UFC welterweight superstar Jorge Masvidal is drawing big betting action heading into UFC 251, with bettors laying Conor McGregor kind of money on him.
Masvidal takes on UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC 251, filling in on short notice for Gilbert Burns. According to BestFightOdds.com, Usman is currently as high as a -280 favorite at some sportsbooks, while Masvidal is as high as a +230 underdog. With few other professional sports to bet on right now, the sportsbooks have been taking in record numbers of handle for their UFC fights as of late, and Usman vs. Masvidal is no exception, as the fight is proving to be a popular bet for sports bettors.
In fact, the money coming in on Masvidal right now is so big that he’s taking in McGregor-like numbers. Dave Mason of BetOnline provided an update of the betting action on Wednesday, saying that Masvidal is seeing as many bets on him for UFC 251 as fellow fighters Usman, Jose Aldo, Max Holloway, and Alexander Volknaovski combined.
Gulp…@GamebredFighter is the new @TheNotoriousMMA .
The same amount of bets on Masvidal as Usman, Aldo, Holloway and Volkanovski combined.#UFC251 odds> https://t.co/reokbLWswG
— Dave Mason (@DaveMasonBOL) July 8, 2020
Gulp… @GamebredFighter is the new @TheNotoriousMMA . The same amount of bets on Masvidal as Usman, Aldo, Holloway and Volkanovski combined.
Nick Kalikas of Circa Sports added that a 10-1 ratio of overall bets are coming in on Masvidal, while Usman is getting the bigger individual bets.
#UFC251 Masvidal/Usman Updated Action Report via @CircaSports
Current Betting Line:
J MASVIDAL +250
K USMAN -295Ticket count = 10/1 ratio coming in on Masvidal
Money wagered = Bigger bets coming in on Usman#UFC | @GamebredFighter | @USMAN84kg https://t.co/dLUI5tzkc6— Nick Kalikas (@FightOdds) July 6, 2020
Usman opened up as a big favorite for this fight on the heels of a 15-fight win streak which includes a perfect 11-0 mark in the Octagon. Usman is an elite fighter and the oddsmakers showed him major respect by opening him as a sizeable favorite. The short notice factor for Masvidal, who took the fight on six days’ notice, is also something going against him here when it comes to the oddsmakers.
Then again, Masvidal has that “it” factor and he’s coming off of three straight wins in 2019 over Nate Diaz, Ben Askren, and Darren Till. Although he took the fight on short notice, Dustin Poirier, his training partner at American Top Team, recently admitted that Masvidal has been training for Usman just in case Burns dropped off the card. That proved to be the case when Burns tested positive for COVID-19 last Friday, leading to Masvidal filling in.
Though much of the money has come in on Masvidal at the betting window, there’s still plenty of time for more money to come in Usman’s way. With a few days to go until the fight, it will be interesting to see how the numbers continue to move. But at this point, Masvidal is drawing McGregor-like numbers and that’s a win in itslef.
Do you have your money on Jorge Masvidal against Kamaru Usman at UFC 251?