UFC 227 takes place Saturday, August 4 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the main card portion of the event, and here they are.
UFC 227 Main Card Opening Odds
TJ Dillashaw -135
Cody Garbrandt -105
Demetrious Johnson -475
Henry Cejudo +325
Derek Brunson -180
Antonio Carlos Junior +140
Renato Moicano -165
Cub Swanson +125
Ricardo Ramos -245
Kyung Ho Kang +175
Here are my thoughts on the opening main card odds for UFC 227:
– I love the main event between Dillashaw and Garbrandt, but I feel like the opening odds were a bit short for Dillashaw, who I believe should be a heavier favorite in this contest. Dillashaw (15-3) has won three-straight fights and knocked out Garbrandt at UFC 217 to win back his belt. While it was a back-and-forth fight to be sure, the fact Dillashaw won by knockout made me personally feel Garbrandt didn’t deserve an immediate rematch, though the UFC gave him one anyways. Garbrandt (11-1) ran off six-straight wins to begin his UFC career until getting caught and knocked out by Dillashaw. I just feel like there’s no reason to think the rematch will go any different than the first fight, and just like I did at UFC 217, once again I am picking Dillashaw to beat Garbrandt via knockout.
– The co-main event between Johnson and Cejudo looks to be a mismatch as well. Johnson (27-2-1) is on a 13-fight win streak and is arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. When he fought Cejudo the first time at UFC 197, he brutally TKO’d him with shots to the body. Cejudo (12-2) has won two straight fights to jump into title contention, but Johnson is a bit step up from Sergio Pettis and Wilson Reis. The first time these two fought I picked Cejudo for the upset and we all saw how much of a fail that pick was. Even though Cejudo has improved since then, so has Johnson, and I just see the champion defending his belt with another dominant performance.
– This middleweight fight between Brunson and Junior has me intrigued. Brunson (18-6) is coming off of a KO loss to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza that snapped a two-fight win streak with knockouts over Lyoto Machida and Dan Kelly. Brunson is one of the most vicious finishers in the middleweight division but his chin is definitely a concern as his his reckless fighting style. Junior (10-2, 1 NC) is riding a five-fight win streak with four of those wins coming via rear-naked choke. At age 28, he seems to finally be living up to his potential. This is the toughest fight of this group to call, in my opinion. Brunson is kind of a glass cannon but stylistically is a bad matchup for Junior, who has looked good, but against non-elite competition. I’d keep my eye on this line and see how it moves over the summer.
– A featherweight bout pits Moicano against Swanson and I feel like the odds were short on Moicano at the opener. Moicano (12-1-1) is 3-1 in the UFC with his lone loss coming against Brian Ortega. He looked fantastic against Calvin Kattar in his last fight and should be considered one of the division’s top contenders. Swanson (25-9) is 34 now and has lost two-straight fights against Ortega and Edgar. It’s not like losing to those guys is necessarily a bad thing, but Swanson just didn’t look good at all in those fights. Moicano is five years younger at 29 and it doesn’t look like Swanson has much left in the tank. Give me Moicano all day in this fight.
– Finally, an intriguing bantamweight bout picks Ramos againt Kang. Ramos (11-1) is 2-0 in the UFC and is coming off of a brutal elbow KO over Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 217. At age 22, he looks like another young beast in the UFC bantamweight division. Kang (14-7, 1 NC) is currently riding a three-fight win streak and looked amazing in his return to the Octagon after a four-year layoff, but he’s also 30 now and he missed four years of his prime. I just feel like Ramos is the younger, more dyanmic fighter and he should win this bout.
