In the main event of UFC 267, Jan Blachowicz is looking to defend his light heavyweight title for the second time against Glover Teixeira which will be his final crack at becoming a UFC champion. The card goes down on Saturday, October 30 from Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
UFC 267 Opening Odds:
Jan Blachowicz -190
Glover Teixeira +165
Current UFC 267 Odds (Sept. 30):
Jan Blachowicz -260
Glover Teixeira +210
Blachowicz and Teixeira’s recent fights
Jan Blachowicz (28-8) is coming off a decision victory over middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya to defend his belt for the first time. Prior to that, he TKO’d Dominick Reyes at UFC 253 to win the light heavyweight title. The Pole is currently on a five-fight winning streak with the other wins over Corey Anderson by KO, Jacare Souza by split decision, and Luke Rockhold by KO. His last loss came back in February 2019 as he suffered a TKO loss to Thiago Santos. Blachowicz started out his UFC career going just 2-4 but has since gone 9-1 since then. He is also the former KSW light heavyweight champion.
Glover Teixeira (32-7) is on a five-fight winning streak and coming off a submission victory over Thiago Santos last November on Fight Island. In the fight before, he dominated Anthony Smith and earned a fifth-round TKO. Also during the winning streak, he beat Nikita Krylov by split decision and submitted Ion Cutelaba and Karl Roberson. His last loss was in July of 2018 where he suffered a decision loss to Corey Anderson. The Brazilian fought for UFC gold once way back at UFC 172 in 2014 where he lost by decision to Jon Jones.
Are the odds surprising?
I’m not surprised Jan Blachowicz is the favorite, but I am surprised he has been bet up to a -260 favorite. The opening line of -190 seemed fair, as I thought Blachowicz would be anywhere from -175 to -200.
Part of why I am surprised is due to the fact Blachowicz is someone who doesn’t get a lot of respect by the oddsmakers and bettors. He has been the betting underdog in nine of his last 10 fights and has been a sizeable one in most of them. However, Teixiera is getting up in age and perhaps people are starting to believe in Blachowicz.
How might the odds change?
I do expect two-way action on this fight but already money has been coming in on Blachowicz. As the fight draws in, I do think you will see the line come down as sharps will come in on Teixeira above the +200 mark as he certainly has a path to victory. By the time they step into the Octagon, I expect you will see Blachowicz at -230 with Teixeira around +190.
