Tag: Sports Odds

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm (11-3) has been here before, sitting as a big underdog in a title matchup opposite one of the most feared fighters in the sport.

This time, Holm will get the opportunity to claim the women’s featherweight belt when she takes on champ Cris “Cyborg” Justino (18-1, 1 no-contest) in the main event at UFC 219 in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night.

So far, the public seems to be siding with Holm in early wagering action, pushing her down from an underdog of around +300 (bet $100 to win $300) to +270 at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark. As MMA bettors may recall, Holm was a much bigger ‘dog when she handed former women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey her first loss a little more than two years ago with a vicious head-kick knockout.

Since then, the former pro boxing champ has dropped three of four, though, including a controversial unanimous-decision loss to Germaine de Randamie for the inaugural 145-pound title.

 

De Randamie reportedly refused to defend her championship against Cyborg, who then claimed the vacated belt with a third-round TKO victory against Tonya Evinger at UFC 214 on July 29. Cyborg has knocked out her last 13 opponents, with one of them later overturned to a no-decision after she tested positive for a banned substance.

Cyborg remains a solid -360 favorite (bet $360 to win $100) despite facing less competition recently, which is the main reason bettors like Holm’s chances for another upset.

In the co-main event, two top lightweight contenders will square off on the men’s side, with unbeaten Khabib Nurmagomedov (24-0) returning to the Octagon for the first time in more than a year.

Nurmagomedov was expected to face Tony Ferguson for the interim 155-pound belt later vacated by Conor McGregor at UFC 209 back on March 4, but he suffered complications from a failed weight cut and was unable to compete. Ferguson went on to win the interim title against Kevin Lee at UFC 216 on October 7.

Nurmagomedov is now a big -280 favorite versus Edson Barboza (19-4) in his first fight since UFC 205 on November 12, 2016. Barboza is listed as a +240 underdog and rides a three-bout winning streak into this matchup, taking decisions over Anthony Pettis and Gilbert Melendez before earning a Performance of the Night bonus for his second-round KO victory against Beneil Dariush at UFC Fight Night 106 on March 11 in Brazil.

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Former featherweight champion Jose Aldo (26-3) lost the title belt in his home country of Brazil back on June 3, and he will now try to reclaim it in a rematch against new champ Max Holloway (18-3) at UFC 218 this Saturday in Detroit.

Holloway closed as a small underdog in the first meeting at UFC 212 and scored a third-round TKO of Aldo, but this time around the tables have turned, as he is listed as a -300 favorite (bet $300 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.

Aldo is a +230 underdog (bet $100 to win $230) and had won the interim championship after Conor McGregor vacated the belt, earning a unanimous-decision win over top 145-pound contender Frankie Edgar before losing it to Holloway. Edgar was scheduled to have the next title shot in the main event here before pulling out a few weeks ago due to injury.

That gave Aldo a second chance to beat Holloway, who has won 11 in a row.

 

Holloway has finished three of his past five opponents, including his last two, heading into his first title defense. The 25-year-old Hawaiian is definitely the bigger fighter in this matchup, with a four-inch height advantage, and he has used that noticeable size edge to climb up the ranks of the division over the years. His last loss inside the Octagon came against McGregor more than four years ago when he was just 21 years old.

The co-main event at UFC 218 will feature a pair of heavyweights who are on opposite ends of their respective careers. Francis Ngannou (10-1) is riding a nine-bout winning streak and is viewed as a potential future champ. Meanwhile, opponent Alistair Overeem (43-15, one no-contest) recently got a title shot and has won two straight since getting knocked out in the first round by current champ Stipe Miocic.

The 31-year-old Ngannou is a -235 favorite on the UFC 218 odds versus the 43-year-old Overeem (+185), who will try to use his experience at this stage of his career to overcome a physical disadvantage.

All 10 of Ngannou’s wins have come via stoppage (six knockouts and four submissions), and Overeem has totaled 19 of each among his victories.

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It has been nearly four years since UFC fans and bettors saw Georges St-Pierre (25-2) leave the Octagon after edging Johny Hendricks via split decision to win his 12th straight fight.

