In a bantamweight bout, Kyler Phillips and Cameron Else tangle at UFC on ESPN 16 Saturday at the UFC’s Fight Island facility in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The prelims kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+, followed by the main card set for 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+.
Phillips (7-1) will be making his second appearances at the UFC level. He picked up a unanimous-decision victory over Gabriel Silva in his debut Feb. 29, 2020, on the Benavidez-Figueiredo card in Jacksonville. “The Matrix” has five fights that ended inside the distance in his eight career bouts, winning four by TKO/KO and one via submission.
Else (10-4) will make his UFC debut after pushing past Brad Evans by submission (guillotine) at Fusion FC 32 on Feb. 8, 2020. In his 14 career professional fights, only one has ended up going the distance, and that hasn’t happened since Feb. 15, 2014 at CWFC 64 against Spencer Hewitt. It will be interesting to see if “Camchida” struggles with his cardio if Phillips forces him to go deep into the fight. Else hasn’t had a fight go past Round 1 since June 24, 2017, and he has had nine of his 10 bouts end in Round 1 since that unanimous decision loss to Hewitt.
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Kyler Phillips vs. Cameron Else betting odds
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:42 a.m. ET.
Phillips (-455) is quite expensive on the 2-way line, so skip that. Instead, look to PHILLIPS BY KO/TKO, DQ or SUBMISSION (-162) on the 5-way line, as there is much less risk. In addition, playing UNDER 2.5 ROUNDS (-189) is a solid play, as Else hasn’t gone very deep into fights during his career, and Phillips has had five of his eight career fights end in the first round.
As I’ve suggested numerous times in the past, target two of three rounds for a fight finish. PHILLIPS IN ROUND 1 (+220) and PHILLIPS IN ROUND 2 (+350) are good plays. You will lose one of the bets but will still be ahead if the fight ends in the first two rounds with Phillips getting his hand raised.
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Also see:
- UFC on ESPN 16 predictions (MMA Junkie)
- MMA Junkie – The latest UFC/MMA coverage
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