LFA 102: Souza vs. Johns takes place on Friday, March 19 at Grand Casino Hotel & Resort in Shawnee, Oklahoma. 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.
LFA 102 Odds
Elijah Johns -260
Bruno Silva +200
Gregory Rodrigues -300
Al Matavao +240
Brandon Lewis -150
Jimmy Meza +120
Chris Mecate -350
Alberto Rodriguez +275
AJ Cunningham -500
Javier Garcia +375
Haris Talundzic -300
Luis Iniguez +240
Steve Jones -200
Nikolay Veretennikov +160
Here are my initial thoughts on the Opening Odds for LFA 102:
- The main event of LFA 102 sees Bruno Silva (8-1) take on Elijah Johns (7-1). Silva is just 25 years old and he has won his last eight fights after losing his professional MMA debut in 2016. His last three victories have come in LFA and a win here could give him the chance to go to the UFC. Silva enters this fight against Johns as a hefty underdog. Johns has won his last five fights, all in LFA, and he, too, is likely hoping a big win here springboards him to the big show. The Fortis MMA product opened up as the clear favorite to win here according to the bookies.
- The co-main event features a pair of Dana White’s Contender Series alum as Gregory Rodrigues (7-3) takes on Al Matavao (8-3). Rodrigues, who has previous experience in LFA, is coming off of a KO loss to Jordan Williams on DWCS, a loss that snapped a six-fight win streak for the 29-year-old Brazilian. He enters this fight against Matavao, who was knocked out by Tafon Nchukwi on DWCS. That loss snapped a four-fight losing skid for Matavao, who is dropping back down to middleweight for this fight against Rodrigues. Matavao opened up as a big underdog for this fight, but it will be interesting to see if he looks better down at 185lbs.
- At welterweight, we have Steve Jones (8-1) against Nikolay Veretennikov (7-3). Jones has previously fought in LFA and he is currently riding a five-fight win streak overall. As for Veretennikov, he’s riding a six-fight win streak with a notable victory over current UFC fighter Charlie Ontiveros. It’s worth noting that Veretennikov hasn’t fought since September 2019, so he is coming off of a long layoff heading into this fight. That might be why the oddsmakers opened him as the underdog here because it looks like a pretty competitive fight otherwise.
- At featherweight, we have AJ Cunningham (7-1) facing off against Javier Garcia (5-3). Cunningham is coming off of three straight wins and overall all seven of his professional victories have come by stoppage. Prior to turning pro, Cunningham had quite the amateur career as well, so he has much more experience than his professional record indicates. As for Garcia, he has won just one of his last three fights and most recently won a split decision in October 2019. He might be a better fighter than his pro record indicates, but the oddsmakers opened him up as a huge underdog here to Cunningham, who looks like a solid prospect.
- Overall, this looks like a really fun card with several potential UFC-bound fighters on it.
