(This story first was published at Sportsbook Wire, part of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group.)

In a 12-round IBF world heavyweight championship bout, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois meet Saturday at Wembley Stadium in London. The fight will take place at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET (DAZN). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Joshua vs. Dubois odds, and make our expert boxing picks and predictions.

Records: Joshua (28-3-0, 25 KOs) | Dubois (21-2-0, 20 KOs)

Joshua looks to snatch the IBF Interim World Heavyweight belt off of Dubois. He picked up a 2nd-round KO/TKO win over Francis Ngannou in early March in Saudi Arabia. He also had a win over Otto Wallin before that in Riyadh, while knocking out Robert Helenius in the 7th round at O2 arena in Aug. 2023.

Joshua has won 4 straight fights since losing back-to-back bouts to Oleksandr Usyk in Sept. 2021 in Tottenham, U.K., and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Dubois has picked up consecutive victories via TKO against Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic in Riyadh. Before that, he also suffered a setback to Usyk, the class of the division, with a 9th-round loss via knockout.

Joshua stands just 1 inch taller than his counterpart, but he has a 4-inch reach advantage.

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Joshua vs. Dubois odds

Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook: access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 10 a.m. ET.

• Fight result (2-way line): Joshua -350 (bet $350 to win $100) | Dubois +280 (bet $100 to win $280)
• Total Rounds 7.5: (Over -125 | Under -110)
• Will the fight go the distance? (Yes +300 | No -450)

Joshua vs. Dubois picks and predictions

Fight result (2-way line or moneyline)
Backing Joshua (-350) on the 2-way line will cost you 4 times your potential return. That’s way too much risk for not enough reward. On the flip side, you can’t trust Dubois (+280) straight for the upset, either.

Let’s get a little more specific. Joshua has 28 career victories, with 25 of those wins, or 89.29%, coming via knockout. So, if you like the Briton to win, you should like him to end this fight early via KO.

As such, play JOSHUA IN ROUNDS 7-12 (+188) in Round Group Betting 3, if you’re a little more on the conservative side.

If you’re a little more conservative, and you don’t want to declare a winner, playing ROUNDS 7-12 (+138) for when the fight will be won in Round Group Betting 4 is worth a play.

Over/Under (O/U)
No (-450): Will the fight go the distance? will cost you 4 times your potential return. That’s way too much risk, and not nearly enough reward.

While the fight isn’t expected to need the judges to decide a winner, it shouldn’t end prior to Round 7, either. OVER 7.5 ROUNDS (-125) is a solid play, as a result.

The UFC is beginning to schedule fights for its December pay-per-view event, including matching up Anthony Smith and Dominick Reyes.

At UFC 310 on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, former light heavyweight title challengers Smith (37-20 MMA, 13-10 UFC) and Reyes (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) are set to face off.

UFC officials announced the bout Saturday following an initial report from MMA Mania’s Alex Behunin in August.

You’ll want to grab your popcorn for this one 🍿

Anthony Smith vs @DomReyes

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[ #UFC310 LIVE on @ESPNPlus PPV | DEC 10 | 10pmET/7pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/OHRctBuZW9

— UFC (@ufc) September 21, 2024

Smith, currently No. 12 in the promotion’s divisional rankings, will look to rebound from a loss to Roman Dolidze at UFC 303 in June, which continued a recent trend of trading wins and losses. Smith’s last win came in the fight prior at UFC 301, where he scored MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month for May against Vitor Petrino in just two minutes.

Reyes, currently ranked No. 14, will aim to keep his momentum going following a two-minute victory of his own. In his first fight since November 2022, Reyes returned to action and quickly finished Dustin Jacoby in the first round at UFC on ESPN 57. Not only was the result a successful return after a lengthy layoff, the win snapped a four-fight skid that stretched back to his controversial title challenge loss vs. Jon Jones at UFC 247 in 2020.

The latest UFC 310 lineup now includes:

• Dominick Reyes vs. Anthony Smith
• Virna Jandiroba vs. Tatiana Suarez

Daniel Cormier does not believe Tom Aspinall is really the backup fighter for UFC 309.

At UFC 309, Jon Jones defends his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic in a fight well over a year in the making, and earlier this week, UFC CEO Dana White declared interim champion Tom Aspinall is the backup fighter for the bout. But despite White’s assurances, some doubt remains about whether Aspinall would actually step in should something happen to either Jones or Aspinall, and UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier is one of the doubters.

