UFC 297 Odds, Prediction: Brad Katona vs. Garrett Armfield
Katona is a -200 favourite to win on the MMA odds and Armfield is a +165 underdog.
Brad Katona UFC 297 Odds
Sean O’Malley is the current UFC bantamweight champion and the 32-year-old Katona, from Winnipeg, is unranked in the division with a 15-2 career mark. In 2011, Katona – who has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Manitoba — won in the Canadian Golden Gloves championship and the Ringside World Championships. Katona moved to Dublin, Ireland, in 2016 to train under John Kavanagh at the Straight Blast Gym and become teammates with UFC superstar Conor McGregor.
“Superman” was 2-2 in his first four UFC bouts but has won five straight. He was last in the Octagon in October at UFC 292 and beat Cody Gibson by unanimous decision to become the first-ever two-time winner of The Ultimate Fighter competition. The bout won the Fight of the Night award. Katona also beat Jay Cucciniello by unanimous decision in his UFC debut in the TUF 27 finale in July 2018.
The 5-foot-6 Katona has a reach of 64 inches and his bouts average 15:00. He lands 4.80 significant strikes per minute with 51 per cent accuracy and absorbs 4.57 with 50 per cent defence. His takedown average is 1.00 per 15 minutes with 20 per cent accuracy, and his takedown defence is 50 per cent.
Both of Katona’s losses – to Hunter Azure and Merab Dvalishvili – came via decision. He has nine wins via the judges, three by submission and one by KO/TKO. Katona has earned all three of his UFC victories by decision. For Saturday, his favoured method of victory is by decision at +115, followed by submission at +325 and KO/TKO/DQ at +1200. A draw is +5000. To win in Round 1, he’s +650, in Round 2 +800 and in Round 3 +1100.
Garrett Armfield UFC 297 Odds
The 27-year-old Armfield, also unranked in the division, is from Missouri and 9-3 in his pro career dating to 2018. He bounced around a few organizations before making his UFC debut in July 2022 and losing by second-round technical submission (arm-triangle choke) to David Onama in a late-notice bout at featherweight.
Armfield bounced back with a first-round TKO victory (punches) over Toshiomi Kazama in August of last year. Armfield was the aggressor from the start, battering his opponent’s face, and a huge right hand dropped Kazama, which prompted the referee to stop the bout the 4:16 mark. Armfield dropped down to his original weight class to notch his first UFC win. Kazama is now 0-2 in the UFC with two first-round stoppage losses so perhaps he’s not the best competition.
The 5-foot-6 Armfield has a reach of 70 inches and his fights average 6:15. He lands 5.29 significant strikes per minute with 44 per cent accuracy and absorbs 3.52 with 57 per cent defence. His takedown average is literally zero, and his takedown defence is 75 per cent.
Armfield has two losses by submission and one by decision, with six wins by KO/TKO, two by submission and one by decision. For Saturday, his favoured method of victory is by decision at +350, followed by KO/TKO/DQ at +500 and submission at +1200. To win in Round 1, he’s +750, Round 2 +1000 and Round 3 +1400.
The over-under for the scheduled three-rounder is 2.5. That it goes the distance is -155 with no at +125.
