In the co-main event of UFC 290, Brandon Moreno looks to defend his flyweight title as he takes on Alexandre Pantoja. The card takes place on Saturday, July 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
UFC 290 Opening Odds:
Brandon Moreno -186
Alexandre Pantoja +144
Current UFC 290 Odds (as of June 19):
Brandon Moreno -175
Alexandre Pantoja +145
Moreno & Pantoja’s recent fights
Brandon Moreno (21-6-2) reclaimed the flyweight title back in January as he scored a doctor stoppage TKO win over Deiveson Figueiredo. Prior to that, he won the interim title by third-round TKO over Kai Kara-France. He lost his belt in the trilogy match to Figueiredo by decision after winning the title for the first time by a third round submission. In the first time he fought Figueiredo, they fought to a draw which resulted in three straight fights. He has also fought Pantoja twice – losing by decision in 2018 – and lost by second-round submission on TUF 24 but the fight was an exhibition bout given it was on TUF.
Alexandre Pantoja (25-5) is riding a three-fight win streak and is coming off a first-round submisison win over Alex Perez last July. Prior to that, he submitted Brandon Royval and beat Manel Kate by decision. Pantoja is 9-3 in the UFC and also holds wins over Matt Schnell, and Wilson Reis among others.
Are the odds surprising?
Brandon Moreno has looked really good as of late, but to see him open above -180 was a bit of a surprise, given that Pantoja is 2-0 against him – although one fight was an exhibition. The knock on Pantoja is he doesn’t fight all that much and his last fight was a quick win over Alex Perez – which is a result most expected, so perhaps that is why Moreno opened as a big favorite.
How might the odds change?
I do expect money to come in on Pantoja as we have already seen and I wound’t be surprised if Moreno was around -160 come July 8. People will go back and look at the two fights and show how dominant Pantoja was and the Brazilian still has the grappling advantage. However, Moreno is the more household name and a fan favorite, which will likely mean casual fans will be betting on him, which is why he will close at a decent favorite.
