UFC Vegas 93: Brady Hiestand vs. Garrett Armfield Prediction, Pick and Odds

Fresh of the biggest win of his career at UFC 297, Garrett Armfield will return to the Octagon on June 15 against another fellow prospect, Brady Hiestand.

Armfield (10-3, 2-1 in UFC) has won back-to-back fights in the UFC since losing his short-notice promotional debut at featherweight. In his time back in his natural division, Armfield has picked up impressive wins over Toshiomi Kazama and Brad Katona.

Hiestand (7-2, 2-1 in UFC) entered the UFC off a runner-up performance on season 29 of The Ultimate Fighter, losing in the finale to Ricky Turcios. Since the defeat, Hiestand has also strung together consecutive victories over Fernie Garcia and Danaa Batgerel.

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Brady Hiestand vs. Garrett Armfield Odds and Round total

Moneyline

• Hiestand: +152
• Armfield: -188

Total: 2.5 (Over -180/Under +140)

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

Brady Hiestand vs. Garrett Armfield Best Bet

On paper, these two bantamweights have the same UFC record and appear to be in the same tier of fighters. That may be true for now, but Armfield is the one with a much higher ceiling on his career outlook.

Hiestand has most attributes one would want to see out of a budding prospect. He is fast, athletic and has a solid foundation in his wrestling. On the feet, he has decent footwork but lacks any threat of his striking and purely looks to set up his takedowns. His defense has also been an issue, as in his three UFC fights, Hiestand has been dropped twice.

When he gets takedowns, Hiestand excels. The problem is those have been hard to come by, succeeding at just a 46 percent clip. Armfield has defended 64 percent of takedowns thus far, including allowing just four of nine attempts in his last fight against Brad Katona, who is a better wrestler than Hiestand.

Even in his short-notice debut at featherweight, Armfield allowed just two takedowns to David Onama on six attempts. Onama is not the best wrestler, but the size difference was clear in that matchup.

If this fight plays out on the feet, it will be one-way traffic in favor of Armfield. The 27-year-old pushes a ridiculous pace, landing 6.22 significant strikes per minute. In his one UFC fight where his opponent did not try to take him down, Armfield pitched a perfect game against Toshiomi Kazama, landing 45 significant strikes in just four minutes before capping off his performance with a first-round knockout win.

For Hiestand to win even a single round in this fight, he will have to take and hold Armfield down for more than three minutes. That has never happened to Armfield yet in the UFC and he has faced better wrestlers in his career than Hiestand.

Prediction: Armfield by KO/TKO in round three

Best bet: Garrett Armfield -3.5 Points (+100)

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.