UFC 261 final betting odds: Will any of the favored champions find a finish?

Weili Zhang expected to retain her strawweight title at UFC 261 | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Check out the betting odds for tonight’s UFC 261 event, where the promotion’s welterweight, strawweight, and women’s flywei…


Weili Zhang expected to retain her strawweight title at UFC 261
Weili Zhang expected to retain her strawweight title at UFC 261 | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Check out the betting odds for tonight’s UFC 261 event, where the promotion’s welterweight, strawweight, and women’s flyweight titles are expected to stay with the current champions.

It’s fight day for UFC 261, which kicks off tonight (April 24th) from Las Vegas, Nevada with the promotion’s welterweight, strawweight, and women’s flyweight belts all being on the line on the PPV main card. Bloody Elbow is here to bring you the final betting odds for these top of the line tilts, and for the rest of the UFC 261 lineup.

As of our midweek betting odds post, we learned that all three competing champions were strongly favored to retain their respective titles. Currently we have Kamaru Usman (-440) over Jorge Masvidal (+390), Weili Zhang (-190) over Rose Namajunas (+175), and Valentina Shevchenko (-450) over Jessica Andrade (+400). So, not much has really changed since the weigh-ins, with each combatant still around the same moneylines that they were at earlier in the week. What has changed, however, is the various prop bets that have dropped.

In the UFC 261 main event, the oddsmakers are expecting to have some serious deja vu, with welterweight king, Kamaru Usman, projected to win another decision over Jorge Masvidal — like he did just nine-months ago. The prop bet ‘Usman wins by decision’ holds a favored line of -135, while the ‘Masvidal wins by decision’ option owns a much, much loftier line of +1055. The exotic wager ‘Fight goes to decision’ is sitting around -170, with a +150 comeback on ‘Fight doesn’t go to decision.’

In the UFC 261 co-main event, the strawweights are involved in a pick’em line for their fight ending inside the distance prop. ‘Fight goes to decision’ is barely favored at -120, with ‘Fight doesn’t go to decision’ available at -110. The UFC’s 115-pound champion, Weili Zhang, has been deemed just about as likely to get a finish as she is to earn a decision. The proposition ‘Zhang wins inside distance’ can be found at +185, with ‘Zhang wins by decision’ slightly less profitable at +180. As for the former champ and current challenger, Rose Namajunas, her inside the distance prop is trending at +410, with ‘Namajunas wins by decision’ on deck at +390.

The UFC’s women’s 125-pound title fight is not expected to last the entire 25-minutes. The exotic bet ‘Fight doesn’t go to decision’ holds a slightly favored tick of -140, with a +110 comeback on ‘Fight goes to decision.’ According to the odds, the UFC’s defending flyweight queen is most likely going to get a finish. The prop ‘Shevchenko wins inside distance’ is on deck at +115, with ‘Shevchenko wins by decision’ sitting with a value of +165. The odds are depicting a much more uphill battle for Jessica Andrade. Her inside the distance bet can be found around +600, with the ‘Andrade wins by decision’ option at an even larger underdog line of +800.

Check out the UFC 261 betting odds, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com:


For an in-depth breakdown of each UFC 261 fade, check out The MMA Vivisection with Bloody Elbow’s own Zane Simon and Connor Ruebusch. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date with all of our live video content. Stay glued to Bloody Elbow for all of your event coverage including play-by-play, results, highlights, and more! Happy hunting!