UFC on ESPN 16: Holm vs. Aldana takes place on Saturday, October 3 at Fight Island on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the event, and MMAOB staff writer Adam Martin takes a look at the opening odds below.
UFC on ESPN 16 Odds
Holly Holm -110
Irene Aldana -110
Yorgan De Castro -270
Carlos Felipe +230
Germaine de Randamie -185
Julianna Pena +160
Dusko Todorovic -305
Dequan Townsend +225
Carlos Condit -140
Court McGee +120
Kyler Phillips -275
Cameron Else +235
Charles Jourdain -300
Josh Culibao +250
Jordan Williams -215
Nassourdine Imavov +165
Jinh Yu Frey -120
Loma Lookboonmee -120
Casey Kenney -220
Heili Alateng +185
Luigi Vendramini -175
Jessin Ayari +135
Here are my initial thoughts on the UFC on ESPN 16 Opening Odds:
- The main event of UFC on ESPN 16 sees a pair of top-10 women’s bantamweights go at it as Holm takes on Aldana. Holm is the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion and at age 38 she is still one of the best fighters in the division. Holm is coming off of a decision win over Raquel Pennington and overall she has won three of her last five fights. She may not win the title again with Amanda Nunes holding the belt, but Holm is still winning fights. We will see if she can add Aldana to her resume, but it won’t be easy. Aldana is a great fighter who has won five of her last six fights overall, including a KO win over Ketlen Vieira in her last fight. Aldana is finally healthy after a case of COVID-19 and hopefully this No. 1 contender fight stays intact.
- The co-main event sees heavyweights de Castro and Felipe fight each other. De Castro is 1-1 in the UFC with a KO win over Justin Tafa and a decision loss to Greg Hardy. As for Felipe, he dropped a decision to Serghei Spivac in his Octagon debut. I have no idea why this fight is the co-main event for this card as this is a battle of low-level heavyweights looking to stay on the roster. My lean would be towards de Castro, but the opening line is far too high to bet on.
- One of the most important fights on the card sees former women’s featherweight champ De Randamie take on Pena in a potential title eliminator. De Randamie is coming off of a decision loss to Nunes which snapped her five-fight win streak while Pena is coming off of a decision win over Nicco Montano and has won five of her last six overall as well. Both women are great fighters and the winner of this fight should have their name in title contention at women’s 135.
- It’s been hard to watch Condit struggle as much as he has. The former interim champ has lost five straight fights but the UFC is giving him one last chance here against McGee, who has lost four of his last five. The loser of this fight will likely be encouraged to retire by the UFC. It’s unbelievable how far Condit has fallen, but on paper, he should be able to beat McGee.
