PFL 9 Odds, Picks and Betting Preview – Loughnane vs Khaybulaev

• Featherweights and light heavyweight have their semifinal matchups on August 27th, 2021
• Brendan Loughnane headlines the card against Movlid Khaybulaev
• See the odds, picks, and betting preview for the full 2021 PFL 9 main card, below

The Professional Fighters League is back for the final semifinal matchups on Friday, August 27th, 2021 before the finals on October 27. The promotion has featherweights, and light heavyweights semis take placed with some non-tournament bouts filling out the prelims. In the main event of PFL 9, Brendan Loughnane battles Movlid Khaybulaev at featherweight, with the co-main event seeing Chris Wade take on Bubba Jenkins at featherweight.

For those that might not know, PFL is a regular-season and playoff format like stick and ball sports. The winner of the tournament also gets $1 million at the end of the year.

PFL 9 main card airs live on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 PM EST on Friday, August 27th from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Florida. The table below shows odds for the main card at DraftKings followed by best bets.

PFL 9 Odds

All odds as of August 25 at DraftKings

Will Khaybulaev Remain Undefeated?

Brendan Loughnane vs Movlid Khaybulaev is arguably one of the best semifinal matchups the PFL had this season. Both men are high-level featherweights, and both could do very well in the UFC and Bellator.

Loughnane & Khaybulaev Recent Fights

It should be noted that Khaybulaev did get TKO’d by Pineda in just 29 seconds, but Pineda later tested positive for steroids, so the loss was overturned to a No Contest and his undefeated record is still intact.

This is a very intriguing matchup where Loughnane is a very dynamic striker where he likes to find the body and head kicks. Khaybulaev, meanwhile, will look to get the fight to the ground as he has very good grappling as we saw in his two regular-season bouts this year.

Loughnane & Khaybulaev Stats

The first takedown of the fight will be very telling as Loughnane is a much better striker than Khaybulaev, and if he can stuff the takedown and force the Russian to strike with him, it will be his fight to lose. However, Khaybulaev has been improving on the feet, but he will shoot for takedowns early and often.

Loughnane should be able to keep this fight standing and hurt Khaybulaev on the feet. However, the Russian has a very good chin, but his wrestling alone won’t be enough as Loughnane will land the heavier shots and win a decision.

Pick: Brendan Loughnane (+125)

Who Advances to the Finals?

Bubba Jenkins has looked dominant in his first two PFL fights, but he has a tough test in front of him as he faces another good wrestler in UFC veteran, Chris Wade.

Jenkins & Wade Recent Fights

Jenkins is a very high-level wrestler where he should be able to out grapple Wade. Although Wade has good takedown defense, we have seen him be controlled by the likes of Natan Schulte and Islam Makhachev in the UFC. However, he has moved down to featherweight, so he will be stronger, but it won’t be enough as Jenkins will be able to control him on the ground and win a clear-cut decision.

Pick: Bubba Jenkins (-190)

Other PFL 9 Picks:

1. Antonio Carlos Junior (-160): Junior should be able to get Sordi down and control him on the mat and either get a submission or more likely is win a decision.
2. Marthin Hamlet (-160): Hamlet has a ton of KO power, and Ferreria doesn’t have the best chin, so I like Hamlet to find it in the first or second and win by KO.