UFC 289: Expert picks and best bets for Nunes-Aldana and Oliveira-Dariush - ESPN

Amanda Nunes looks to start another women's bantamweight title defense streak as she faces first-time UFC title challenger Irene Aldana in the main event of UFC 289 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada (10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV, with prelims at 8 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN+ and early prelims at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+).

Nunes, No. 1 in ESPN's women's pound-for-pound rankings, beat Julianna Peña to reclaim the title at UFC 277 in July 2022. Aldana, ranked No. 6 in ESPN's divisional rankings, is riding a two-fight win streak with wins over Yana Santos and Macy Chiasson, respectively.

In the co-main event, lightweight contenders Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush square off in what could be their path to a shot at reigning division champion Islam Makhachev. Oliveira, ESPN's No. 2 lightweight, lost the title to Makhachev at UFC 280 last October. Dariush, ranked right behind Oliveira, has won his last eight fights.

Brett Okamoto spoke to former UFC women's featherweight title challenger and current ESPN MMA analyst Megan Anderson to get her perspective on the matchups in the main event and co-main event. ESPN's betting experts Reed Kuhn and Ian Parker add their insights and analysis for the main event and other intriguing bets they like on the card.

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

How Nunes wins: Utilize her range and avoid a firefight in the pocket with Aldana. Aldana is sound defensively, but she still has that willingness and power to stand in the pocket and trade. I don't think Nunes will want to do that with her. I see her engaging in the grappling aspect a lot more. Aldana's grappling isn't bad, but in her last fight it was evident that she still has some areas to grow there. And in Nunes's