“You’re gullible,” Cormier told co-host Chael Sonnen on their Good Guy/Bad Guy show when Sonnen said both Jones and Miocic agreed to fight Aspinall at UFC 309. “No, it does not mean that! What it means is now we have another opportunity for disappointment…

“If one of those dudes gets hurt, neither one of them is fighting Tom Aspinall. You’re out of your mind. No way. When Jon Jones got hurt the first time, Sergei Pavlovich was the backup fighter. Who fought?! If somebody gets hurt, get ready for Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane. Mark my words.”

As Cormier noted, this would not be the first time a backup fighter was passed over for a title shot, and not even the first time it happened with this particular matchup. Jones and Miocic were supposed to fight a year ago at UFC 295 when Jones sustained an injury and withdrew from the contest. Instead of having then-backup fighter Sergei Pavlovich step in against Miocic, the UFC opted to delay the Jones-Miocic fight and Aspinall stepped in on short notice to fight Pavlovich in an interim bout.

That, plus other instances of backup fighters not even having the opportunity to fulfill their role, makes Cormier doubtful about Aspinall’s chances to fight for a unified title at UFC 309.

“I don’t get the backup fighter,” Cormier said. “Remember when Charles Oliveira was going to fight against Islam Makhachev and Mateusz Gamrot was the backup fighter and then they brought Alexander Volkanovski in there? I get that you want to look at this thing with clear eyes, but I’m giving you two prime examples.

It’s not even about being scared. It’s about risk management. If someone gets hurt in this fight, the reward vs. the risk of fighting Tom Aspinall is so great, I don’t believe that either of them will do it. Love that it’s a part of the story now. We all love the story. We love a great story. But I don’t know that it plays.”

Contributing to the doubt around Aspinall’s role is the fact that this fight is believed to be the final bout for both Jones and Miocic. Dana White previously said as much for Miocic, while Jones recently stated this would “more than likely” be it for his career. And for Cormier, that decision isn’t based on fear of Aspinall, but basic career calculus.

“I don’t think he’s scared, but again, it’s risk vs. reward…” Cormier said. “A win over Tom Aspinall does nothing more for Jon Jones than a win over me or Vitor Belfort or Rashad Evans or Shogun Rua or Alexander Gustafsson, and all this list of great fighters he’s already beaten. So many great fighters. Beating Tom Aspinall doesn’t really do much to add to that. But losing to Tom Aspinall does do something, because now you see him lose. He’s never lost… So for him to go out there and fight a young, hungry guy who seems to possess the skills to beat him, it’s not worth the risk.

“I’m telling you this as a guy that for a long time was one the wrong side of the Jon Jones equation, didn’t like Jon Jones, didn’t care for him: I don’t think that you risk [what he would be risking]… His legacy to him, I feel, might mean more than taking that risk, especially when you don’t need to.”

Cormier has extensive history with both Jones and Miocic, having fought the two of them a combined five times; however, his rivalry with Jones is the defining one of both their careers. Given that, Cormier knows a thing or two about Jones, and believes there is only one real way fans see Jones fight Aspinall.

“Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall is more likely to happen if Stipe Miocic wins,” Cormier said. “That’s my take… If Stipe wins and Jones loses and feels like he has something to prove, it’s more likely that he fights Tom Aspinall. If he wins, he’ll go off into the sunset.”

UFC 309 takes place on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

BBC Sport examines how the allure of Real Madrid has enabled them to assemble a new team of young “Galacticos”, as the Champions League holders aim to win a record-extending 16th European crown.

WATCH MORE: Can Real Madrid’s ‘futuristic’ Bernabeu keep them at the top?

The combat sports world can be a fickle mistress, which a former UFC headliner continued to discover Friday.

Alex Oliveira made his bareknuckle boxing debut at a REN TV Fight Club event in Russia. He was knocked down twice in the first round and suffered a TKO loss to Igor Ionov.

Check out the brutal stoppage below, after which Oliveira appeared to be trying to work his nose back into place.

Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira loses his bare knuckle debut via 1st round TKO pic.twitter.com/DGu9Yiyp6X

— Matysek (@Matysek88) September 20, 2024

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After a 3-1 start to his UFC career, Oliveira headlined UFC Fight Night 83 against another “Cowboy,” Donald Cerrone. And though he was submitted in the first round, “Cowboy” Oliveira went on a serious 6-1 run after that, including three post-fight bonus awards.

But a first-round submission loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov in October 2020 started a four-fight skid in the UFC, including three stoppage losses, and he was let go in 2022.

The 36-year-old Oliveira has gone 3-4 in MMA fights since then with three first-round TKO wins, but also four stoppage losses. This latest setback is his third straight combat sports loss.