UFC 186 Betting Movers and Shakers

UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson has received a ton of respect from oddsmakers for his sixth title defense against Top 10 contender Kyoji Horiguchi at both Several Bookmakers and the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. The 28-year-old Johnson (21-2-1) is unbeaten in his last eight fights, going 7-0-1 since moving to flyweight after losing to Dominick Cruz for the UFC bantamweight title back in 2011. Only women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey can compare to Johnson in terms of massive betting lines in their favor lately with very few competitors who can match up with them inside the Octagon. Enter the 24-year-old Horiguchi (15-1), who has racked up nine consecutive wins to earn his title shot, including four in the UFC, two of which resulted in TKOs in the first and second round. The question on every MMA bettor’s mind heading into Saturday’s main event for the UFC flyweight championship should be, was the champ Johnson priced too high in Vegas (-1100) or too low offshore at Several Bookmakers (-505) when openers were released at each sportsbook? Even UFC commentator Jon Anik did not think Horiguchi should be such a big underdog yet also would not recommend betting $10 against Johnson. Another much smaller discrepancy between the two books involves a bantamweight bout between unbeaten 23-year-old Brazilian Thomas Almeida (18-0) and 35-year-old Haitian-Canadian Yves Jabouin (20-9) that will open the main card on Saturday night. Like Johnson, Several Bookmakers opened Almeida at -505 while the SuperBook had him at -420 before both have seen the heavy favorite settle in at -450 as of Friday night. The only other fight of note on the main card with a decent betting move is the 215-pound catchweight matchup between former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (35-11) and Fabio Maldonado (22-7) in the co-main event. Jackson has been out of the UFC for more than two years following a three-game skid that saw him lose to current light heavyweight champ Jon “Bones” Jones, Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira in succession before moving on to Bellator. That move nearly cost him a return to the UFC, as his former employer issued an injunction due to a supposed breach of contract, which was later overturned just in time for Jackson to remain on the UFC 186 card. Bettors do not seem to be impressed at all by Jackson’s presence though, bumping him down against Maldonado at Several Bookmakers and the SuperBook. Following is a complete breakdown of the betting moves offshore and in Vegas for every bout on the UFC 186 card…

Click here for a sortable UFC 186 Betting Moves chart.