UFC Fight Night 129 takes place Saturday, May 19 at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the opening odds for the entire fight card, and here they are.
UFC Fight Night 129 Opening Odds
Kamaru Usman -175
Demian Maia +135
Tatiana Suarez -300
Alexa Grasso +220
Dominick Reyes -210
Jared Cannonier +160
Diego Rivas -160
Guido Cannetti +120
Andrea Lee -350
Veronica Macedo +250
Vicente Luque -285
Chad Laprise +185
Michel Prazeres -155
Zak Cummings +115
Brandon Moreno -170
Alexandre Pantoja +130
Poliana Botelho -185
Syuri Kondo +145
Gabriel Benitez -120
Humberto Bandenay -120
Enrique Barzola -165
Brandon Davis +125
Frankie Saenz -265
Henry Briones +185
Felipe Silva -300
Claudio Puelles +220
Here are my initial thoughts on the UFC Fight Night 129 opening odds:
– The odds for Maia vs. Usman looked like they opened up a bit short, and not surprisingly early betting action has come in on Usman, as he’s currently sitting around -400. At this opening line of -175 this was a complete no-brainer of a pick. Usman has been utterly dominant in the UFC and while Maia had amazing runs to both middleweight and welterweight title shots, he is now 40 and coming off of a one-sided loss to Colby Covington. I think Usman dominates Maia in this matchup and I could see him closing even higher here.
– I was hoping that Suarez would be a smaller favorite here against Grasso, but I can’t blame the oddsmakers for opening her this high as they see the talent in her that I and many others do as well. Although Grasso is a solid prospect herself, Suarez is on another level with her elite grappling skills. I honestly see her competing for the UFC women’s strawweight title in short order, and I expect more money to continue to roll in on her in this spot.
– I was surprised to see Prazeres open up as the favortie against Cummings considering he is moving up in weight and will be one of the smallest welterweights on the UFC roster. Prazeres wins his fights with his wrestling and Cummings is a very solid grappler himself who should have the superior striking in this spot. That’s why I wasn’t surprised to see the line flip, with the early money coming in on Cummings. As a dog he had tremendous value and if the line stays low I still think Cummings would have value as a small favorite here as I believe he should be able to win this fight.
– The Benitez vs. Bandenay fight is interesting. Benitez has a lot of UFC experience and generally has been successful in the Octagon while Bandenay looked amazing in his UFC but otherwise doesn’t have much to go on. Having said that, I feel like Benitez should have opened up as a bigger favorite here and I’m not surprised the early line movement has gone in his direction.
– The line in Silva vs. Puelles looks too high in Silva’s favor. He’s 33 and coming off of a brutal KO loss and while Puelles is coming off of a KO loss as well, he’s only 22 and should show some improvements in this fight. Of all the big dogs on this card, Puelles might be the guy to take a punt on due to his upside.
