This could be one of the most interesting fights of the night on Saturday, which makes it a little confusing as to why it’s on the prelim card. Aljamain Sterling, the former bantamweight champion, comes in with 10 wins in his last 11 fights, while Movsar Evloev is undefeated in his career.

Evloev is a -250 favourite to win on the UFC 310 odds, while Sterling is a +200 underdog.

Movsar Evloev UFC 310 odds

Evloev is currently ranked fifth in the UFC featherweight division. At 18-0 in his professional career, he is a former M-1 Global bantamweight champion. He made the move to the UFC in 2019 and has knocked off eight straight opponents in the Octagon, all by decision.

Evloev likely hasn’t earned a title shot yet because he hasn’t been able to finish an opponent since joining the UFC. After his unanimous decision win over Arnold Allen at UFC 297 in January, Dana White described the fight as sucking the life out of the building. It doesn’t take too much reading between the lines to see White is calling Evloev a boring fighter, which is a big part of why this fight isn’t on the main card.

The 30-year-old Russian will hold a 1.5-inch reach advantage. He’s a very technical fighter and he avoids taking dumb risks. Evloev is a grappling specialist with the second-most takedowns in UFC featherweight history. He’s averaged over five minutes of control time in eight UFC fights and he’s out-struck six of eight opponents. Evolev also has a high gas tank, so it won’t be surprising if this fight goes the distance.

Aljamain Sterling UFC 310 odds

Sterling moved up to featherweight after losing the bantamweight belt to Sean O’Malley at UFC 292 last year. The 35-year-old American is actually the first UFC champion to win the title by disqualification, but he earned the belt with successful championship defences against Petr Yan, T.J. Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo.

Another reason this fight is on the prelim card is because of the well-known beef between Sterling and White. Sterling has accused the UFC of favouring certain fighters, while White was vocally critical about Sterling refusing to fight teammate and current bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili.

“Funk Master” holds a three-inch leg reach advantage, with the majority of his wins coming by decision or submission. He’s a high volume kickboxer and he typically cut upwards of 30 pounds when fighting at bantamweight. He won’t have that advantage at 145 pounds. Sterling only has three career knockout victories, but if he wants to get past Evloev, he’ll likely need to win by submission or KO.

UFC 310 Prediction: Evloev vs. Sterling

This is a fight between Evloev, who is boring but effective, and Sterling, who owes a lot of his success to fortunate breaks. Give me boring and effective for the win in this one.

Evloev wins by decision/technical decision (-150).