Expert picks and best bets: Can Ilia Topuria halt Ilia Topuria's win streak? - ESPN

Former UFC interim featherweight title challenger Josh Emmett returns to the Octagon on Saturday to face Ilia Topuria in the main event of this weekend's UFC Fight Night in Jacksonville (3 p.m. ET on ABC/ESPN+, with prelims at 11:30 on ESPN/ESPN+).

Emmett, ranked No. 7 in ESPN's divisional rankings, was on a five-fight win streak before losing to Yair Rodriguez in his last fight at UFC 284 in February. Topuria, ranked No. 10, is undefeated as a pro with 13 wins. He enters the contest after beating Bryce Mitchell by second-round submission at UFC 282 in December.

On Friday night, the PFL will continue its second half of the regular season with the featherweights and lightweights at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta (9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+, with prelims at 6 p.m. on ESPN+). The main event features last year's lightweight champion, Olivier Aubin-Mercier, taking on Anthony Romero. In the co-main event, Sadibou Sy, the 2022 PFL welterweight champ, will fight Shane Mitchell.

Brett Okamoto spoke to Xtreme Couture MMA coach Eric Nicksick to get his perspective on the UFC main event. ESPN's betting experts Reed Kuhn and Ian Parker add their insights and analysis on the main event and other intriguing bets they like on the card. Parker also provided his best bets from the PFL card.

Editor's note: Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.

How Emmett wins: The obvious path to victory for Emmett is to land that powerful right hand of his. But that's easier said than done when everyone knows what he wants. Emmett must be creative in his approach, and disguise it from a different angle. One way he could do that would be by forcing Topuria to the cage and using the corner posts to funnel Topuria to Emmett's power side. Another