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UFC is back at the APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada with UFC Vegas 71. The card will be held Saturday, April 22 and the main event is a battle of top five heavyweights between No. 3 Sergei Pavlovich and No. 4 Curtis Blaydes.
The preliminary card will begin at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+, there are seven fights scheduled on the prelims. The main show gets started at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+ with five fights on the docket.
Pavlovich (17-1-0) and Blaydes (17-3-0) is arguably the best heavyweight matchup that can be made in the UFC without champion Jon Jones being involved. It’s a great clash of styles with Pavlovich using his heavy-handed strikes that have delivered an 82% finish rate (all knockouts or TKOs) and Blaydes, who can strike with the best of them, but implores a more discipkined take down game, averaging over six takedowns per fight. The match is scheduled for five rounds, which will make conditioning a factor.
Blaydes is a -165 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook while Pavlovich is the underdog at +140.
The only other match on the card that features ranked fighters is in on the preliminary card in the women’s featherweight division with No. 9 Karol Rosa and No. 13 Norma Dumont. Rosa is betting at -105 and Dumont is a slight favorite at -115.
UFC Fight Night: Sergei Pavlovich vs. Curtis Blaydes main card, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Main event: Sergei Pavlovich vs. Curtis Blaydes, heavyweight
- Brad Tavares vs. Bruno Silva, middleweight
- Bobby Green vs. Jared Gordon, lightweight
- Iasmin Lucindo vs. Brogan Walker, women’s flyweight
- Jeremiah Wells vs. Matthew Semelsberger, welterweight
Preliminary card, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN+
- Ricky Glenn vs. Christos Giagos, lightweight
- Rani Yahya vs. Montel Jackson, bantamweight
- Karol Rosa vs. Norma Dumont, women’s featherweight
- Mohammed Usman vs. Junior Tafa, heavyweight
- Francis Marshall vs. William Gomis, featherweight
- Priscila Cachoeira vs. Karine Silva, women’s flyweight
- Brady Hiestand vs. Batgerel Danaa, bantamweight