Rejoice MMA fans, we get our first Pay-Per View of the year this weekend. For the first time since December of 2008 the UFC will have an event with the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight titles on the line. UFC 220 takes place at the TD Garden in Boston, MA where Stipe Miocic will defend his belt against Francis Ngannou in the Main Event and Daniel Cormier will defend his strap against Volkan Oezdimir in the Co-Main.
If you are anything like me you may dabble in a wager or two and are always looking to get the edge whenever possible. To find out what some of the best odds were going into this weekend’s PPV, I checked the MMA section over at sportsbettingdime.com. What better way to get emotionally invested in a fight than being financially invested?
Let’s start with the Co-Main Event where Daniel Cormier is a -280 favorite over the Challenger Volkan Oezdimir who is +240. Cormier has been able to use his wrestling and improved striking on everyone not named Jon Jones. Has proven that he can take big shots, i.e. Anthony Johnson and Alexander Gustaffson, and is firmly settled in as champ with Jon Jones on suspension. Oezdimir at +240 is part due to the quality of his opponent, but also in part due to his low name recognition. Casual fans will continue to sway the line towards Cormier. The Swede has shown his power in his last two fights, but will struggle if he can’t keep his distance. Stay away from this fight unless you can get Cormier much lower. Not much money to be made.
The most interesting part about the Main Event is that you have the current Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic as a +160 underdog, while the challenger Francis Ngannou is a -185 favorite. Rarely do you get such value from a current champion, but Ngannou knocking Alistair Overeem’s head into orbit under two months ago has a lot to do with it. Miocic has also shown that he will take some big shots in order to land shots of his own. Stipe has won five in a row, all by KO/TKO and has done so against the who’s who in the Heavyweight division. Can Stipe push NGannou into deep waters? Will Ngannou land another highlight reel KO? I see real value in both men, regardless of who you think is going to win. I won’t be missing out on an opportunity to cash on a Champion who is on this type of run and has been through the wars Miocic has. Betting the hot names isn’t always the best way to go in this sport.
Below you can see what the rest of the Main Event looks like along with some prop bets for the Main Event. Best of luck this weekend fight fans!
