UFC on ESPN+ 18 takes place Saturday, September 28 at Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the full card, and here they are.
UFC on ESPN+ 18 Opening Odds
Jack Hermansson -210
Jared Cannonier +160
Mark Madsen -400
Danilo Belluardo +280
Gunnar Nelson -130
Gilbert Burns -110
Michal Oleksiejczuk -210
Ovince Saint-Preux +160
Alen Amedovski -190
John Phillips +150
Khalil Rountree -140
Ion Cutelaba +100
Macy Chiasson -380
Lina Lansberg +260
Alessio Di Chirico -230
Makhmud Muradov +170
Alex Oliveira -185
Nicolas Dalby +145
Ismail Naurdiev -170
Siyar Bahadurzada +130
Marc Diakese -135
Lando Vannata -105
Jack Shore -245
Nohelin Hernandez +175
Brandon Davis -180
Giga Chikadze +140
And here are my initial thoughts on the UFC on ESPN+ 18 Opening Odds:
- The UFC is bringing a pretty solid Fight Night card to its debut in Denmark. In the main event, two of the fastest-rising middleweights fight as Hermansson fights Cannonier. Hermansson has looked incredible lately as he’s coming off of four straight wins with a huge victory over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza his last time out. As for Cannonier, he’s coming off of a TKO win over Anderson Silva and is unbeaten as a middleweight. Both are talented fighters closing in on a title shot, but you have to lean towards Hermansson here after the win over Souza.
- The co-main event is actually a lightweight bout between Madsen and Belluardo. This is surprising because Madsen is making his UFC debut while Belluardo was knocked out in his own Octagon debut. Although Madsen is 10 years older than Belluardo (35 to 25), you still have to go with Madsen here. His wrestling background is about as high level as it gets and he’s looked really good so far in his MMA career. Not to mention he’ll be fighting in his home country of Denmark here.
- The fight that should have been the co-main event is a welterweight fight between Burns and Nelson. Burns has looked fantastic lately, winning five of his last six including an upset over Alexey Kunchenko in his welterweight debut his last time out. That fight was taken on short notice and up a weight class, but Burns passed that test with flying colors. As for Nelson, he’s coming off of a competitive split decision loss to Leon Edwards. Nelson is obviously more proven at 170lbs and is a very talented fighter, but Burns has looked really sharp lately.
- Also on the main card is the return of Denmark’s Nicolas Dalby, who returns to the UFC on a four-fight unbeaten streak to take on Oliveira. Dalby had a rough go his first time around in the UFC but returns as a much more mature fighter. A durable Oliveira is a tough comeback fight for Dalby and he’s the underdog here, but perhaps fighting in Denmark will give him the boost he needs to get his hand raised.
- There are some solid prelim fights, especially a women’s bantamweight bout between Chiasson and Lansberg. Chiasson is arguably the top prospect at 135lbs right now while Lansberg is a solid veteran coming off of a big win over Tonya Evinger. Lansberg is the perfect test for Chiasson, but you have to favor the Fortis MMA product here.
