Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is making its return to Canada on Sat., Nov. 2, 2024, with the UFC Edmonton mixed martial arts (MMA) event at Rogers Place. Headlining the ESPN+ fight card is the flyweight showdown pitting No. 3-ranked Erin Blanchfield against No. 5-ranked Rose Namajunas, with the winner moving within striking distance of a 125-pound title shot (behind Manon Fiorot).
Blanchfield is currently a slight betting favorite at -120 against +100 for the underdog Namajunas. That’s according to our fiscal friends over at BetOnline.ag, who also pegged heavyweight hurter Derrick Lewis as the +120 underdog for his co-main event opposite undefeated Brazilian bruiser Jhonata Diniz (-140).
In addition, Rodrigo Nascimento (-145) is favored to beat Alexandr Romanov (+125).
“I think [Namajunas] is better at 115,” Blanchfield previously told The MMA Hour. ”I think just moving up a weight class ten pounds like 115 to 125, it’s a big percentage of your body weight especially when you’re that small. She won against [Amanda] Ribas, but Ribas is also someone who’s fought at 115. She’s not that big of a girl. She had the one fight against Manon and she lost that. I think she’s a great fighter. I think he’s got a lot of skill, but I think she’s going to be a little outsized at 125.”
We’ll find out in less than three months.