UFC 235 takes place Saturday, March 2 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the bettings odds for the full card, and here they are.
UFC 235 Opening Odds
Jon Jones -800
Anthony Smith +500
Tyron Woodley -145
Kamaru Usman +105
Ben Askren -185
Robbie Lawler +145
Weili Zhang -165
Tecia Torres +125
Cody Garbrandt -210
Pedro Munhoz +160
Zabit Magomedsharipov -300
Jeremy Stephens +200
Johnny Walker -215
Misha Cirkuov +165
Cody Stamann -155
Alejandro Perez +115
Mickey Gall -210
Diego Sanchez +160
Edmen Shahbazyan -145
Charles Byrd +105
Macy Chiasson -300
Gina Mazany +200
Marlon Vera -185
Frankie Saenz +145
Polyana Viana -350
Hannah Cifers +250
And here are my initial thoughts on the UFC 235 Opening Odds:
- I love what Smith has done since moving up to light heavyweight and he’s earned this title shot against Jones, but what a brutal matchup for him. Jones is better than Smith in pretty much every facet of the game except for maybe pure knockout power, meaning Smith only has a puncher’s chance here. Odds are Jones is going to take Smith to the ground and look to finish him there. The moneyline odds are massive in Jones’ favor for a reason, so perhaps taking a look at the props on him will be a better idea.
- The co-main event looks like a much closer fight. Although Woodley is the welterweight champion and deserves to be favored here, Usman has looked amazing in the UFC and stylistically matches up pretty well against Woodley. Both guys are tremendous wrestlers and the odds are the grappling will cancel itself out, leading to a stand up fight. Woodley has more power, but Usman has more volume, making it a closer fight to call than perhaps some believe. As good as Woodley is, I think Usman has a really good shot at beating him to take home the gold.
- It’s nice to finally see Askren in the UFC, and the matchmakers are giving him a tough test here against a former champion in Lawler. Obviously, Askren is going to look to get the takedown and get this fight to the mat, but Lawler has excellent takedown defense and on the feet there’s no question Lawler is the better striker. However, Lawler has really slowed down in recent fights and it’s possible he’s declined as a fighter. I expected Askren to be favored, but I think there may be some value on Lawler as a dog due to his UFC experience and superior striking skills.
- Another dog who is worth a look is Munhoz, who takes on the former champ Garbrandt in an important bantamweight bout. Munhoz is coming off of a great knockout win over Bryan Caraway while Garbrandt was knocked out twice by TJ Dillashaw. We can’t forget how good Garbrandt looked when he fought Dominick Cruz a few years back, but that chin hasn’t held up at all since then and this could be a bad fight for him.
- There are a number of intriguing matchups on the prelims and I believe there are going to be a lot of live dogs on this card. Do your research!
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