Expert picks and best bets: Who should bettors back at UFC 292 and 2023 PFL playoffs? - ESPN

UFC men's bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling will go for a record-setting fourth 135-pound title defense when he takes on Sean O'Malley in the main event at UFC 292 in Boston on Saturday night (10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV).

Sterling, ESPN's No. 7 ranked pound-for-pound fighter, is riding a nine-fight win streak. Most recently he beat former division champ, Henry Cejudo by split decision at UFC 288 in May. O'Malley, ranked No. 4 in ESPN's divisional rankings, has won four of his last five bouts. He also won his last fight by split decision, beating Petr Yan at UFC 280 last October.

In the co-main event, women's strawweight champion Zhang Weili will fight Amanda Lemos. Zhang, sits atop ESPN's women's pound-for-pound rankings, she beat Cara Esparza to reclaim the title at UFC 281 in November 2022. Lemos, ranked No. 3 in ESPN's divisional rankings, has won back-to-back fights via stoppage.

Former UFC women's featherweight and current ESPN MMA analyst Megan Anderson gives her perspective on the 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.

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

How Sterling wins: He's got to get a hold of O'Malley. Utilize his wrestling to get O'Malley on the mat, and then control him there. From there, Sterling can use his ground and pound or his jiu-jitsu skills to take the back to dictate the fight. Sterling's ability to take his opponent's back is among the best in the entire promotion.

The way he uses his wrestling to create scrambles, and then get the takedown to get the opponent's back is so impressive. We saw him do it against top-level guys like Cejudo, Yan