UFC Fight Night - Expert picks and best bets for Calvin Kattar vs. Josh Emmett

Calvin Kattar and Josh Emmett, two of the best featherweights in the world, will link up Saturday for UFC Fight Night as the main event in Austin, Texas.

Kattar, No. 6 in ESPN's featherweight rankings, has won three of his past four and comes in on a two-match «Fight of the Night» streak for his contests against Giga Chikadze (win) and former featherweight champion Max Holloway (loss).

Emmett, ranked No. 8 in ESPN's featherweight rankings, continues his impressive return from injury after tearing his left ACL in a victory versus Shane Burgos in June 2020. Emmett's win over Dan Ige in December 2021 was nearly 18 months after his knee surgery, as he carries a four-fight winning streak into Austin.

ESPN's Marc Raimondi touched base with an MMA coaching veteran to get his perspective on a pivotal featherweight matchup and how things could play out inside the octagon. ESPN's betting experts Ian Parker and Reed Kuhn added their insights and analysis for everything from the main event to some intriguing bets they like lower down the card.

How Kattar wins: I think he's a better boxer, which will be the key to this fight. I thought the game plan that Kattar and his coach, Tyson Chartier, put together for Kattar's last fight against Giga Chikadze was great. Kattar took away Giga's body kicks and his pressure was effective. He did a phenomenal job executing the game plan. I think Kattar grew from that loss to Max Holloway. Kattar has such high volume, as you saw in his last fight. Giga was so hot coming in with people wondering how to stop his leg and liver kicks. Calvin just stuffed everything. Kattar and his team need to devise an answer to avoid Emmett's big shots, maybe knees up the middle or a teep kick. Of course, Kattar will