UFC 289: Barriault vs. Anders odds, picks and predictions

In a middleweight bout on the main card, Marc-Andre Barriault and Eryk Anders meet Saturday at UFC 289 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC. Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the UFC 289: Barriault vs. Anders odds, and make our expert picks and predictions.

The early prelims are on ESPN/ESPN+ at 7 p.m., prelims are on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, with the main card on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET.

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Barriault, the Canadian native, dropped Julian Marquez in a 2nd-round KO/TKO win at UFC 285 in his most-recent showing in early March. He has alternated wins and losses across his past 5 fights, with 4 consecutive finishes. In the 4-bout finish streak, he has a win and a loss via KO/TKO, and a win and a loss via submission.

For Anders, a.k.a. ‘Ya Boi’, the southpaw snapped a 2-bout skid with a 2nd-round KO/TKO against Kyle Daukaus last time out in early Dec. 2022. Anders hasn’t won consecutive fights since topping Vinicius Moreira and Gerald Meerschaert in June and Oct. 2019 bouts.

Anders has a 1-inch reach differential, while Barriault has an impressive 5.90-to-3.39 significant strikes landed per minute advantage. Neither fighter has an advantage in the ground game, although Anders is more apt to go there, posting a 1.59 takedown average.

UFC 289: Barriault vs. Anders odds

BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:55 a.m. ET.

UFC 289: Barriault vs. Anders picks and predictions

Records: Barriault (15-6-0) | Anders (15-7-0)

BARRIAULT (-140) should feed off a pro-Canadian crowd in this first fight on the main card.

Neither of these fighters comes in particularly hot. But Barriault nearly doubles up Anders (+115) in significant strikes landed per minute, and that will be his M.O. in this fight. Barriault will look to keep the fight upright, try to drag Anders into a brawl, and avoid going to the mat where the underdog has his best chance.

NO (+100): WILL THE FIGHT GO THE DISTANCE? is a tremendous play.

Neither of these fighters seem terribly keen to get the judges involved. Barriault’s past 4 fights have ended early, including a pair of 1st-round endings.

For Anders, he has ended up going the distance in 4 of his past 6 fights, while there was also a no contest in March 2021 against Darren Stewart. It isn’t a certainty that this one ends early, but generally Barriault doesn’t waste much time getting the job done.