Yet to enter an Octagon outing during his UFC tenure as a betting underdog, current odds appear to point to a continuance of the trend for former undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya – who is fast closing as a favorite, albeit tight, over arch-enemy, Alex Pereira ahead of their UFC 287 title rematch on Saturday.
Headlining in Miami, Florida this weekend – Nigerian-Kiwi striking sensation, Adesanya looks to collect the undisputed middleweight title for the second time, having dropped his undisputed crown back in November of last year in Madison Square Garden.
Rematching Sao Paulo knockout ace, Pereira in the ‘Sunshine State’ atop a UFC 287 flagship event, Adesanya is yet to defeat the Brazilian phenom across their storied combat sports rivalry – boasting an infamous 0-3 record against the former, capped off by last November’s knockout defeat.
Suffering his first middleweight loss in his professional mixed martial arts career, City Kickboxing staple, Adesanya had built up an impressive lead on all three judge’s scorecards in New York City, however, was stopped in the final frame with a barrage of strikes at the Octagon fence from Pereira – who record just his fourth UFC victory, and minted himself as the new king of the middleweights.
However, despite his shocking victory over Adesanya at UFC 281 in ‘The Mecca’ late last year, the Brazilian is hotly entering this weekend’s title rematch as a betting underdog, with BetWay offering the defending champion as short as +100 in this tightly contested re-run.
Challenging for gold against Pereira, as noted earlier, Adesanya has yet to step foot inside the Octagon as a betting underdog, and despite close margins, BetWay have placed the former gold holder as a -125 betting favorite to land his first professional triumph over the Brazilian in the ‘Sunshine State’.
With outright betting on the much-anticipated contest tight to boot, prop bets on a finish between the duo are even tighter – with Pereira narrowly favored, currently, to hand the ex-titleholder another career knockout loss – having previously stopped Adesanya twice in combat sports.
A former two-weight GLORY Kickboxing champion, Pereira is available as a close -200 betting favorite to defeat Adesanya with strikes of any kind come Saturday night in Florida, with punters able to pick up the former champion as an almost pick ‘em underdog as short as +300.
As always, the possibility of pre-fight jitters setting in – resulting in a blistering and timely finish are possible, however, inside 60 seconds of the first round, BetWay are still offering defending champion, Pereira as a -5,000 favorite over the +,10,000 underdog, Adesanya, to score a finish inside the opening minute.
A brutal knockout artist, prior to his victory over Adesanya in earth-shattering fashion in November, Pereira debuted in the UFC in the year prior – at the same venue, no less, dispatching Andreas Michailidis with a brutal second round flying knee KO.
Turning in a valuable unanimous decision win over compatriot, Bruno Silva since then, Pereira then earned a rekindled rivalry with Adesanya with a highlight-reel first round knockout of the then-surging, Sean Strickland during last summer’s International Fight Week in July.