Dana White’s Contender Series 10 takes place Tuesday, June 19 at the UFC Gym in Las Vegas, Nevada. The offshore sportsbooks recently released the full odds for the card, and here they are along with my thoughts on them.
Dana White’s Contender Series 10 Opening Odds
Matt Sayles -180
Yazan Hajeh +140
Anthony Hernandez -260
Jordan Wright +180
Giga Chikadze -300
Austin Springer +220
Ryan Spann -320
Emiliano Sordi +240
Dwight Grant -350
Tyler Hill +250
Here are my initial thoughts on the bouts:
– Sayles (6-1) is coming off of a notable KO win over Christian Aguilera in CFFC, though that fight took place last March so he hasn’t fought in over a year. He has won five of his six pro wins by knockout, and trains out of Alliance MMA. At just 24, he’s a solid prospect who has experience fighting in promotions such as RFA and WSOF. Hajeh (6-0) is undefeated as well and has competed in promotions such as RFA and Victory FC. Training out of 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu, Hajeh is only 25-years-old. Sayles is the better featherweight prospect of the two in my opinion, but the long layoff makes him difficult to trust, and I would probably avoid this one because of that.
– Hernandez (6-0) won the vacant LFA middleweight title in his last bout and five of his six pro wins have come by stoppage. At just 25 he’s one of the better middleweight prospects on the show. Wright (9-0) has finished all nine of his pro fights and at 26 has competed i LFA, Alaska FC and Gladiator Challenge. The line looks a bit too high in Hernandez’ favor here and the dog could bark in this one.
– Chikadze (5-1) lost his pro debut in WSOF but has since bounce back with five-straight knockout wins in Gladiator Challenge, albeit against a low level of opposition. At 29, Chikadze is one of the older fighters on this week’s show. Springer (10-3) is also an older prospect at age 31, and perhaps surprisingly is getting a show on the show considering he’s 2-3 in his last five pro bouts, though he has fought a higher level of competition including a loss to notable featherweight Steven Siler in Titan FC. Chikadze has the more impressive record but considering he has been can crushing I’m not sure I would want to lay so much juice on him in this spot.
– Spann (13-5) is coming off of three-straight finishes including a brutal knockout over Alex Nicholson in his last bout in LFA. The 26-year-old competed last season on DWCS, losing to current UFC middleweight Karl Roberson. All told, Spann has a ton of experience against high-level competition. Sordi (16-6) is a veteran of Bellator and is a knockout artist who has won plenty of fights via stoppage including a finish over UFC vet Bubba McDaniel. He has also been finished a few times though, which is a concern, but the 27-year-old enters this fight with some momentum after knocking out his last two opponents. Sordi looks like a good prospect but I think Spann is going to win this fight, and I see the UFC givng him a contract if he can come away with an impressive victory.
– Grant (7-1) has won six-straight fights though he hasn’t competed since a win in Bellator back in 2016. The AKA-based fighter has been a pro since 2011 but is essentially averaging one fight a year. Hill (8-1) is a Bellator vet as well and has won his last two fights. The 26-year-old welterweight has generally been a finisher in his career though he has been beating up on poor opposition. I still favor Grant to win this fight, but wouldn’t be surprised to see an upset from Hill and this line looks like it’s a bit too long.
