UFC 249 takes place Saturday, May 9 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the full card, and here they are.
Tony Ferguson -207
Justin Gaethje +164
Henry Cejudo -245
Dominick Cruz +175
Francis Ngannou -293
Jairzinho Rozenstruik +223
Calvin Kattar -250
Jeremy Stephens +194
Greg Hardy -190
Yorgan de Castro +165
Anthony Pettis -150
Donald Cerrone +120
Fabricio Werdum -230
Aleksei Oleinik +170
Carla Esparza -125
Michelle Waterson +105
Ronaldo Souza -135
Uriah Hall +115
Vicente Luque -250
Niko Price +210
Bryce Mitchell -150
Charles Rosa +130
Ryan Spann -400
Sam Alvey +325
Here are my initial thoughts on the UFC 249 Opening Odds:
- The main event between Ferguson and Gaethje has the opportunity to be the best fight of the year. Ferguson has won 12 straight fights and has proven he’s an elite lightweight, while Gaethje has won three straight fights himself as he’s climbed the ladder at 155lbs. Both men are coming off of long layoffs after finishing Donald Cerrone in their last bout, so this is the perfect interim title fight with undisputed champion Khabib Nurmagomedov out. Both Ferguson and Gaethje are finishers and although this fight is set for five rounds, it seems unlikely to go the distance. Look for a finish in this fight, and with Ferguson having so much momentum coming into this matchup, he has to be favored to win the interim belt.
- In the co-main event, we have another title fight between the bantamweight champ Cejudo and the long-time champ Cruz. Cejudo has looked amazing over his last four fights, taking out big names such as Demetrious Johnson and TJ Dillashaw in impressive fashion. Cruz, meanwhile, hasn’t fought since December 2016 when he lost his belt to Cody Garbrandt. He has been oft-injured and now that he’s older, it’s hard to see him returning to form. Cejudo is the clear favorite in this fight and should be able to defend his title once again.
- Two heavyweight bouts are on the main card. The first one sees Ngannou take on Rozenstruik and the other sees Hardy take on de Castro. Ngannou and Hardy are the favorites for these bouts, but as we all know, heavyweight fights have the most variance of any weight class in the sport. Ngannou is getting a lot of respect here from the sportsbooks but we know that Rozenstruik has pulled off his fair share of upsets in the past. Hardy, meanwhile, is the bigger name but de Castro is a very talented heavyweight and can’t be ignored here. Like most heavyweight bouts, I’d argue each of these matchups is a dog-or-pass situation.
- This card is so stacked that even the prelims feature numerous former UFC champions including Pettis, Werdum, and Esparza. It speaks to the depth of this card that you see so many big names deep on the preliminary card. The UFC has truly put together an amazing event for the sport’s big return and after nearly two months of not having any MMA fights to bet on, fight fans will finally have the opportunity to do so with these 12 fights at UFC 249.
