After COVID-19 brought the sports world to a screeching halt back in March, UFC president Dana White pledged to create a safe environment for fights to continue. That dream soon will be realized in the United Arab Emirates, as UFC 251 will take place on Saturday, July 11 at UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. Three title fights are scheduled, with Kamaru Usman defending his welterweight championship against Gilbert Burns in the headliner of the main UFC 251 fight card that is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET. Usman will be making his second defense since defeating Tyron Woodley for the belt at UFC 235 in March 2019. 

With Burns being his usual partner, Usman has moved his training camp from South Florida to Colorado and been working with UFC interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje while preparing for the fight. Usman is a -220 favorite (risk $220 to win $100), while Burns is a +180 underdog in the latest UFC 251 odds from William Hill. In the co-main event, Max Holloway (+165) will challenge Alexander Volkanovski (-195) for the featherweight title. Before locking in your UFC 251 picks, make sure to see the UFC predictions from SportsLine MMA analyst Kyle Marley. 

The accomplished MMA analyst has been on fire, as he has hit 12 consecutive main event winners. Last week, he told SportsLine members to expect Dustin Poirier (-200) to post a victory over Dan Hooker (+175) in their UFC Fight Night lightweight main event. Marley said Poirier would win at least a 48-47 decision if the fight went to the scorecards. That’s exactly what happened, as two judges had that exact score while the third gave Poirier a 48-46 advantage en route to a unanimous decision. 

Marley also called a decisive victory two weeks ago for Curtis Blaydes (-400) against Alexander Volkov (+320) in their heavyweight main event. Anyone who has consistently followed Marley’s UFC picks is way up. 

Now, with UFC 251 approaching, Marley has carefully studied every matchup on the card, identified the best value in the UFC 251 odds and released his picks for every fight. Those UFC 251 picks only are available here.

Usman vs. Burns preview

Usman enters this matchup with a 15-fight winning streak after successfully defending his title with a technical-knockout victory over Colby Covington at UFC 245 on Dec. 14. With that victory, the 33-year-old Nigerian improved his UFC record to 11-0 and his overall career mark to 16-1. 

The win over Covington marked the first time in five fights and second in 10 that Usman did not have to go the distance in order to get his hand raised. A former NCAA Division II national wrestling champion at 174 pounds, he averages 16 minutes, 40 seconds per fight, which ranks second in UFC welterweight history and seventh overall in the promotion’s existence. 

The top-ranked Burns (19-3) also is on a winning streak, as his run reached six fights with a unanimous-decision victory over Woodley in the main event of UFC Fight Night on May 30. The 33-year-old Brazilian, who won the gold medal in the 2011 World BJJ Championships, has been quite active during the coronavirus pandemic and will be stepping into the Octagon for the third time in four months. You can see Marley’s full Burns vs. Usman picks here.

Top UFC 251 predictions for July 11

We’ll share one of Marley’s UFC 251 predictions here: He is backing Petr Yan (-260) to defeat Jose Aldo (+210) for the vacant UFC bantamweight title. 

Yan (14-1), who is ranked third in the division, is coming off a 43-second knockout victory over Urijah Faber at UFC 245 in December. The triumph was the 27-year-old Russian’s ninth in a row overall and sixth since making his UFC debut in June 2018. 

The 33-year-old Aldo (28-6) is a two-time UFC featherweight champion and also held the interim title during his time in that division before moving down in weight in order to capture the crown vacated when Henry Cejudo retired in May. The switch did not start out the way the Brazilian had hoped, as he dropped a split decision to Marlon Moraes at UFC 245 in his bantamweight debut for his fifth loss in eight overall fights. 

“Yan is the more dangerous striker who will be throwing more volume,” Marley told SportsLine. “I see him having more success the longer this fight goes.” 

How to make UFC 251 picks

Marley also has strong picks for Usman vs. Burns and every other bout on the UFC 251 card. He’s also backing one combatant who is “the more powerful guy.” You can see those UFC 251 picks only at SportsLine. 

Who wins Usman vs. Burns at UFC 251? And how exactly does each fight end? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed picks on every fight on Saturday’s UFC 251 card, all from the accomplished expert who’s up nearly $21,000 and has nailed 12 straight main events, and find out.

UFC 251 odds (via William Hill US)

Kamaru Usman (-220) vs. Gilbert Burns (+180)
Alexander Volkanovski (-195) vs. Max Holloway (+165)
Petr Yan (-260) vs. Jose Aldo (+210)
Jessica Andrade (+165) vs. Rose Namajunas (-195)
Amanda Ribas (-800) vs. Paige VanZant (+550)
Volkan Oezdemir (-160) vs. Jiri Prochazka (+135)
Elizeu Dos Santos (-115) vs. Muslim Salikhov (-105)
Makwan Amirkhani (-195) vs. Danny Henry (+165)
Leonardo Santos (-190) vs. Roman Bogatov (+160)
Marcin Tybura (-105) vs. Alexandr Romanov (-115)
Raulian Paiva (-195) vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov (+165)
Karol Rosa (-210) vs. Vanessa Melo (+175)
Martin Day (-175) vs. Davey Grant (+150)