In the main event of UFC Vegas 49, a pivotal lightweight bout goes down as Beneil Dariush takes on Islam Makhachev in a presumed number one contender bout. The card goes down on Saturday, February 26 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
UFC Vegas 49 Opening Odds:
Beneil Dariush +310
Islam Makhachev -390
UFC Vegas 49 Current Odds (January 27):
Beneil Dariush +280
Islam Makhachev -365
Dariush and Makhachev’s recent fights
Beneil Dariush (21-4-1) is currently ranked fourth at lightweight and is riding a seven-fight winning streak but hasn’t fought since UFC 262 in May where he defeated Tony Ferguson by decision, he also started off 2021 with a decision win over Diego Ferreira in February. On the winning streak, he holds stoppage wins over Scott Holtzman and Drakkar Klose by knockout while he submitted Frank Camacho and Drew Dober and started off the winning streak with a decision win over Thiago Moises. He was also supposed to fight Charles Oliveira in October of 2020 but the now lightweight champ was forced out of the bout.
Islam Makhachev (21-1) is on a nine-fight winning streak and coming off a first-round submission win over Dan Hooker at UFC 267. He went 3-0 in 2021 as he also submitted Thiago Moises in July in his first main event while he also submitted Dober at UFC 259. On the winning streak, he has wins over Davi Ramos, Arman Tsarukyan, Kajan Johnson, Gleison Tibau, Nik Lentz, and Chris Wade. He’s currently ranked fifth at lightweight.
Are the odds surprising?
It was surprising to see Beneil Dariush open above +300 as even though Makhachev appears to be the real deal, Dariush is never counted out that much. It was higher odds than what Hooker opened up as he was only +250 at open but got steamed to +325, Dober also only opened at +330 which is barely higher than what Dariush opened at. However, it shouldn’t be surprising to see Makhachev be a sizeable favorite as he has been one since the Lentz fight as he has been above -200 and usually -300 to -400.
How might the odds change?
As it was already shown, people jumped at the chance to get Dariush at above +300 so I don’t think it will get that high again. However, as fight week approaches, you will see money on Makhachev come in as he will be the main parlay piece for the card so you may see him get to around -375 or -380 with the comeback on Dariush around +290.
