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In a 3-round middleweight bout on the main card, Nassourdine Imavov and Brendan Allen meet at UFC Fight Night 243 Saturday at Accor Arena in Paris, France. Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s UFC odds around the UFC Fight Night 243: Imavov vs. Allen odds, and make our expert picks and predictions.
The prelims begin at noon ET on ESPN+, and the main card begins at 3 p.m. ET, also on ESPN+.
Records: Imavov (14-4-0) | Allen (24-5-0)
Imavov has picked up 2 straight wins since a no-contest against Chris Curtis at UFC 289. The victories are impressive, too, coming by majority decision against Roman Dolidze and via KO/TKO in round 4 against Jared Cannonier, both in main events.
He is 5-1-1 in the past 7 bouts, with his lone setback coming by way of unanimous decision against Sean Strickland in another main event in Jan. 2023.
Allen has racked up 7 straight fights since a KO/TKO loss to Curtis, including a split-decision victory in a revenge match, also against Curtis. Prior to that, Allen had 4 submission victories. In the 7-bout streak, he has 5 wins via submission, and 2 decision wins.
Both fighters have a reach of 75 inches, while Imavov has a slight 4.58-to-3.98 significant strikes landed per minute advantage. The strike accuracy percentage difference is rather negligible, with Allen checking in at 59.29%, and Imavov at 58.88%. Allen is much better on takedown average at 1.74, to 0.98 for Imavov, while the underdog Allen has a 47.22% accuracy on takedowns, to just 36.00% for Imavov.
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UFC Fight Night 243: Imavov vs. Allen odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list of UFC odds. Lines last updated at 7:59 a.m. ET.
- Fight result (2-way line): Imavov -200 (bet $200 to win $100) | Allen +165 (bet $100 to win $165)
- Over/Under: 2.5 rounds (Over -165 | Under +125)
- Will the fight go the distance? (Yes -120 | No -110)
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UFC Fight Night 243: Imavov vs. Allen picks and predictions
Fight result (2-way line or moneyline)
While Imavov (-200) is the favorite in his native France, ALLEN (+165) is an attractive play straight up on the 2-way line.
It’s never easy to go into hostile territory and get the victory. Imavov will likely feed off the energy of the crowd. But, Allen has very similar stats to Imavov, and he is much better on takedowns. It’s a coin flip when these fighters get to the mat — as they’re equally strong in the ground game.
Over/Under (O/U)
Roll with NO (-110): WILL THE FIGHT GO THE DISTANCE?, as we should get a finish here.
While Imavov has gone the distance in 3 of his past 5 fights, he had 3 KO/TKO wins and a no contest in the past 8 bouts.
For Allen, he had a decision last time out, but prior to that he has 4 straight submission victories. It wouldn’t be surprising to see this fight end before the judges need to figure out a winner. UNDER 2.5 ROUNDS (+125) is an attractive play at plus-money, too, if you’re a little less conservative.
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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
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