UFC on ESPN+ 26 takes place Saturday, February 22nd at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the full card, and here they are.
UFC on ESPN+ 26 Opening Odds
Dan Hooker -120
Paul Felder -120
Michal Oleksiejczuk -150
Jimmy Crute +120
Yan Xiaonan -180
Karolina Kowalkiewicz +150
Marcos Rogerio De Lima -150
Ben Sosoli +120
Zubaira Tukhugov -150
Kevin Aguilar +120
Magomed Mustafaev -425
Brad Riddell +325
Jake Matthews -240
Emil Meek +190
Song Kenan -285
Callan Potter +225
Kai Kara-France -350
Tyson Nam +275
Jalin Turner -140
Josh Culibao +100
Angela Hill -180
Loma Lookboonmee +140
Takashi Sato -170
Maki Pitolo +140
Priscila Cachoeira -170
Shana Dobson +140
And here are my initial thoughts on the UFC on ESPN+ 26 Opening Odds:
- The main event should be one heck of a scrap between Hooker and Felder. Both guys are ranked in the top 10 right now at 155lbs and the winner of this fight could jump into title contention in a loaded division. Felder is coming off of back-to-back wins over Edson Barboza and James Vick and overall has won his last five fights in the lightweight division. Hooker, meanwhile, is coming off of back-to-back wins over Al Iaquinta and Vick and has won six of his seven fights overall since moving up to lightweight. Both guys are very violent and considering it’s scheduled for five rounds I just can’t see them going the distance. I really feel like we’re going to see a knockout in this fight. Considering Hooker is fighting at home you have to lean towards him a little, but it’s definitely a compelling matchup and the odds opened as Pick ’em.
- The co-main event should be a fun light heavyweight bout between Crute and Oleksiejczuk. Crute is coming off of a surprising submission loss to Misha Cirkunov but had won all 10 of his pro fights before that and is still only 23 years old. Oleksiejczuk is also a really good prospect and was unbeaten for six years before shockingly getting tapped out by Ovince Saint Preux in his last fight. At 24, he should be able to bounce back from that loss just like Crute. It’s a close fight but considering Crute is fighting at home I’m a bit surprised he wasn’t favored here.
- As far as the odds go, the widest opening line saw Mustafaev open as a big favorite open Riddell. Mustafaev has won three of his four fights in the Octagon but the problem is he hasn’t been very active and only has one fight in the last four years. Riddell, meanwhile, is coming off of an amazing win over Jamie Mullarkey in one of 2019’s best fights. As we saw in that fight Riddell has poor striking defense, and could be at a real risk of being knocked out by Mustafaev here. The odds were a bit too high at open, but Mustafaev should be favored here.
- We also need to give a shoutout to Hill, who is taking her sixth fight within the last 11 months. That’s amazing, and she has looked great as of late. Lookboonmee is a really good prospect, though, and should put up a better fight against Hill than some of her last opponents did.
