After getting through the first month of the year, it’s now time to look back at the UFC monthly betting recap for January 2021. Even though there were only three events this month, there are still a number of interesting trends to take note of looking ahead to the rest of 2021. Numbers cited for the January 2021 UFC betting recap via Nick Kalikas of Circa Sports and MMAOddsbreaker.com.
The number of UFC events:
Three (UFC Fight Island 7, UFC Fight Island 8, UFC 257)
The number of UFC fights:
35
Favorites that won:
Joanne Calderwood (-130) def. Jessica Eye (+110)
Makhmud Muradov (-210) def. Andrew Sanchez (+180)
Arman Tsarukyan (-580) def. Matt Fevola (+450)
Movsar Evloev (-750) def. Nik Lentz (+555)
Amir Albazi (-120) def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov (+100)
Isaac Villanueva (-107) def. Vinicius Moreira (-103)
Viviane Araujo (-300) def. Roxanne Modafferi (+250)
Matt Schnell (-112) def. Tyson Nam (-108)
Lerone Murphy (-325) def. Douglas Silva de Andrade (+265)
Su Mudaerji (-550) def. Zarrukh Adashev (+425)
Ricky Simon (-525) def. Gaetano Pirrello (+415)
Dalcha Langiambula (-167) def. Markus Perez (+147)
Francisco Figueiredo (-145) def. Jerome Rivera (+125)
Mike Davis (-157) def. Mason Jones (+137)
Umar Nurmagomedov (-500) def. Sergey Morozov (+400)
Manon Fiorot (-230) def. Victoria Leonardo (+190)
Max Holloway (-160) def. Calvin Kattar (+140)
Carlos Condit (-210) def. Matt Brown (+180)
Joselyne Edwards (-120) def. Wu Yanan (+100)
Carlos Felipe (-185) def. Justin Tafa (+160)
Ramazan Emeev (-315) def. David Zawada (+265)
Austin Lingo (-215) def. Jacob Kilburn (+185)
22 betting favorites won in January (63% of total UFC bouts)
Underdogs that won:
Dustin Poirier (+255) def. Conor McGregor (-305)
Michael Chandler (+145) def. Dan Hooker (-165)
Marina Rodriguez (+285) def. Amanda Ribas (-355)
Brad Tavares (+117) def. Antonio Carlos Junior (-137)
Julianna Pena (+100) def. Sara McMann (-120)
Marcin Prachnio (+350) def. Khalil Rountree Jr. (-435)
Michael Chiesa (+132) def. Neil Magny (-152)
Warlley Alves (+230) def. Mounir Lazzez (-270)
Omari Akhmedov (+127) def. Tom Breese (-147)
Li Jingliang (+290) def. Santigo Ponzinibbio (-350)
Alessio di Chirico (+230) def. Joaquin Buckley (-270)
Punahele Soriano (+155) def. Dusko Todorovic (-180)
Vanessa Melo (+155) def. Sarah Moras (-180)
13 betting underdogs won in January (37% of total UFC bouts)
The biggest favorite that won:
Movsar Evloev was a -750 favorite to defeat +555 underdog Nik Lentz at UFC 257. Although Lentz put up a tough fight and nearly came away with the decision at the end of 15 minutes, Evloev won a split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28). Following this fight, Lentz announced his retirement from MMA.
The biggest underdog that won:
Marcin Prachnio was a +350 underdog to defeat -435 favorite Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 257. This was a very close fight that could have gone either way, but the judges gave Prachnio the unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). This was Prachnio’s first win in the UFC after three previous losses.
Best value line of the month:
Max Holloway closed as a -160 betting favorite and went on to set a UFC record with 445 significant strikes landed in a blowout, 50-42 decision over Calvin Kattar at UFC Fight Island 7. This was one of the most spectacular performances in UFC history and the -160 number was an absolute steal.
The biggest bust of the month:
Conor McGregor lost as a -290 betting favorite to +255 underdog Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 257. This was a major win for the sportsbooks and a huge loss for sports bettors as tickets on McGregor were ripped up when Poirier knocked him out in a second-round upset. There were several betting experts who said that 98% of the handle came in on McGregor, only to see him lose.
If you have any suggestions for additional categories, please hit us up and let us know what you would like included. In the meantime, how was your UFC betting for the month of January 2021?
