With a big day ahead, let’s get to our Anthony Hernandez-Roman Kopylov pick, odds and preview. Be sure to check out the rest of our UFC articles, including our full-card breakdown, and or our betting model’s top picks
Anthony Hernandez-Roman Kopylov Pick, Odds and Preview
Anthony Hernandez-Roman Kopylov Odds
UFC 298 Odds via DraftKings
Weight Class: Middleweight
Hernandez: -260 | Kopylov: +185
Hernandez -3.5: -165 | Kopylov +3.5: +120
Over 1.5: -175 | Under 1.5: +135
Anthony Hernandez-Roman Kopylov Pick & Preview
Both Anthony Hernandez (11-2) and Roman Kopylov (12-2) come into this bout on a four-fight win streak. While the books like Hernandez by a substantial margin, Kopylov’s power is not to be messed with.
Hernandez would be smart not to underestimate Kopylov’s knockout power to the same degree the books are.
Kopylov is an interesting fighter in many ways. When you hear that he’s a five-time world champion in combat sambo, it’s fair to think he employs a grappling-heavy style in the same vein as Khabib Nurmagomedov or Islam Makhachev.
That assumption would be incorrect, however, as Kopylov attempts less than one takedown per fight. Instead, he dominates opponents with his deadly striking.
Kopylov’s precision and power is best demonstrated by the fact that two of his four knockout victories came from strikes to the body, not the head.
While it doesn’t take much power to shut an opponent down when striking to the liver, it takes a high degree of accuracy to actually land it.
Despite Kopylov’s striking-oriented approach, he has great takedown defense, stuffing 92% of his opponents’ attempts. His ability to keep the fight standing is especially important against Hernandez. In his seven UFC bouts, Hernandez won three times by submission. He’s also good at getting the fight to the ground, as he lands 6.79 takedowns per fifteen minutes of fight-time.
If Kopylov can’t stuff Hernandez’s takedowns, he could be in real danger. Nonetheless, Kopylov has a special ability to stop his opponents, attaining all four of his UFC victories by knockout. With implied probability sitting at just 22% for Kopylov to win by knockout, the books severely underestimate his stopping power, but you shouldn’t.
Best Anthony Hernandez-Roman Kopylov Pick: Kopylov to win by KO/TKO/DQ, +350 at DraftKings.
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