Here at FightOdds.io veteran MMA journalist Adam Martin gives his complete picks and breakdowns for each and every UFC fight card. UFC 228 takes place Saturday, September 8 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, and Adam’s picks are below.

Welterweight bout: Tyron Woodley (+120) vs Darren Till (-130)

Woodley (18-3-1) is 36 and he’s 8-2, 1 NC in the UFC. The American hasn’t lost in his last six fights and is coming off of a dominant decision win over Demian Maia. He’s one of the best welterweights of all time and with his combination of knockout power and wrestling he’s a tough matchup for anyone in the division. However, he hasn’t fought in over a year now and will be fighting a bigger, younger fighter in Till in this matchup. Till (17-0-1) is 25 and he’s 5-0-1 in the UFC. The Brit is undefeated in his career and is coming off of a close decision win over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson which followed up his breakthrough KO win over Donald Cerrone. Till is a massive welterweight and has had trouble making weight in the past which is a concern, but skill wise he’s one of the top welterweights in the world right now. Till is hard to take down and on the feet very few fighters can stand and trade with him. I respect Woodley’s game but I think Till has the tools necessary to dethrone the champ. I see Till stopping Woodley’s takedowns, keeping the fight on the feet, and outpoint the champ to take home a decision, though wouldn’t it be something if he was able to knock the champ out.

Pick: Darren Till

Featherweight bout: Zabit Magomedsharipov (-1090) vs Brandon Davis (+890)

Magomedsharipov (15-1) is 27 and he’s 3-0 in the UFC. The Russian is on an 11-fight win streak and has looked amazing in the UFC with three bonus awards in his first three bouts. He’s an amazing striker and grappler and is one of the biggest featherweights in the division so you can see why so many fighters have ducked him. He’s likely going to be a future champion. Davis (9-4) is 28 and he’s 1-2 in the UFC. The American has been pretty game so far in his fights and he’s hard to finish, but he just doesn’t seem to have the dynamic ability to finish a fight at this level of the sport. Davis has to be commended for stepping up on short notice to fight Magomedsharipov but he doesn’t have a chance in this fight. I have Magomedsharipov dominating this fight from the opening bell and probably getting an early stoppage.

Pick: Zabit Magomedsharipov

Straweight bout: Jessica Andrade (-430) vs Karolina Kowalkiewicz (+380)

Andrade (18-6) is 26 and she’s 9-4 in the UFC. The Brazilian has looked strong since dropping down to strawweight with a 5-1 record at 115lbs including decision wins over Tecia Torres and Claudia Gadelha in her last two fights. Her volume striking attack has looked really strong lately and she could soon challenge for the belt. Kowalkiewicz (12-2) is 32 and she’s 5-2 in the UFC. The Pole bounced back from losses to Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha to beat Jodie Esquibel and Felice Herrig in her last two bouts and re-emerge as a contender. The fact she has a win over Rose Namajunas shows that she can hang with the best in the world, but I don’t like the fact nine of her wins have come by decision. I think the odds are a bit off in this fight but I still have to go with Andrade her. I just feel like she’s going to overwhelm Kowalkiewicz with her pressure-based striking attack and I see Andrade edging out a decision and earn a title shot with the victory.

Pick: Jessica Andrade

Welterweight bout: Niko Price (+110) vs Abdul Razak Alhassan (-120)

Alhassan (9-1) is 33 and he’s 3-1 in the UFC. The Ghanaian fighter has won all nine of his pro bouts via knockout including back-to-back wins over Sabah Homasi in his last fight. In his lone career loss he faded and lost a decision to Omari Akhmedov in his only fight that went past the first round. Price (12-1, 1 NC) is 28 and he’s 4-1, 1 NC in the UFC. The American has been a great find for the UFC as he’s been involved in some very exciting bouts so far in the Octagon. Of his 12 career wins, 11 of them have come via stoppage including four in the UFC, the most notable being a unique KO win over Randy Brown in his last fight when Price knocked him out from his back. Price is a very well-rounded, dangerous and improving fighter who for whatever reason is just very underrated. Alhassan is a flashy striker and has a lot of power but Price is the more complete mixed martial artist. I think Price survives the early onslaught from Alhassan and gets a stoppage himself in the second or third.

