UFC 252: Miocic vs. Cormier 3 takes place on Saturday, August 15 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the full card, and here they are.
UFC 252 Odds
Stipe Miocic -110
Daniel Cormier -110
Sean O’Malley -230
Marlon Vera +180
Jairzinho Rozenstruik -140
Junior dos Santos +110
Merab Dvalishvili -170
John Dodson +145
Magomed Ankalaev -360
Ion Cutelaba +270
Jim Miller -180
Vinc Pichel +140
Livinha Souza -250
Ashley Yoder +195
Herbert Burns -200
Daniel Pineda +160
Virna Jandiroba -155
Felice Herrig +125
TJ Brown -195
Danny Chavez +155
Parker Porter -165
Chris Daukaus +125
Here are my initial thoughts on the UFC 252 Opening Odds:
- The trilogy fight between Miocic and Cormier is finally here. We’ve been treated to these two heavyweights throwing down the last two summers, with Cormier winning by KO the first time and Miocic winning by TKO the second time. The trilogy fight is even tougher to predict because these two are so evenly matched, so much so that the oddsmakers opened the trilogy as a true Pick ’em. These are two of the greatest MMA heavyweights we’ve ever seen and the winner of the fight probably goes down as the heavyweight GOAT. This is a very tough fight to pick but it is sure to draw heavy action on both sides at the sportsbooks regardless.
- The co-main event should be a fantastic matchup between two of the top young bantamweights as O’Malley takes on Vera. O’Malley has looked fantastic in the UFC so far and is quickly becoming one of the most dangerous strikers in the entire sport. As for Vera, he’s always a tough one and has proven he’s deserving of a top-15 rank at 135lbs. With O’Malley being unbeaten, I’d have to lean towards him again, though Vera will be tough.
- Another big heavyweight clash sees Rozenstruik take on dos Santos. Both men are coming off of knockout losses to Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes, respectively, so this is a great matchup in regards to figuring out which guy is still a top-10 fighter and who isn’t. Both guys have huge KO power but have shown they can be finished too. Whoever lands the first big punch may very well come away with the win. Like any heavyweight bout, it’s tough to bet.
- Another great bantamweight fight sees Dodson take on Dvalishvili. Dodson is coming off of a big upset TKO win over Nathaniel Wood that showed he’s still a top-15 talent. As for Dvalishvili, he has quickly risen the ranks at 135lbs with his incredible wrestling skills. Dvalishvili deserves to be favored based on his win streak, but don’t count out Dodson.
- Finally, a rematch between Ankalaev and Cutelaba opens up the main card. These two met back in February and we saw one of the worst stoppages in years when referee Kevin MacDonald stopped the fight way too early. The UFC was thankfully able to re-book the rivals for this card, and hopefully, there’s no controversy this time. Ankalaev has looked elite in the UFC for the most part while Cutelaba has been up-and-down. We’ll see how Cutelaba bounces back here, but I have a feeling Ankalaev scores a clean TKO finish this time around.
