The MMA Vivisection – UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards 2, picks, odds, & analysis

The UFC is back with their latest PPV offering and it’s... fine, I guess? Leon Edwards has certainly earned the right to rematch Kamaru…

By: Zane Simon | 10 months ago
The MMA Vivisection – UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards 2, picks, odds, & analysis
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

The UFC is back with their latest PPV offering and it’s… fine, I guess? Leon Edwards has certainly earned the right to rematch Kamaru Usman, it remains to be seen whether he can make it an interesting bout this time around or not. Jose Aldo vs. Merab Dvailishvili is a certified war with title implications. The rest of the PPV bookings seem either decidedly one-sided or lackluster in their name value.

Your official Vivi hosts for UFC 278!
June M. Williams

For fans interested in diving deeper into the undercard, however, check out the Prelims Vivi below.

The MMA Vivisection is brought to you by ‘The Fine Art of Violence’, a collection of art and essays recapping the year in MMA by Chris Rini, featuring the most talented artists and writers in Mixed Martial Arts. The book is available in both hard copy and digital formats at chrisrini.com.

Here’s a look at the UFC 278 fight card as it stood at the time of recording:

ESPN+ PPV CARD | 10pm/7pm ET&PT
Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards 2 — At 2:43, Odds 34:15, Picks, Both: Usman
Paulo Costa vs. Luke Rockhold — At 34:25, Odds 43:09, Picks, Both: Costa
José Aldo vs. Merab Dvalishvili — At 44:16, Odds 59:30, Picks, Zane: Dvalishvili, Connor: Aldo
Lucie Pudilová vs. Wu Yanan — At 59:44, Odds 1:08:13, Picks, Both: Pudilova
Tyson Pedro vs. Harry Hunsucker — At 1:09:01, Odds 1:15:48, Picks, Both: Pedro

ESPN/ESPN+ PRELIMS | 8pm/5pm ET&PT
Marcin Tybura vs. Alexandr Romanov — At 1:14, Odds – Skipped, Picks, Both: Romanov
Jared Gordon vs. Leonardo Santos — At 6:38, Odds 11:30, Picks, Both: Gordon
Sean Woodson vs. Luis Saldaña — At 12:32, Odds 21:05, Picks, Both: Woodson
Miranda Maverick vs. Shanna Young — At 21:55, Odds 26:32, Picks, Both: Maverick

UFC FIGHTPASS EARLY PRELIMS | 6pm/3pm ET&PT
AJ Fletcher vs. Ange Loosa — At 27:26, Odds 41:10, Picks, Both: Loosa
Amir Albazi vs. Francisco Figueiredo — At 41:48, Odds 47:39, Picks, Both: Albazi
Aoriqileng vs. Jay Perrin — At 47:59, Odds 55:29, Picks, Both: Qileng
Victor Altamirano vs. Daniel da Silva — At 57:15, Odds 1:03:12, Picks, Zane: da Silva, Connor: Altamirano

For those of you following the picks made on the show, we started tracking them with the July 13th, 2020 Vivisection shows for UFC Fight Island 1: ‘Kattar vs. Ige’.

So far, here are the overall standings:
UFC San Diego: Vera vs. Cruz — Zane went 7/13 for 54% last week, while Connor actually led with 10/13 for 77%.
Overall stats from UFC Fight Island 1 through UFC San Diego — Zane is now at 694/1077 for 64.4% and Connor is now at 654/1077 for 60.7%.
Stats so far for 2022 — Zane is at 225/340 for 66.1% and Connor is at 212/340 for 62.3%.
Stats for 2021 — Zane went 305/493 for 62% and Connor went 285/493 for 58%.
Stats for July-Dec 2020 — Zane went 164/244 for 67% and Connor went 157/244 for 64%.
Reference: Vivi Picks Stats_8.18.22.pdf

If you enjoy our variety of shows, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, and give us a “like”, share & subscribe on your BE Presents Podcast platform of choice: SoundCloud, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, OverCast, Player FM, & Amazon Music – For previous episodes of the show, check out our playlists on any of our BE Presents channels. Check out the new MMA Vivi Facebook Page, where the shows always drop an hour earlier than they do anywhere else on the network, be sure to “Like”, Follow, Share — At: https://www.facebook.com/TheMMAVivi.

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About the author
Zane Simon
Zane Simon

Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer, and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. He has worked with the website since 2013, taking on a wide variety of roles. A lifelong combat sports fan, Zane has trained off & on in both boxing and Muay Thai. He currently hosts the long-running MMA Vivisection podcast, which he took over from Nate Wilcox & Dallas Winston in 2015, as well as the 6th Round podcast, started in 2014. Zane is also responsible for developing and maintaining the ‘List of current UFC fighters’ on Bloody Elbow, a resource he originally developed for Wikipedia in 2010.

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