Pick: Niko Price

Straweight bout: Carla Esparza (+400) vs Tatiana Suarez (-450)

Suarez (6-0) is 27 and she’s 3-0 in the UFC. The American won TUF 23 and has looked amazing in the UFC since then, with a dominant submission win over Alexa Grasso in her last bout showing just how talented she is. Suarez is still unproven against the top fighters in the division, but based on what she’s looked like, she’s someone who could be a future champ. Esparza (13-5) is 30 and she’s 4-3 in the UFC. The American doesn’t have a great record in the Octagon but you have to keep in mind she has fought the best strawweights in the world and has been competitive with almost all of them save Joanna Jedrzejczyk. In her last bout, Esparza lost a razor-thin decision to Claudia Gadelha that showed she still has it in her to be the championship-level fighter who dominated Rose Namajunas for the belt just a few years ago. I have a lot of respect for Esparza and believe she’s the toughest test of Suarez’ career to date, but I have to go with Suarez to get the win here. I’ve said for a while now she’s a future champ and I’ll stick with my guns. I see her winning a decision.

Pick: Tatiana Suarez

Bantamweight bout: Aljamain Sterling (-150) vs Cody Stamann (+130)

Sterling (15-3) is 29 and he’s 7-3 in the UFC. The American has won three of his last four bouts including a dominant decision over Brett Johns in his last fight to bounce back after a frightening KO loss to Marlon Moraes. Sterling is a very strong grappler and his striking has looked better lately, making him a borderline title contender at 135lbs right now. Stamann (17-1) is 28 and he’s 3-0 in the UFC. The American is currently riding a 10-fight win streak and he’s looked amazing since coming to the UFC, taking out veteran Bryan Caraway in his last fight and top prospect Tom Duquesnoy the fight before. If there’s a flaw in his game it’s that nine of his wins have come by decision and he doesn’t seem to have much finishing ability, but Stamann is a very well-rounded fighter and he gets better every time he fights. Even though Sterling is more proven in the Octagon I’m going to take a leap of faith on Stamann here and pick him. I’ve been nothing but impressed with him in the UFC so far and I think he can edge out another decision over Sterling.

Pick: Cody Stamann

Bantamweight bout: Jimmie Rivera (-145) vs John Dodson (+135)

Rivera (21-2) is 29 and he’s 5-1 in the UFC. The American was on a 20-fight win streak and on his way to a title shot before he met a Marlon Moraes head kick in his last fight and was knocked out cold. Prior to that, Rivera had looked amazing in the UFC and it will be interesting to see if he can bounce back from such a devastating loss. Dodson (20-9) is 33 and he’s 9-4 in the UFC. The American has been a top contender at both 125lbs and 135lbs in the UFC and even has a quality win over TJ Dillashaw on his resume, but he just hasn’t been able to get over the hump and become a champ. This should be a very competitive fight between two excellent strikers but I think Rivera is a bit more dynamic on the feet and I think he’s going to edge out a close decision.

Pick: Jimmie Rivera

Middleweight bout: Charles Byrd (-175) vs Darren Stewart (+155)

Byrd (10-4) is 34 and he’s 1-0 in the UFC. The American was signed to the UFC after two submission wins on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series and had a successful UFC debut with a submission win over John Phillips. He is currently on a four-fight win streak and eight of his 10 career wins have come by stoppage. Stewart (8-3, 1 NC) is 27 and he’s 1-3, 1 NC in the UFC. The Brit saved his UFC career with a TKO win over Eric Spicely in his last fight after losing three fights in a row. Six of his career wins have come by knockout so he definitely has power, but his ground game leaves a lot to be desire. Byrd is more well-rounded and I think he gets the fight to the ground and finds a way to tap Stewart out and continue his string of tapout wins.

