The oddsmakers have faith in Israel Adesanya and Charles Oliveira.
Following UFC 276, Adesanya was the opening betting favourite to beat Alex Pereira, and keep his UFC Middleweight title belt. This will be likely his next title defense. “The Last Stylebender” opened as a -180 favorite to beat Pereira (+160), according to BetOnline, however the early money has since come down on Pereira, which has pulled Adesanya into tighter -165 odds while Pereira is currently sitting at +145.
A former two-division GLORY champion who holds a 2-0 record over Adesanya in kickboxing, Pereira demolished MMA Fighting’s No. 8 ranked middleweight Sean Strickland with a first-round knockout at UFC 276 to potentially earn the next shot at Adesanya.
As for the night’s co-main event, UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski outclassed Max Holloway to move ahead 3-0 in their trilogy and cement himself as the predominant 145-pound of this era. Volkanovski called once more for an opportunity for him to rise to 155 weights and compete for glory in two-division.
If he wins, he will be the underdog in the division’s betting against Charles Oliveira. Charles is the top-ranked fighter of the division, and Volkanovski opened the match with +110 odds, while Oliveira sits at -130..
