RotoWire Expert Picks: UFC 278

RotoWire Expert Picks: UFC 278

This article is part of our UFC Picks series.

Kamaru Usman looks to cement himself among the MMA GOATS with yet another welterweight title defense, and meanwhile, a no-doubt Hall-of-Famer in Jose Aldo looks to get himself back in the bantamweight title picture.

As a reminder, the following selections are purely picks. If you're looking for a fantasy-specific breakdown of these fights, check out the MMA Mashup or our DraftKings MMA preview courtesy of Jon Litterine. We also have a MMA DFS Lineup Optimizer to try if you're looking to try out different combinations  of fighters or generate multiple lineups.

MATCHUP

WEIGHT 

CLASS

JONJAKE
(C) Kamaru Usman (-340) vs.
Leon Edwards (+280)

Welterweight
Championship

UsmanUsman
Paulo Costa (-295) vs. 
Luke Rockhold (+245)

Middleweight

CostaCosta
Jose Aldo (+105) vs.
Merab Dvalishvili (-125)

Bantamweight

AldoDvalishvili
Marcin Tybura (+275) vs.
Alexandr Romanov (-330)

Heavyweight

RomanovRomanov
Tyson Pedro (-740) vs.
Harry Hunsucker (+540)

Light
Heavyweight

PedroPedro
    
UFC 278 RECORD 2-33-2
2022 RECORD 26-1530-11
2022 PERCENTAGE .634.732
2021 RECORD 35-2842-21
2021 PERCENTAGE .556.667
2020 RECORD 36-1834-20
2020 PERCENTAGE .667.630
2019 RECORD 39-1935-23
2019 PERCENTAGE .672.603
ALL-TIME  231-142238-135
ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE .619.638

 

MATCHUP

WEIGHT 
CLASS

JOE

"SUNTZU"

SHAUN 
"TheDFSniper"

(C) Kamaru Usman (-340) vs.
Leon Edwards (+280)

Welterweight
Championship

UsmanUsman
Paulo Costa (-295) vs. 
Luke Rockhold (+245)

Middleeight

CostaCosta
Jose Aldo (+105) vs.
Merab Dvalishvili (-125)

Bantamweight

AldoDvalishvili
Marcin Tybura (+275) vs.
Alexandr Romanov (-330)

Heavyweight

TyburaTybura
Tyson Pedro (-740) vs.
Harry Hunsucker (+540)

Light
Heavyweight

PedroPedro
    
UFC 278 RECORD 3-24-1
2022 RECORD 29-1227-14
2022 PERCENTAGE .707.659
2021 RECORD 38-2536-27
2021 PERCENTAGE .603.571
2020 RECORD 36-1838-16
2020 PERCENTAGE .667.704
2019 RECORD 34-2434-24
2019 PERCENTAGE .586.586
ALL-TIME 164-98165-97
ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE .626.630

 

MATCHUP

WEIGHT 
CLASS

COLE     

DRAKE

(C) Kamaru Usman (-340) vs.
Leon Edwards (+280)

Welterweight
Championship

UsmanUsman
Paulo Costa (-295) vs. 
Luke Rockhold (+245)

Middleweight

CostaCosta
Jose Aldo (+105) vs.
Merab Dvalishvili (-125)

Bantamweight

AldoDvalishvili
Marcin Tybura (+275) vs.
Alexandr Romanov (-330)

Heavyweight

RomanovRomanov
Tyson Pedro (-740) vs.
Harry Hunsucker (+540)

Light
Heavyweight

PedroPedro
    
UFC 278 RECORD 2-33-2
2022 RECORD 26-1528-13
2022 PERCENTAGE .634.683
2021 RECORD 43-2117-14
2021 PERCENTAGE .672.548
2020 RECORD N/AN/A
2020 PERCENTAGE N/AN/A
2019 RECORD N/AN/A
2019 PERCENTAGE N/AN/A
ALL-TIME 66-3445-27
ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE .660.625

THE PICKERS

Jon Litterine: RotoWire lead MMA beat writer and scribe for our weekly DrafKings preview. Lead analyst on the RotoWire MMA Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @JonLitterine.

Jake Letarski: RotoWire.com Operations Manager, plus MMA and NCAA Hoops Senior Editor. Host on the RotoWire MMA Podcast and guest on the RotoWire Fantasy Football Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @RotoJake.

Joe "SunTszu": Known more commonly by his Twitter handle @SunTszu, Joe is a Hedge Fund Executive by day and high-volume DFS player by night. He is a 2x "Bracket Challenge" & "Gotham qualifier. You can also find him as one of the original contributors of "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," a DFS-centric video breakdown. He is also a co-creator of the "Creating Alpha in DFS" podcast.

@theDFSniper: @theDFSniper is the host and lead instigator of "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," a DFS-centric video breakdown. He also appears on the LoudMouth MMA podcast and contributes soccer content to DFS Army.

Cole Shelton: Cole Shelton is a full-time sports writer focusing on MMA. His work has appeared on BJPenn.com, CBC Sports, Sports Betting Dime and Blue Jays Nation. He currently pens the MMA Best Bets column on RotoWire. Follow him on Twitter at @ColeShelton91.

Drake Burden: Drake is a proven DFS winner with multiple four-figure paydays under his belt. He took an interest to writing MMA during the pandemic and is active in various Discords and other social media communities. Follow him on Twitter at @DBurdz.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jake Letarski
RotoWire Editor for College Basketball and MMA. Frequent podcaster, plus radio and video guest. Follow Jake on Twitter at @RotoJake.
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