PFL Challenger Series 2023: Week 1 takes place on Friday, January 27 at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. 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.
PFL Challenger Series 2023: Week 1 Opening Odds
Lucas Barbosa -185
Itso Babulaidze +155
Jozef Wittner -115
Quemuel Ottoni -115
Thad Jean -150
Eric Alequin +120
Mostafa Rashed Neda -275
Nick Alley +215
Here are my quick thoughts on PFL Challenger Series 2023: Week 1:
- We have four fights taking place at PFL Challenger Series 2023: Week 1. In the headliner, Lucas Barbosa takes on Itso Babulaidze in a welterweight bout. Barbosa is a grappling ace who only has three MMA fights to his credit, and they all took place over a decade ago. Since then he has been fighting as a grappler and he has fought some of the biggest names in BJJ. it will be interesting to see how he makes the transition back to MMA after so many years away. As for Babulaidze, he won both of his pro fights last year for PFL and CFFC and also has some grappling experience on his resume. This is a very interesting fight on paper, but given Barbosa’s accomplishments on the BJJ circuit, he opened as the betting favorite.
- Also on the card is a welterweight bout between Thad Jean and Eric Alequin. Jean is a perfect 4-0 in MMA since starting his career two years ago, with a notable win in LFA. As for Alequin, he has seven pro fights to his credit and he has won all of them. He also has a bunch of pro grappling experience on his resume so it will be interesting to see how that translates to MMA. The oddsmakers opened up Jean as the slight favorite here but this looks like a very competitive fight either way.