Pick: Charles Byrd

Welterweight bout: Diego Sanchez (+175) vs Craig White (-210)

White (14-8) is 28 and he’s 0-1 in the UFC. The Brit was knocked out by Neil Magny in his UFC debut but he took the fight on short notice and lost to a top-15 fighter. Prior to that, White was the Cage Warriors welterweight champion so he’s definitely talented. Sanchez (27-11) is 36 and he’s 16-11 in the UFC. The American is a legend but he’s really struggled lately having been knocked out in three of his last four fights. You have to fade Sanchez at this point of his career against anyone, and I think White knocks him out.

Pick: Craig White

Lightweight bout: Jim Miller (+130) vs Alex White (-140)

White (12-4) is 29 and he’s 3-4 in the UFC. The American has been very inconsistent in the UFC and has not been able to string together wins. He’s shown some knockout power at times but often will lose close decisions. Miller (28-12, 1 NC) is 35 and he’s 17-11, 1 NC in the UFC. The American was once a top lightweight contender but has really struggled lately as he’s lost four straight bouts including a devastating knockout loss to Dan Hooker in his last fight. I don’t think Miller has much left in the gas tank at this point, and while I don’t think White is a great fighter by any means, I think he does enough here to outwork a shot Miller and take home a decision.

Pick: Alex White

Bantamweight bout: Irene Aldana (-120) vs Lucie Pudilová (+100)

Aldana (8-4) is 30 and she’s 1-2 in the UFC. The Mexican lost two close decisions in her first two UFC bouts but bounced back with a decision nod over Talita Bernardo in her last outing. Earlier in her career in Invicta she showed a lot of finishing ability but since coming to the UFC she has been going to decisions so it would be nice to see her get back to finishing fights. Pudilova (8-2) is 24 and she’s 2-1 in the UFC. The Czech native lost her UFC debut but has won back-to-back fights by decision since then. This is going to be a really close fight and it likely will hit the scorecards. I don’t think this is a good betting opportunity because the judges will have to correctly score a close fight. I’ll pick Aldana to win but I wouldn’t put money on either fighter.

Pick: Irene Aldana

Flyweight bout: Jarred Brooks (-280) vs Roberto Sanchez (+255)

Brooks (13-2) is 25 and he’s 1-2 in the UFC. The American was undefeated before losing a close decision to current top contender Deiveson Figueiredo and then knocking himself out on a slam attempt against Jose Torres in his last fight. Now he’ll look to bounce back and start to show the world he’s a contender at 125lbs. Sanchez (8-1) is 32 and he’s 1-1 in the UFC. He was tapped out by Joseph Morales in his UFC debut but bounced back with a submission win over Joby Sanchez in his last fight which was his seventh career win by tapout. Sanchez is excellent at submissions but Brooks is a pretty solid wrestler and as long as he keeps this fight standing he should be able to outpoint Sanchez and take home a decision or maybe even finish him.

Pick: Jarred Brooks

Welterweight bout: Geoffrey Neal (-185) vs Frank Camacho (+160)

Neal (9-2) is 28 and he’s 1-0 in the UFC. The American was signed to the UFC off of a TKO win over Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series and picked up a submission win over Brian Camozzi in his UFC debut. He’s currently on a three-fight win streak and has won seven of his last eight bouts overall. Camacho (21-6) is 29 and he’s 1-2 in the UFC. The Mariana native is a very durable, game fighter who puts on great fights for the fans but it doesn’t always result in wins as we’ve seen from him so far in the UFC. All three of his fights have gone to decision and he hasn’t shown the knockout power he did on the regional circuit. I like watching Camacho fight but I’m not convinced he’s a UFC-level fighter. I think Neal gets a decision win in this one.

Pick: Geoffrey Neal

Last event: 9-4

2018 picks year-to-date: 188-111 (63%)

Final 2017 tally: 282-171, 3 No Contest (64%)