UFC 224 takes place Saturday, May 12 at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the opening odds for the UFC 224 preliminary card, and here they are.
UFC 224 Preliminary Card Opening Odds Karl Roberson -130
Cezar Ferreira -110
Junior Albini -120
Aleksei Oliynyk -120
Nick Hein -185
Davi Ramos +145
Sean Strickland -135
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos -105
Warlley Alves -260
Sultan Aliev +180
Jack Hermansson -210
Thales Leites +160
Ramazan Emeev -210
Alberto Mina +160
Markus Perez -200
Jamez Bochnovic +170
Here are my inital reactions to the UFC 224 Preliminary Card opening odds:
– I think Oliynyk is the superior mixed martial artist to Albini and was surprised to see this as a Pick ’em. Albini may have the home-field advantage but Oliynyk has a massive advantage if this fight hits the ground and for that reason alone I believe he should be the favorite in this one. It seems like the early action has come in on Alibini, which I find surprising.
– I think the oddsmakers got the Hein/Ramos line wrong. No doubt in my mind Ramos should have been favored here, and I’m not shocked at all the line has completely flipped, with Ramos now the favorite in this fight. The BJJ wiz should hold the advantage in the grappling department and that’s Hein’s best attribute, so I think the early action that has come in on Ramos is correct.
– Another line I’m a bit surprised about is in the Strickland/dos Santos fight. I feel like dos Santos should have been the favorite here, and again, I’m not surprised the early money has come in on the Brazilian. He’s on a nice winning streak right now and while Strickland has looked really good at times in the UFC he’s also had some disappointing performances and considering dos Santos will have the hometown edge in a fight that could be close on the scorecards, I think he should be favored here.
– It’s hard not to favor Alves over Aliev in a battle of guys with similar last names. Alves has had a few disappointing performances in the Octagon but overall he’s been a winning fighter and his submission win over Colby Covington looks incredible in hindsight. Meanwhile, Aliev is barely active, having not fought since 2016. Alves deserves to be a big favorite in this fight and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this line steamed up more.
– For a dog, I wouldn’t look past Mina over Emeev. Mina is one of the longest-fighting undefeated fighters on the UFC roster as he has not lost in his 13-year MMA career. He barely fights but when he does he’s been super impressive. Emeev is a very good fighter himself but I definitely feel like Mina has a chance to finish him in this fight. I am really looking forward to this bout as all of Mina’s fights in the UFC have been extremely fun to watch and yet he barely gets any buzz because of his long layoffs.
