PFL 2019 Week 2 takes place Thursday, May 23 at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the full card, and here they are.
PFL 2019 Week 2 Opening Odds
Lance Palmer -675
Alex Gilpin +425
Chris Wade -230
Nate Andrews +170
Andre Harrison -1350
Peter Petties +650
Akmed Aliev -765
Carlos Silva +455
Islam Mamedov -600
Ylies Djiroun +400
Rashid Magomedov -565
Loik Radzhabov +375
Jeremy Kennedy -555
Luis Rafael Laurentino +365
Steven Siler -160
Gadzhi Rabadanov +120
Movlid Khaybulaev -195
Damon Jackson +155
Natan Schulte -900
Yincang Bao +500
And here are my initial thoughts on the PFL 2019 Week 2 Opening Odds:
- In the main event, defending featherweight champion Palmer will look to start his trek to another million dollar paycheque when he takes on Gilpin. The odds are indicating this is a mismatch, and it’s hard to disagree. Palmer is riding a six-fight win streak into this fight with victories over Siler and Harrison in his last two outings. He’s one of the best featherweights in the world not currently signed to the UFC or Bellator. His opponent Gilpin is on a seven-fight win streak himself and has only one career loss, to current UFC lightweight Dan Moret. Gilpin actually won by submission on Dana White’s Contender Series last summer but the UFC passed on signing him. He looks like a good prospect, but you can’t go against Palmer here. He’ll probably be a very popular parlay piece amongst bettors this weekend.
- Another mismatch according to the bookmakers sees Harrison take on Petties. Prior to the loss to Palmer, Harrison had won 20 straight fights, so this is not the time to fade him. Petties has a 6-4, 1 NC record in MMA and actually lost his last bout in TKO. This should be an easy win for Harrison, and the odds reflect that, but it’s hard to say there’s value on him.
- The co-main event takes place in the lightweight division as Wade fights Andrews. Wade had a solid showing in the first PFL season, going 2-2 with both his losses to Schulte, who ended up winning the lightweight tournament. Andrews comes into this fight on a nine-fight win streak and was the CES lightweight champion. Although Wade is a solid wrestler, I actually think Andrews might be a better prospect, and as the underdog I see value on him.
- Speaking of mismatches, the runner-up in the last lightweight tournament was Magomedov, who fights PFL newcomer Radzhabov. There’s no doubt Magomedov is a good fighter, but it’s worth looking into Radzhabov more. He’s undefeated with an 11-0 pro record with many of his wins coming by stoppage. However, he hasn’t fought since 2017 and has fought a poor level of competition so far. Still, I would rather take a shot with the dog than lay that sort of massive juice on Magomedov.
- The aforementioned Schulte also fights on this card. He’s an excellent fighter who ran through the competition in the first PFL lightweight tournament, and it’s hard to see him losing to Bao, who is actually coming off of a loss on the Asian regional circuit. Of all the big favorites on the card, I feel most confident about Schulte getting his hand raised.
