Together with the UFC’s next pay-per-view event just more than three weeks away, it’s time to begin having a look at the betting odds for your card. Two streaks on the card have lines introduced, and they’re about as different as can be. At the main event, T.J. Dillashaw will defend his newly won UFC bantamweight title against the guy he took it from, Renan Barao. In their first battle, Barao closed as a enormous -910 favorite (bet $910 to win $100) over Dillashaw. The Team Alpha Male member dominated that first battle, scoring a fifth-round TKO in among the biggest anti upsets in UFC history. This moment, the odds are much nearer, with Dillashaw sitting in -140 and Barao the little underdog in +120 (bet $100 to win $120). There are eight extra bouts on the card which up until now did not have betting lines posted. MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas altered that today as he published the full UFC 177 gambling odds at 5Dimes Sportsbook. ———— MAIN CARD (PPV, 10pm ET) UFC Bantamweight Title TJ Dillashaw -140 Renan Barao +100 Tony Ferguson -265 Danny Castillo +185 Bethe Correia -160 Shayna Baszler +120 Carlos Diego Ferreira -280 Ramsey Nijem +200 Yancy Medeiros -135 Damon Jackson -105 ————– PRELIMINARY CARD (Fox Sports 1, 8pm ET) Lorenz Larkin -140 Derek Brunson +100 Henry Cejudo -185 Scott Jorgensen +145 Anthony Hamilton -210 Ruan Potts +160 Joe Soto -125 Anthony Birchak -115 ————– PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Night, 7:30pm ET) Chris Wade -140 Cain Carrizosa +100 ————– Brad’s Analysis: I really desire Bethe Correia to win this particular battle, just so that I never need to listen to anything about the ridiculous”Four Horsewomen” ever again. That said, Correia has never faced anyone of Baszler’s skill level, especially when it comes to grappling. I think Baszler can wade through Correia’s drag and striking this battle to the ground where she will have a distinct edge. The biggest worry for me is about Baszler’s long layoff and injury woes of late, and it can be more than enough to keep me from betting her. Tony Ferguson appears like a nightmare matchup for Danny Castillo. Castillo has been labeled on the feet a few times prior to, and unlike his charms against Tim Means or Anthony Njokuanihe will not be able to fall back on his wrestling if the striking does not go to plan. This ought to be very competitive in all areas, but Ferguson has minor edges which should propel him to success. Lorenz Larkin is only 27, but the decline in his performances of late makes him seem like a 37-year-old. He looked completely listless against Brad Tavares for 10 minutes, and was immediately dispatched by Costas Philippou. On the other hand, Derek Brunson provided the toughest test of Yoel Romero’s career in his latest bout. It feels like Larkin was really overvalued as a prospect while at Strikeforce, while Brunson had been missed. This is a very tough bout to call regarding a negative or a complete, so I will probably stay away completely. On the other hand, I think Ramsey Nijem is in for a rough night against Carlos Diego Ferreira. Nijem may have a wrestling edge , but even that’s questionable. Ferreira is the much greater entry grappler, and probably even the greater striker at this stage (although Nijem’s advancement in that regard last time out was nice to see). I expect Ferreira to get the win, and probably put another finish on his resume from his submission abilities or Nijem’s questionable chin. Henry Cejudo consistently made for fascinating bouts when he had been facing completely overmatched competition, so he’s up against a legitimate evaluation in Scott Jorgensen, I have to admit this is one of my most anticipated bouts on the card. The physical benefits here belong to Cejudo, as does the wrestling edge, naturally. He may not have the well-rounded skill set to prevent Jorgensen, but I think he wins rounds with takedowns and scrambling. Cejudo passed one of the important tests for prospects in his last outing as well, becoming cracked square to the jaw and shaking off it to win not only the fight, but that round as well. The big question with Cejudo, as always, is: how concentrated is he? Maybe being signed by the UFC was the impetus he had to begin taking the sport seriously, as in his previous appearances (and non-appearances) using Legacy FC, it is quite obvious he’s been coasting occasionally. Against Jorgensen he may not be able to eliminate a half effort, and when he does it’ll make him even more special. A Legacy veteran making his UFC debut with less fanfare is 39-year-old Richard Odoms. His only loss came into UFC heavyweight Jared Rosholt, but he has generally been able to restrain and outhustle competitions to pick up choices. That will be hard against Ruslan Magomedov, who really possesses decent cardio for a heavyweight, to go along with his solid striking. Coming from almost a year layoff, it’s difficult to expect much from Odoms, therefore I expect Magomedov to pick up the win, but he’s somebody I completely expect to fade if he could get a few more wins and confront decent competition. The hype on Yancy Medeiros came a bit too quickly, and should nearly be snuffed out at this stage. His striking defense looked atrocious against the two Yves Edwards and Jim Miller, along with his entry game was practically non-existent as he was tapped within minutes of hitting the ground against Miller. Perhaps that may work to the advantage of his backers from Justin Edwards nevertheless, as Edwards really isn’t UFC caliber, even in this point. Edwards has a fantastic guillotine, and not many other skills, therefore Medeiros has this fight to win so long as he does not dive in that weapon. Edwards will likely come out fast, because he must know that a win will mark the end of his UFC employ. Speaking of pink-slip derbies, the loser of Ruan Potts and Anthony Hamilton will likely be shown the door too, since both place on foul dislpays within their UFC debuts. Potts is an aggressive — but not overly talented — grappler, while Hamilton showed massive holes in his own grappling against Alexey Oleinik. On the other hand, Hamilton has some electricity and Potts was put out with one shot on the ground against Soa Palelei. Either man could complete this battle quickly and that I wouldn’t be surprised, or they could play it safe and we can be treated to some truly awful heavyweight MMA. If the price for this bout to go over 1.5 rounds is large enough, I might just have a shot in hopes the bout is of the hilariously bad selection, but I can’t see myself putting much greater than Monopoly money down on this competition.
Read more: sportxmagazine.com