Off the back of his vacant light heavyweight title victory at UFC 295 earlier this month, Brazilian knockout artist, Alex Pereira is the current betting favorite to remain the division’s champion come the end of December next year – emerging as a clear favorite to boot.
Pereira, a former undisputed middleweight champion to boot, minted himself as the new light heavyweight gold holder at UFC 295 earlier this month, stopping former champion, Jiri Prochazka in the pair’s vacant title fight at Madison Square Garden with a massive second round TKO win.
And expected to make his return to the Octagon in a title fight affair against either former titleholder, Jamahal Hill, or Russian contender, Magomed Ankalaev in his first attempted title defense at 205 pounds, Alex Pereira is the current betting favorite amongst all his light heavyweight peers to hold the divisional crown at the end of next year.
Alex Pereira favorite to hold title at end of 2024
As often, punters who are interested in fighting will compare many statistics, as they also would with Aviator and a host of other casino games and slot machine offers, in order to determine favorites and interesting lines on potential fights. And ahead of the end of the year, as Alex Pereira reigns supreme at light heavyweight, the Brazilian is a +200 betting favorite to the crown at the end of next year.
Sitting atop the list of most likely betting favorites to hold light heavyweight gold at the end of next year, Alex Pereira emerges ahead of the above-mentioned former gold holder, Hill, who in January landed a decision win over the former’s training partner, Glover Teixeira in Brazil – to become the first Dana White’s Contender Series product to win Octagon spoils.
A quite surprising option to land gold at light heavyweight and hold it by the end of the year comes in the form of emerging contender, Azamat Murzakanov with the current number twelfth ranked contender a +1,200 betting favorite to hold the title at the end of next year.
Calling for a trilogy rubber match in the immediate aftermath of his title victory against Prochazka earlier this month, Alex Pereira sought out a decider with two-time Octagon foe, Israel Adesanya, which appears to have fallen on uninterested ears.
However, the former two-time middleweight gold holder is a massive outsider in terms of betting odds to hold gold at the end of next year at 205 pounds – coming in currently at +1,600.
Himself gearing up for a potential title-eliminator rematch with Brazilian contender, Johnny Walker at the turn of the year, former vacant title challenger, Ankalaev is the third most likely fighter to hold light heavyweight gold at the end of next year, drawing odds currently of +450, sitting just behind the above-mentioned, Hill and reigning champion, Pereira in the list.
Interesting former champion, Jan Blachowicz, who is preparing to take on Aleksandar Rakic in a rematch of his own at UFC 297 in January in Canada, has staked his claim for a rematch with Alex Pereira next year, and sits as an interesting betting option as short as +7,500 on many markets at the time of publication.
Another Dana White’s Contender Series alum who features as an interesting betting option – whilst the current second favorite to hold the heavyweight title at the end of next year, Jailton Almeida can also be secured at +5,000 to win light heavyweight gold, shorter than Blachowicz by the end of next year – in what would come as a divisional drop.
In the midst of a disappointing four-fight losing skid, Swedish contender, Alexander Gustafsson, who has challenged for light heavyweight gold on three separate occasions during his Octagon tenure, is the least likely to hold gold at the end of next year, drawing odds of a massive proportion at +50,000.