Patricio Freire and Yair Rodriguez meet Saturday on the UFC 314 main card at Kaseya Center in Miami. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.

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Patricio Freire vs. Yair Rodriguez UFC 314 preview

Former Bellator champion Freire (36-7 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his UFC debut on the big stage of a UFC pay-per-view main card. At 37, Freire may not have much tread left on the tires. He enters this contest on the heels of a TKO win over Jeremy Kennedy last March. The win snapped a two-fight skid: a super short-notice replacement fight against Chihiro Suzuki under the Rizin banner and a unanimous decision loss against Sergio Pettis in a challenge for the Bellator bantamweight title. … Rodriguez (19-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) enters this fight looking to shake off back-to-back losses to Brian Ortega and Alexander Volkanovski in a title unification bout. Rodriguez won the interim featherweight title at UFC 284 by submitting Josh Emmett in February 2023.

Yair Rodriguez vs. Patricio Freire UFC 314 expert pick, prediction

Filling out the paid portion of the card is a solid featherweight fight between Freire and Rodriguez.

As a longtime fan of "Pitbull," I'm happy to finally see Freire competing for the world's MMA leader. However, I can't help but wonder if Freire has come over to the UFC too late at 37 years of age.

To make things worse, the UFC matchmakers did decide to go the Joe Silva route in regards to booking low key difficult debuts that are typically a mix of stylistic challenges and comical height differences.

I don't blame any for picking Rodriguez, who will be live for everything from head kick knockouts to sketchy decision wins. That said, I have a hard time trusting Rodriguez's fight I.Q. given the fact that he's just as likely to slip on his own banana peels with the choices he makes.

From electing to close his guard with his back toward to fence to his repeated willingness to want to grapple with hurt Brian Ortega, Freire supporters may not even have to bank on the Brazilian's underrated wrestling ability this weekend.

Add in the fact that Freire's countering game still appears to be intact, and I'll take a flier on the underdog to capitalize on the Mexican's mistakes.

The pick is for Freire to win by unanimous decision.

Yair Rodriguez vs. Patricio Freire UFC 314 odds

The oddsmakers and the public are favoring the Mexican fighter, listing Rodriguez -196 and Freire +158 via FanDuel.

Yair Rodriguez vs. Patricio Freire UFC 314 start time, how to watch

Freire and Rodriguez are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 11:20 p.m. ET. The fight streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC 314.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Yair Rodriguez vs. Patricio Freire prediction, pick, start time for UFC 314

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