UFC on ESPN+ 37: Moraes vs. Sandhagen takes place on Saturday, October 10 at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the event, and MMAOB staff writer Adam Martin takes a look at the opening odds below.
UFC on ESPN+ 37 Odds
Marlon Moraes -135
Cory Sandhagen +115
Edson Barboza -180
Makwan Amirkhani +155
Marcin Tybura -115
Ben Rothwell -105
Dricus Du Plessis -195
Markus Perez +155
Tom Aspinall -350
Alan Baudot +250
Youssef Zalal -270
Ilia Topuria +190
Tom Breese -215
KB Bhullar +165
Rodrigo Nascimento -310
Chris Daukaus +260
Impa Kasanganay -245
Joaquin Buckley +185
Ali Alqaisi -130
Tony Kelley +110
Omar Morales -135
Giga Chikadze +115
Tracy Cortez -305
Stephanie Egger +225
Tagir Ulanbekov -455
Bruno Silva +355
Here are my initial thoughts on the UFC on ESPN+ 37 Opening Odds:
- The main event is a terrific bantamweight fight between two of the best in the division as Moraes takes on Sandhagen. Moraes hasn’t fought in 2020 yet due to being infected with COVID-19 which pushed his return back until now. The last time we saw him he defeated Jose Aldo via split decision at UFC 245 last December. As for Sandhagen, he is coming off of a surprising first-round stoppage loss to Aljamain Sterling, the first loss of his UFC career. Both fighters are excellent, well-rounded fighters and the close line makes sense. The fact this fight is five rounds should give a slight advantage to Sandhagen because he has the superior cardio, but Moraes is going to be extremely dangerous for at least the first couple of rounds.
- The co-main event sees Barboza take on short-notice replacement Amirkhani in a featherweight bout. Barboza is fighting for the first time since losing a controversial split decision to Dan Ige earlier this year, while Amirkhani is coming off of a submission win over Danny Henry. While Amirkhani is an excellent grappler, Barboza has strong takedown defense and on the feet, he is superior in every way. Barboza, in my eyes, is the clear favorite here.
- A heavyweight bout sees a pair of veterans go at it as Rothwell takes on Tybura. This fight can go one of two ways. Either someone gets an early knockout, or this fight drags on and we see a dull decision. Hopefully, it’s the former and not the latter, but based on the style matchup, this could be a really slow-paced fight if both men begin to fade. Rothwell is the more experienced fighter and has big-time power and an iron chin, but Tybura has some power himself and strong takedown skills. It’s a heavyweight fight that could go either way, as the line indicates.
- Deep on the prelims one of the best fights on the card sees Chikadze take on Morales in a featherweight fight. Both fighters are unbeaten in the UFC and with both men preferring to stand and trade on the feet, this has a chance to be “Fight of the Night.” Again, you see a close line here given the style matchup pitting two strikers against one another. Chikadze keeps winning as an underdog but Morales is an excellent fighter. This one should be good.
