UFC on ESPN 11: Blaydes vs. Volkov Odds, Schedule, Predictions

Curtis Blaydes and Alexander Volkov are set to anchor the UFC's latest offering on ESPN at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas. 

Blaydes comes in looking to solidify himself in the heavyweight title picture with a win over Volkov. His second-round finish of Junior dos Santos in January moved his current winning streak to three and vaulted him up to the No. 3 rank in the division.

The co-main event features a featherweight bout between the heavy-handed Josh Emmett and rising contender Shane Burgos. Both fighters come in in the bottom half of the Top 10, so it's a crucial fight for either of them to make the leap to the top five. 

The rest of the card features two cagey veterans in Jim Miller and Clay Guida hoping to rekindle some magic against much younger competition, Raquel Pennington and Marion Reneau trying to get back on track and Belal Muhammad vs. Lyman Good. 

Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)

• Curtis Blaydes (-400; bet $400 to win $100) vs. Alexander Volkov (+320; $100 bet wins $320)
• Shane Burgos (-140) vs. Josh Emmett (+120)
• Raquel Pennington (-180) vs. Marion Reneau (+160)
• Lyman Good (+100) vs. Belal Muhammad (-120)
• Jim Miller (+200) vs. Roosevelt Roberts (-240)

Prelims (ESPN/ESPN+ at 5 p.m. ET)

• Bobby Green (-240) vs. Clay Guida (+200)
• Tecia Torres (+180) vs. Brianna Van Buren (-210)
• Marc-Andre Barriault (-110) vs. Oskar Piechota (-110)
• Cortney Casey (-105) vs. Gillian Robertson (-115)
• Frank Camacho (N/A) vs. Justin Jaynes (N/A)
• Roxanne Modafferi (-120) vs. Lauren Murphy (+100)
• Austin Hubbard (+165) vs. Max Rohskopf (-185)

Odds via Caesars Palace

Blaydes vs. Volkov

The heavyweight division has sorted itself into tiers at this point. At the top, there's Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic, with Francis Ngannou not too far behind. Then there's a gap followed by Blaydes and then a gap with everyone else. 

He is 8-2 in the UFC. Both of those losses have come at the hands of Ngannou. The latest was a knockout loss in just 45 seconds, but Blaydes has since rallied to win his last three fights, the last two by TKO. While Ngannou has punched his way to the top of the rankings Blaydes has proven his wrestling is too much for most opponents to deal with. 

"My game plan is always the same," he said, per Steve Latrell of UFC.com. "It's a pretty universal game plan: pressure, pace, wrestling, ground-and-pound. It doesn't matter who you are; Cain Velasquez, Stipe, DC, Volkov...it works on everyone."

That doesn't mean he's completely one dimensional, though. His striking has come along. He didn't land a takedown against JDS but still came away with the same result. 

Volkov presents unique challenges. At 6'7" with an 80" reach, he's a long striker with some grappling chops of his own. While Blaydes is going to obviously look to pressure Volkov, he'll have to figure out ways to cover the distance and negate Volkov's reach. 

The former Bellator and M-1 champion is 5-1 in the UFC and most recently beat Greg Hardy by decision. However, he really hasn't seen a grappler like Blaydes. Fabricio Werdum is the closest facsimile, and he was able to take him down three times. 

Unless his takedown defense has improved significantly since then, this could be a long night for him. 

Prediction: Blaydes via third-round TKO

Burgos vs. Emmett

Blaydes and Volkov might have their names on the marquee, but the people's main event on Saturday night should be Burgos and Emmett. 

The two featherweights create a classic matchup of volume vs. power. Burgos pushes an unbelievable pace, landing 7.09 strikes per minute with 50 percent accuracy. However, Emmett has rare one-punch power at featherweight, and he's turned out the lights on Mirsad Bektic and Ricardo Lamas in the first round. 

Burgos strengths play to his longer frame. He's five inches taller than the 5'6" Emmett and holds a five-inch reach advantage. If he's able to stick to a jab-and-move game plan and stay out of Emmett's range, he could outbox his opponent to a decision. 

That doesn't sound like the plan, though. He knows he's getting a chance in the spotlight as the co-main event on an ESPN card. 

"In my mind, it's important to get a finish no matter what. I want it to be definitive, I want to it be something I did, not what three judges decided. I want people to remember my name and then go, 'Damn, I can't ever miss another one of this kid's fights again,'" he told Gavin Porter of UFC.com.

Burgos has earned the finish in two of his last three fights, with his only loss coming against Calvin Kattar. 

Emmett's power is the X-factor here. Over the course of a three-round fight, Burgos' efficiency while pushing a high pace make him the better all-around striker, but Emmett's ability to knock someone out even in fights he is trailing makes this one hard to predict. 

An Emmett knockout would be fun, but it's hard not to pick Burgos in this spot. 

Prediction: Burgos via decision