned out to be thefeatherweight’s swansong. A statement victory over Yan would likely vault“The Machine” into the bantamweight title picture.

Withthat in mind, here are our best UFC bets for Yan vs. Dvalishvili at UFC Vegas71 (odds via Caesars; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-starscale).

Yan vs. Dvalishvili pick

Yan (-250 via Caesars) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Up to $1,250 On Caesars + 1000 Tier Credits + 1000 Reward Credits®

Quitesimply, Yan is the better fighter. Dvalishvili’s path to victory involves draggingYan to the mat and grinding him down into fine dust. Don’t get me wrong, thestreaking Georgian is quite adept at yanking his opponents into deep waterswith smothering top control, but I don’t think he’ll be able to do that forfive rounds against Yan.

Yan is a fine defensive wrestler (90% takedowndefense), and he’ll use that to stay upright while unleashing his superiorstriking to piece Dvalishvili up on the feet. The Russian lands strikes at a higher volume (5.31 significant strikes landed per minutecompared to Dvalishvili’s 4.21), with more accuracy (53% to 40%), and I expecthim to outwork Dvalishvili over 25 minutes en route to a decision victory.

Sure,there’s a possibility Dvalishvili relentlessly clinches and hunts for takedownsuntil he completely exhausts Yan in the later rounds, but the former championis no stranger to five-rounders, and he’ll likely have enough juice to stayahead on the scorecards.

Yan vs. Dvalishvili best odds

Caesars (-250)

Thereisn’t much difference in odds from sportsbook to sportsbook. If you’re lookingto back Yan, you’ll definitely want to head over to Caesars, at which you can grab him at -250.

Thosecraving an upset can snag Dvashvili as high as +220 over at DraftKings.

There’s definitely some value in backingthe Russian via decision/technical decision (+115 at Caesars). Yanhas gone to a decision in three straight bouts, while Dvalishvili has gone tothe judge’s scorecards in 14 of his 19 career trips to the cage.

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Yan vs. Dvalishvili fight info

Date: Saturday, March 11, 2023, 6 p.m. ET (main card)
TV: ESPN +, TSN
Location: The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV

Yan-Dvalishvili pick made 03/09/2023at 4:00 p.m. ET

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