UFC 298 best bets: Can Whittaker still be trusted after KO loss?

Alexander Volkanovski is set to make the sixth defense of his UFC featherweight title against undefeated challenger Ilia Topuria, with that matchup taking top billing at UFC 298 on Saturday.

The card also features a pivotal middleweight bout between former champion Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa.

Volkanovski is slightly favored to retain the 145-pound belt, sitting at -125 on theScore Bet. This isn't a surprise, as Volkanovski is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport and arguably one of the most accomplished athletes in UFC history. However, the Australian's title reign has never felt so in jeopardy of ending. He's 35 years old, coming off a knockout loss to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, and is facing a hungry, undefeated contender in Topuria. There are too many question marks around this matchup to comfortably bet on either fighter.

Before the action gets underway at Honda Center in Anaheim, here are the two best bets for the event.

Parlay: Robert Whittaker (-245) / Dvalishvili-Cejudo over 2.5 rounds (-330)

Parlay has -120 odds; $100 wager profits $83.49

Whittaker has taken on muscular, heavy-handed fighters like Costa before - Yoel Romero twice and Jared Cannonier - and walked away with his hand raised. Expect no different this weekend.

Sure, the former middleweight champion is coming off a knockout loss to current champ Dricus Du Plessis last July. And at 33 years old and having been a contender for the better part of a decade, maybe Whittaker's very best days are behind him. But Saturday's co-main event is a favorable stylistic matchup for "The Reaper."

In what will likely be a stand-up battle, Whittaker will prove he's the more technical striker. Costa has struggled in the past against fighters who throw straight punches, and Whittaker might end up choosing to jab Costa all night long.

Costa's best path to victory is a huge knockout. Some believe Whittaker's chin isn't what it used to be after seeing him get finished by Du Plessis. But Whittaker has the footwork and fight IQ to stay away from Costa's biggest shots. Expect Whittaker to play it safe and outwork Costa for a unanimous decision victory.

On the other side of the parlay, No. 2-ranked bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili faces former two-division champion Henry Cejudo with a title shot potentially on the line.

Dvalishvili is a freak of nature, a cardio and takedown machine who turns pace itself into a weapon. But the Georgian fighter isn't a big finisher. Nine of Dvalishvili's 11 UFC bouts have gone to the judges' scorecards, with 10 of those going past two-and-a-half rounds. Cejudo has a few more knockouts under his belt than Dvalishvili, but he still has more decisions than finishes throughout his storied UFC career.

Dvalishvili and Cejudo are two of the highest-level wrestlers in the bantamweight division, and their styles will make for a somewhat competitive matchup. The over prop is a safe parlay piece.

Straight bet: Amanda Lemos to beat Mackenzie Dern (-135)

Strawweight contender Amanda Lemos is looking to get back on track after coming up short in her bid for the title against champion Zhang Weili at UFC 292 last summer.

Perhaps because of the lopsided nature of the Zhang fight, oddsmakers are underestimating Lemos a bit in her fight against Mackenzie Dern. The Brazilian should be closer to a 2-to-1 favorite.

Lemos may not have the brutal knockout power that Jessica Andrade used to finish Dern at UFC 295 last November, but she has the tools on the feet to pick her opponent apart over the course of their three-round preliminary bout. And although Dern is a jiu-jitsu specialist, she doesn't have the takedowns to grind out Lemos like Zhang did in August.

This is a matchup that will go in Lemos' favor more often than not. And it's hard to resist the low price of -135.

Here are the full odds for UFC 298 on Feb. 17:

Main card (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET)

• Alexander Volkanovski (-125) vs. Ilia Topuria (+105)
• Robert Whittaker (-240) vs. Paulo Costa (+195)
• Ian Machado Garry (-235) vs. Geoff Neal (+190)
• Merab Dvalishvili (-240) vs. Henry Cejudo (+195)
• Anthony Hernandez (-245) vs. Roman Kopylov (+200)

Preliminary card (ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)

• Amanda Lemos (-135) vs. Mackenzie Dern (+115)
• Marcos Rogerio de Lima (-205) vs. Junior Tafa (+170)
• Rinya Nakamura (-1300) vs. Carlos Vera (+700)
• Zhang Mingyang (-125) vs. Brendson Ribeiro (+105)

Early preliminary card (ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET)

• Danny Barlow (-210) vs. Josh Quinlan (+175)
• Oban Elliott (-320) vs. Val Woodburn (+255)
• Miranda Maverick (-185) vs. Andrea Lee (+155)