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The MMA Vivisection - UFC 261: Usman vs. Masvidal picks, odds, & analysis

Zane Simon & Connor Ruebusch are back to break down this week’s UFC event in Jacksonville, FL. With picks and odds for every fight on the card, from Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal in the main event down to Ariane Carnelossi vs. Na Liang in the opening prelims.

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The UFC returns with a stacked PPV main card this week, including three title fights. Kamaru Usman looks to leave no doubt in his win over Jorge Masvidal, giving ‘Gamebred’ a rematch of their 2020 contest in the main event. In the co-main, Weili Zhang makes the second defense of her Strawweight belt, against former champion Rose Namajunas. Alongside those title fights, Valentina Shevchenko takes on what looks to be the most dangerous contender of her flyweight title reign, tackling powerhouse former strawweight champ Jessica Andrade.

For a deeper dive into the undercard, check out our Prelims Vivi below.

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ESPN+ PPV MAIN CARD | 10pm/7pm ET&PT
Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal - At 2:57, Odds 25:25, Picks - Both: Usman
Zhang Weili vs. Rose Namajunas - At 25:46, Odds 47:52, Picks - Both: Weili
Valentina Shevchenko vs. Jessica Andrade - At 48:18, Odds 1:02:12, Picks - Zane: Shevchenko, Connor: Andrade
Uriah Hall vs. Chris Weidman - At 1:02:43, Odds 1:15:12, Picks - Zane: Hall, Connor: Weidman
Anthony Smith vs. Jimmy Crute - At 1:15:25, Odds 1:20:53, Picks - Both: Crute

ESPN PRELIMS | 8pm/5pm ET&PT
Alex Oliveira vs. Randy Brown - At 2:37, Odds 13:24, Picks - Zane: Brown, Connor: Oliveira
Dwight Grant vs. Stefan Sekulic - At 14:35, Odds 19:40, Picks - Both: Grant
Karl Roberson vs. Brendan Allen - At 20:49, Odds 27:35, Picks - Zane: Roberson, Connor: Allen
Pat Sabatini vs. Tristan Connelly - At 28:23, Odds 34:18, Picks - Both: Sabatini

ESPN 2 PRELIMS | 6pm/3pm ET&PT
Danaa Batgerel vs. Kevin Natividad - At 34:44, Odds Skipped-Sorry, Picks - Both: Batgerel
Kazula Vargas vs. Rong Zhu - At 43:16, Odds 55:29, Picks - Both: Zhu
Qileng Aori vs. Jeffrey Molina - At 56:36, Odds 1:03:09, Picks - Both: Aori
Na Liang vs. Ariane Carnelossi - At 1:04:13, Odds 1:08:25, Picks - Both: Carnelossi

For those of you following the picks made on the show, we started tracking them with the July 13th, 2020 Vivisections for ‘Kattar vs. Ige’... Standings for our last event, UFC Vegas 24: Both Zane & Connor went 6 out of the 10 bouts we were left with.
So far, here are the overall standings:
Zane is now 254/396 and Connor is now 241/396

Be sure to follow Zane on twitter @TheZaneSimon, follow Connor, @BoxingBusch, and follow @BloodyElbow for all the latest in MMA happenings. If you enjoy our shows, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, or give us a “like”, share & subscribe over on whichever BE Presents Podcast Channel happens to be your listening platform of choice: SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes & Apple TV, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, OverCast, or Player FM, & NOW AMAZON MUSIC! – While you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe to Bloody Elbow Presents; that way you’ll always be the first to get all of BE’s daily MMA offerings. For previous episodes of the show, check out our playlists on all of our BE Presents channels.

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