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UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Burns odds, best bet

Buda Mendes / UFC / Getty

UFC Fight Night takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It will feature a pivotal welterweight bout between former champion Tyron Woodley and Gilbert Burns.

Here's one top play, as well as full odds for the event.

Gilbert Burns (+155) vs. Tyron Woodley

Jeff Bottari / UFC / Getty

Burns has looked unstoppable since moving up to the 170-pound division last year, and he'll look to keep the momentum going in his first UFC main event and the biggest fight of his career.

"Durinho" entered the promotion in 2014, primarily as a jiu-jitsu ace. Since then, he's greatly improved his stand-up game by working with top striking coach Henri Hooft in Florida. Burns has turned into a threat in every facet of MMA, and his first-round knockout of Demian Maia in March proved that.

One of the most explosive and powerful fighters in the promotion, Woodley is overall more technical on the feet than his younger foe. But Burns' pressure will give the former champ problems, especially because they will be competing in a smaller cage than usual.

In recent years, Woodley has been a counter fighter; he waits for his opponents to come forward, and then he attacks. "The Chosen One" is good at controlling the pace and range of his fights, but the smaller venue will make that difficult. Burns should be able to close the distance and land on Woodley at a fairly high rate.

The 33-year-old Brazilian is significantly more active than Woodley, and his volume will allow him to edge out rounds over the seasoned veteran. If the fight goes to the mat, Burns will have the advantage as a world-class grappler. But Woodley has a takedown defense of 92%, so, ultimately, I expect to see a strike-heavy affair.

As long as Burns avoids Woodley's game-changing knockout power, he should be able to outpoint the 38-year-old en route to a decision victory. Burns continues to get better between fights, so I think it's worth taking a stab at him as the underdog.

Here are the full odds for UFC Fight Night on May 30:

Main card

Tyron Woodley (-175) vs. Gilbert Burns (+155)
Augusto Sakai (-115) vs. Blagoy Ivanov (-105)
Billy Quarantillo (-135) vs. Spike Carlyle (+115)
Roosevelt Roberts (-360) vs. Brok Weaver (+300)
Mackenzie Dern (-440) vs. Hannah Cifers (+350)

Preliminary card

Antonina Shevchenko (-130) vs. Katlyn Chookagian (+110)
Daniel Rodriguez (-265) vs. Gabriel Green (+225)
Jamahal Hill (-120) vs. Klidson Abreu (+100)
Tim Elliott (-165) vs. Brandon Royval (+145)
Casey Kenney (-270) vs. Louis Smolka (+230)
Chris Gutierrez (-110) vs. Vince Morales (-110)

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