MMA News: Junior Dos Santos Opens as a Slight Betting Favorite over Cain Velasquez
Bleacher Report’s Nick Caron:
With Junior dos Santos’ crushing victory over Shane Carwin in the UFC 131 main event, we have now found out that not only is he next in line to fight Cain Velasquez for the UFC heavyweight title, but he is also already being listed as a slight betting favorite.
According to BetonFighting’s Nick Kalikas, the challenger is listed as a -125 favorite over the champion who will be a -105 underdog.
While these numbers are only preliminary and are so close that it could easily flop over in the other direction for Velasquez, it is interesting to note that just a few months ago, the champion was listed as a heavy favorite in a fight that never ended up happening.
But since that time, Velasquez has not fought and has been recovering from surgery while dos Santos has now defeated another top challenger with seemingly relative ease.
While it is not common for a challenger to be listed as a favorite over the reigning champion, it is not the first time that we have seen this type of situation with the odds-makers. In fact, just earlier this year, Jon Jones was listed as a favorite as a challenger for Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s UFC light heavyweight title.
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