UFC 189 took place Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and overall it was one of the best cards of the year as it featured a main card that included five finishes in five fights as well as a solid preliminary card. Overall from a betting perspective, six favorites and five underdogs won based on the closing odds at Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap for each fight. UFC 189 Betting Favorites That Won In a featherweight bout, Conor McGregor defeated Chad Mendes via second-round TKO (punches) to win the interim UFC featherweight championship. Mendes was outwrestling McGregor for nearly the full first two rounds, but in the last 10 seconds of round two McGregor found Mendes’ chin and finished him. McGregor was -190 (bet $190 to win $100) while Mendes was +165 (bet $100 to win $165). In a bantamweight bout, Thomas Almeida defeated Brad Pickett via second-round KO (flying knee). Pickett won the first round when he dropped Almeida, but Almeida hit him with a flying knee in round two to brutally finish him. Almeida was -700 while Pickett was +500. In a welterweight bout, Matt Brown defeated Tim Means via first-round submission (guillotine choke). Browne hurt Means with elbows and then finished him on the ground with a beautiful submission. Brown was -150 while Means was +130. In a welterweight bout, Alex Garcia defeated Mike Swick via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27). Garcia outwrestled Swick to take home a clear-cut UD. Garcia was -470 while Swick was +375. In a bantamweight bout, Cody Garbrandt defeated Henry Briones via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3). Garbrandt outstruck and outwrestled Briones to easily win the decision. He closed at -1000 while Briones was +650. In a flyweight bout, Louis Smolka defeated Neil Seery via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3). Smolka controlled Seery on the ground to easily win the decision. Smolka cashed at -135 while Seery lost +115. UFC 189 Betting Underdogs That Won In a welterweight bout, Robbie Lawler defeated Rory MacDonald via fifth-round TKO (punches) to defend the UFC welterweight championship. The two fought very closely for the first four rounds but Lawler was able to hurt MacDonald in the fifth to defend the title. He was +145 while MacDonald was -165. In a featherweight bout, Jeremy Stephens defeated Dennis Bermudez via third-round TKO (knee and punches). The two battled back and forth in the first two rounds but in the third round Stephens landed a brutal knee that knocked Bermudez out. Stephens was +205 while Bermudez was -225. In a welterweight bout, Gunnar Nelson defeated Brandon Thatch via first-round submission (rear-naked choke). Nelson knocked down Thatch and took his back for a huge victory. Nelson was a +150 dog while Thatch was a -170 favorite. In a welterweight bout, John Howard defeated Cathal Pendred via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28). Howard kept the fight upright and oustruck Pendred to take home a close decision. He was +115 and Pendred was -135. In a lightweight bout, Cody Pfister defeated Yosdenis Cedeno via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3). Cedeno had a strong opening round but was outwrestled in rounds two and three as he lost a decision. Pfister was +210 while Cedeno was -250.
