UFC 246: Anthony Pettis vs. Diego Ferreira odds, picks and best bets

(Editor’s note: This story first published at SportsBookWire, part of the USA TODAY Network.)

Anthony Pettis and Diego Ferreira will go toe to toe Saturday at UFC 246 in Las Vegas. We break down the Pettis-Ferreira betting odds and lines, with UFC betting picks, tips and best bets for UFC 246.

Pettis (22-9 MMA, 9-8 UFC) is looking to bounce back after a unanimous decision loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 241 in August, and he has alternated wins and losses in each of his past nine bouts. Since successfully defending the lightweight strap against Gilbert Melendez at UFC 181, Pettis has been in a freefall down the rankings, going just 4-7. However, he does have wins over Charles Oliveira, Jim Miller, Micheal Chiesa, and Stephen Thompson along the way, with the Thompson victory coming March 23 of last year in a knockout, so he is still very dangerous.

Ferreira (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) easily has the better record of the two fighters and is on a different trajectory. He also has a 74- to 72.5-inch reach advantage, and he hasn’t tasted defeat since back-to-back losses to Beneil Dariush at UFC 179 and a knockout at the hands of Dustin Poirier in 2015. His past two wins are by unanimous decision over Rustam Khabilov and Mairbek Taisumov.

Per BetMGM, Ferreira (-250) is a moderate favorite over Pettis (+180). The oddsmakers also lean to the match going the distance (three rounds), with odds there being set at -150 and the odds to not go a full three rounds at +115.

Are you new to sports betting? A $10 wager on Ferreira to win returns $4 in profit. A bet on Pettis returns a profit of $18 with a victory.

Pettis is still very dangerous, but he hasn’t been able to show much consistency lately, while Ferriera is younger, quicker and a lot better in the significant strike department. As long as Ferreira doesn’t let his guard down and plays solid defense, negating a huge punch and kill shot, he should be able to grind out a unanimous decision. The play here is Ferrerira to win by decision/technical decision (+115), with the fight going a full three rounds (-150).

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