St-Pierre will make his highly anticipated return to the Octagon this Saturday at UFC 217 in New York City when he meets middleweight champ Michael Bisping (30-7) for his title belt as a small -125 favorite (bet $125 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark. Bisping is listed as a small -105 underdog.

GSP-Bisping is one of three championship bouts on the UFC 217 card, as the bantamweight and women’s strawweight titles will also be on the line at Madison Square Garden.

St-Pierre will be looking to snap a five-fight winning streak for Bisping that has seen him defeat former middleweight champions Anderson Silva and Luke Rockhold before defending his belt in a grudge rematch against Dan Henderson. But Bisping has yet to fight in 2017, beating Henderson at UFC 204 in October of last year.

St-Pierre is moving up to 185 pounds from 170, with the former welterweight champ relinquishing his belt when he decided to retire following his win over Hendricks back in 2013. There is some speculation that this matchup with Bisping is setting up a potential superfight vs. Conor McGregor as long as he wins this comeback bout.

Prior to that main event, the co-main event will feature a pair of 135-pounders who dislike each other as chronicled on the latest edition of The Ultimate Fighter. Former bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw (14-3) will get a chance to earn his belt back if he can knock off former teammate and current champ Cody Garbrandt (11-0).

Dillashaw lost his belt to another former champ in Dominick Cruz by a controversial split decision in January of 2016. Then Garbrandt won a unanimous decision over Cruz last December 30 at UFC 207. Garbrandt is a solid -185 favorite with Dillashaw the +150 underdog (bet $100 to win $150) even though the challenger has a lot more experience.

The third title fight will see women’s strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk (14-0) take on Rose Namajunas (6-3) as the biggest favorite on the UFC 217 odds at -600. Jedrzejczyk has taken on all challengers, defending her belt five times so far. Namajunas is a +400 underdog and the fourth-ranked contender according to the UFC, with Jedrzejczyk already owning wins over the top three in her previous three title defenses.

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In a championship bout that was originally set to headline UFC 215 in Edmonton, Demetrious “Mighty Mouse“ Johnson (26-2-1)—arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA—will return to the Octagon this Saturday at UFC 216 in Las Vegas against Ray Borg (12-2), who had to pull out of the previously scheduled matchup due to illness.

Johnson is a monster -1200 favorite (bet $1200 to win $100), with Borg listed as a +700 underdog (bet $100 to win $700) at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.

However, Johnson-Borg will not be the main event at UFC 216, as that is reserved for the interim lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson (22-3) and Kevin Lee (16-2). Unlike the co-main event between Johnson and Borg, the Ferguson-Lee bout is expected to be much more competitive.

Ferguson is the -225 favorite, with Lee a +175 underdog on the UFC 216 odds, and both men are riding impressive winning streaks into this event.

Lee has won five in a row, and he is 9-2 in the UFC overall, with his only two losses coming against Leonardo Santos and Al Iaquinta. But Ferguson has been the hottest 155-pound fighter not named Khabib Nurmagomedov, winning nine straight since falling to Michael Johnson via unanimous decision more than five years ago at UFC on FOX 3.

That remains Ferguson’s lone loss in the organization, and he was supposed to fight the unbeaten Nurmagomedov (24-0) for the interim belt at UFC 209 on March 4, but his opponent suffered from an extreme weight cut and was forced to withdraw.

While those winning streaks have earned Lee and Ferguson a title shot, no fighter in the UFC has been better than Johnson over the past five years.

The 5’3″, 125-pounder is 12-0 since walking away with a draw against Ian McCall in his flyweight debut, and he will be looking to tie the promotion’s title defense record versus Borg. Johnson and future Hall of Famer Anderson “Spider” Silva are currently tied for the mark with 10 consecutive title defenses.

Silva has gone 2-4 with one no-contest since seeing his streak end with the first of two losses to former middleweight champ Chris Weidman.

Meanwhile, Borg is the third-ranked contender at 125 behind Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo, two fighters who Johnson has beaten during his streak. The Arizona native has won five of his last six, with his last three wins all going the distance. By contrast, Johnson has two knockouts and four submissions among his past nine.

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