RIZIN 14 takes place Monday, December 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up full odds for the card, and here they are.
RIZIN 14 Opening Odds
Floyd Mayweather -260
Tenshin Nasukawa +200
Kyogi Horiguchi -160
Darrion Caldwell +120
Daron Cruickshank -300
Damien Brown +220
Jiri Prochazka -420
Brandon Halsey +300
Johnny Case -210
Yusuku Yachi +160
Justin Scoggins -285
Yuki Motoya +205
Ulka Sasaki -180
Manel Kape +140
And here are my initial thoughts on the odds:
– The main event between Mayweather and Nasukawa is a really strange matchup that is being labelled as an exhibition boxing match. What that means, it’s hard to say, but it doesn’t appear to be a safe fight to bet on. Mayweather. This looks like a freakshow fight and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone entered the ring from the rafters and broke up the matchup. If anything I’d go with Nasukawa at plus money just for possible entertainment value alone, but serious bettors will want to pass on this.
– The real main event is between Horiguchi and Caldwell. Horiguchi might be the best flyweight in the sport not named Demetrious Johnson while Caldwell has had a great run as the Bellator bantamweight chamion. This looks like a really interesting fight that could go either way, but I’d still favor Horiguchi based on the fact he will be fighting in Japan and is used to fightng in a ring.
– The lightweight bout between Cruickshank and Brown should be pretty good. Cruickshank has been a bit inconsistent since leaving the UFC but has always been exciting. Brown was a guy who was on the bad end of a couple decisions in the UFC but generally has been a very durable fighter. I’d actually go with Brown here as the underdog if I had to bet on this fight.
– As for the light heavyweights, I like Prochzaka to beat Halsey. I just don’t think you can lay money on Halsey considering how inconsistent he is. He’s just not the guy who was the former Bellator middlewight champion anymore and I don’t think he has much left in the tank at this point.
– Other UFC vets on the card include Case, Scoggins and Sasaki. All three fighters are favored to win their bouts, and they should win, but considering each guy flamed out of the UFC you are taking a risk by laying juice. Especially a guy like Scoggins, I wouldn’t bet on him at all right now.
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