Tatsuro Taira (red gloves) reacts to defeating Edgar Chairez (blue gloves) during UFC 290 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas July 8, 2023.

In a 5-round flyweight bout in the main event, Tatsuro Taira and HyunSung Park meet Saturday at UFC on ESPN 71 -- also known as UFC Vegas 108 -- at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The prelims begin at 6 p.m. ET (ESPN / ESPN+) with the main card at 9 p.m. (ESPN / ESPN+). Their fight is expected to start at approximately 11:45 p.m. ET. Let's analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's UFC odds around the UFC on ESPN 71: Taira vs. Park odds, and make our expert UFC picks and predictions.

Records: Taira (16-1-0) | Park (10-0-0)

Originally, Taira was expected to fight Amir Albazi in the main event, but Albazi was forced to pull out due to an undisclosed injury.

Taira is looking to bounce back after a split-decision loss to Brandon Royval last time out in a fight night main event. It was his first career loss across any competition, and it halted a 6-0 start to his UFC career. His previous 2 fights resulted in KO/TKO victories over Alex Perez and Carlos Hernandez, with a unanimous-decision win over Edgar Chairez, and a pair of submission victories over Jesus Aguilar and CJ Vergara.

As far as Park is concerned, he is a perfect 3-0 at the UFC level, including a common opponent fight. That victory came in a Round 1 submission of Carlos Hernandez last time out. He has 10 victories in 10 career MMA fights across all formats.

Taira enters this bout with a 4-inch reach advantage, although Park has a 4.27-to-2.99 significant strikes landed per minute advantage. However, Taira is way more pinpoint with those strikes, landing 67.48% of those significant strikes, to just 48.24% for Park. Taira also has a 2.73-to-1.90 takedown average, while posting a 44.12% takedown accuracy percentage, while Park has a 33.33% mark. Park has posted a 2.85 submission average, to just 1.64 for Taira, although both marks are pretty good.

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UFC on ESPN 71: Taira vs. Park odds

Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 9:40 a.m. ET.

  • Fight result (2-way line): Taira -350 (bet $350 to win $100) | Park +275 (bet $100 to win $275)
  • Total rounds: 3.5 (Over +105 | Under -140)
  • Will the fight go the distance? (Yes +165 | No -225)

UFC on ESPN 71: Taira vs. Park picks and predictions

Fight result (2-way line or moneyline)

Taira (-350) will cost you 3 1/2 times your potential return, if you wanted to bet him straight up. That's way too much risk for not nearly enough return.

This is going to be a fight that is a lot closer than the odds might indicate. In fact, it's a bit tempting to take Park (+275) as the heavy underdog, although he is just not accurate enough with his significant strikes landed per minute.

The knock against Park is that huge 4-inch reach advantage for Taira. That will allow the heavy favorite to push and pull Park out when he feels.

PASS, and look to the method of victory and total rounds instead.

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Over/Under

Looking to the 'How Will the Fight End?' props, taking SUBMISSION (+100) at even-money is a strong play, and you won't have to declare a winner.

Taira has 2 submission victories in his past 6 fights, and 5 submission victories across his past 10 bouts across all formats. For Park, he has 3 submission wins in the past 4 bouts, including 2 victories at the UFC level in 3 fights.

Taking the method is the play, as going No (-210): Fight will go the distance? is just too expensive for a singular wager. However, it isn't a bad play if you were to toss this into a multi-leg parlay.

UNDER 3.5 ROUNDS (-140) is a little on the risky side, but that's a much better value if you want to play a fight length wager.

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This article originally appeared on Sportsbook Wire: UFC on ESPN 71: Tatsuro Taira vs. HyunSung Park odds, picks and predictions

Reporting by Daniel Dobish, Sportsbook Wire / Sportsbook Wire

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