UFC Vegas 25: Reyes vs. Prochazka takes place on Saturday, May 1 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. 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 Vegas 25: Reyes vs. Prochazka Odds
Jiri Prochazka -130
Dominick Reyes -110
Giga Chikadze -125
Cub Swanson +105
Ion Cutelaba -140
Dustin Jacoby +120
Sean Strickland -200
Krzysztof Jotko +170
Merab Dvalishvili -140
Cody Stamann +120
Poliana Botelho -185
Luana Carolina +160
Loma Lookboonmee -310
Sam Hughes +260
Andreas Michailidis -180
KB Bhullar +155
Gabriel Benitez -150
Jonathan Pearce +130
Kai Kamaka III -225
TJ Brown +190
Here are my quick thoughts on the UFC Vegas 25 Opening Odds:
- The main event between Jiri Prochazka (27-3-1) and Dominick Reyes (12-2) should keep the winner in title contention at 205lbs. Prochazka is on a long, 11-fight winning streak at the moment and he had an amazing UFC debut last summer on Fight Island when he knocked out Volkan Oezdemir. Prochazka is a huge hitter in the light heavyweight division and a win over Reyes could earn him a title shot at 205lbs. Of course, Reyes will be looking to bounce back and return to title contention himself. After losing to Jan Blachowicz and Jon Jones in his last two fights, many are writing Reyes off as a has-been. But when you think about it, losing to two studs like that shouldn’t be a career-ender. The oddsmakers opened Prochazka as a small favorite here with Reyes as a small underdog in what should be an exciting standup battle.
- The co-main event between Cub Swanson (27-11) and Giga Chikadze (12-2) should also be a striking battle. Swanson is 37 now, but he is still fighting at a high level with back-to-back wins over Kron Gracie and Daniel Pineda. Chikadze, meanwhile, is a perfect 5-0 since entering the UFC in 2019 and he is coming off of a head kick knockout win over Jamey Simmons in his last fight. Again, this should be a competitive fight between two fighters who prefer to stand and trade, but the oddsmakers opened the younger Chikadze a small favorite to win this fight.
- Another fight on this card that should be a really good one features Merab Dvalishvili (12-4) going up against Cody Stamann (19-3-1). Dvalishvili has been red hot as of late, winning his last five fights in a row and absolutely dominating the opposition with his incredible wrestling skills. He is able to get the majority of his opponents down to the floor and once that happens he can just smother them and win decisions. However, he might not have as much success in doing that against someone like Stamann, who has some grappling chops of his own. Stamann has a nice 5-2-1 record in the UFC which matches the 5-2 record of Dvalishvili, so this should be a close fight between two fighters who come from grappling backgrounds. You would think Dvalishvili would be able to get the takedowns, but if he isn’t able to, then Stamann may have a slight edge in the striking. The oddsmakers opened Dvalishvili only as a slight favorite, showing Stamann plenty of respect here as a small underdog in this matchup.
