ACB 83 takes place Saturday, March 24 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The card is littered with the names of several UFC veterans. Here are the opening odds courtesy of the offshore sportsbooks, as well as my initial thoughts on the card.
ACB 83 Opening Odds
Oleg Borisov -145 (for bantamweight title)
Rustam Kerimov +105
Amir Aliakbari -300
Denis Smoldarev +220
Tural Ragimov -300
Attila Korkmaz +220
Daniel Omielanczuk -900
Bobby Brents +500
Daud Shaikhaev -125
Erick Barbosa -115
Khamzat Aushev -190
Efrain Escudero +150
Magomed Magomedov -1200
Edgars Skrivers +600
Lambert Akhiadov -210
Adrain Diaz +160
Islam Yusunov -195
Dileno Lopes +155
Alikhan Suleimanov -190
Sergey Grechka +150
And my initial thoughts on some of the bouts…
– The vacant ACB bantamweight belt is on the line in the main event between Oleg Borisov (20-2-1) and Rustam Kerimov (10-0). Borisov has won two-straight fights since losing his belt to Magomed Magomedov and overall has been terrific in ACB with a 4-1 record in the promotion. Kerimov is undefeated in his career, including a 3-0 mark in ACB, and in his last fight he knocked out UFC veteran Takeya Mizugaki. Both of these fighters are solid but if I had to pick someone here I’d lean towards the upside and take the younger Kerimov.
– There are two notable UFC veterans on this card. The first is Efrain Escudero (29-13-1) who takes on Khamzat Aushev (11-3). Escudero is 5-2 since being cut by the UFC including an 0-1 record in ACB. He’s been a good fade for a while and I expect that to continue here, though it’s worth noting he just fought a few weeks ago in Mexico and won. Aushev has won nine-straight fights including a 4-0 record in ACB. He looks like a very solid prospect and considering he’s just a marginal favorite here it looks like there’s value in fading Escudero and taking Aushev.
– The second UFC vet is Daniel Omielanczuk (19-8-1) has lost three-straight fights and is competing for the first time since being released by the UFC. Keep in mind though that he only lost to top-15 heavyweights in the form of Curtis Blaydes, Stefan Struve, and Tim Johnson. Brents (17-6) is coming off of a decision loss to Chase Gormley in Bellator and hasn’t fought in well over a year. Brents actually has a ton of experience against high-level competition like Stipe Miocic but this looks like a set-up fight for Omielanczuk to get his first win in ACB. Still, at these odds it’s hard to find betting value.
– The biggest favorite on the card is Magomed Magomedov (14-2) who takes on Edgars Skrivers (15-5). Magomedov is just two fights removed from losing a decision to Peter Yan, but prior to that was the bantamweight champ. He’s an excellent prospect, but jeez, these odds seem awfully steep. Skrivers meanwhile has won two-straight fights. It’s likely that Magomedov still wins but there’s no value at these kind of odds.
