UFC 237 takes place Saturday, May 11 at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the full card, and here they are.
UFC 237 Opening Odds
Rose Namajunas -140
Jessica Andrade +100
Jose Aldo -185
Alex Volkanovski +145
Jared Cannonier -150
Anderson Silva +110
Diego Ferreira -175
Francisco Trinaldo +135
Thiago Alves -185
Laureano Staropoli +145
Ryan Spann -185
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira +145
Thiago Moises -170
Kurt Holobaugh +130
Irene Aldana -265
Bethe Correia +185
Clay Guida -460
BJ Penn +320
Luana Carolina -155
Priscila Cachoeira +115
Warlley Alves -165
Sergio Moraes +125
Raoni Barcelos -320
Carlos Huachin Quiroz +240
Talita Bernardo -150
Melissa Gatto +110
And here are my initial thoughts on the UFC 237 Opening Odds:
- The main event should be a great fight as the women’s strawweight champ Namajunas takes on the top challenger Andrade. Namajunas is coming off of back-to-back wins over Joanna Jedrzejczyk that have elevated her to the top of the women’s P4P rankings, but she hasn’t fought in over a year. That layoff could come into play here against Andrade, who knocked out Karolina Kowalkiewicz in brutal fashion the last time we saw her. Namajunas opened as the favorite out of respect to the champ, but since then the betting odds have flipped and Andrade has turned into the favorite. Considering the hometown advantage and the fact she has been fighting more frequently, it’s easy to see why so many lean Andrade here. But don’t forget about how good Namajunas can be when she’s on.
- There’s a pair of co-main events on this card and both are difficult bouts to call. In the featherweight division, Aldo has looked amazing lately with back-to-back TKO wins over Jeremy Stephens and Renato Moicano, but Volkanovski has proven he’s one of the best in the world with his recent win streak including a TKO over Chad Mendes. It seems like a very tough fight to call given how good both guys are, but given Aldo’s hometown advantage he deserves the edge in the betting odds. At middleweight, Cannonier is coming off of a breakthrough TKO win over David Branch but faces the most popular Brazilian fighter of all time in Silva. Although Silva is 44, he was somewhat competitive against Israel Adesanya and will have the hometown crowd backing him here. Cannonier should be favored given his age advantage, but Silva can’t be totally written off.
- On the prelims, I think you have to fade Nogueira and go with Spann in a veteran vs. prospect light heavyweight division. Nogueira is 42 and although he did beat Sam Alvey in his last fight at some point he has to slow down and that might come here against Spann, who is on a nice win streak, albeit against lesser competition.
- It’s hard not to like Aldana over Correia in a women’s bantamweight bout. Though Correia will have the fans cheering for her, Aldana is much more technical on the feet and should get her hand raised in a potential FOTN contender. Aldana is prime parlay material.
- I agree with Guida being favored over Penn, but the odds are surprisingly longer than I figured. Guida probably wins, but it’s hard to see any sort of value in him at these odds. Then again, how could you confidently lay money on Penn considering his recent losing streak?
- Overall UFC 237 is a strong card from top-to-bottom, and should provide plenty of betting opportunities for fans.
