As UFC 217 rapidly approaches, we’ve delved into the Sky Bet markets to find out who the early favourites for the big fights that are set to go down at Madison Square Garden.
Whilst there are three title bouts set for the card in New York City, it’s the showdowns at middleweight and bantamweight that are really getting people talking.
With the return of GSP going up against the cocky Michael Bisping being combined together with the bitter rivalry between Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw, this is a card that is going to grab your attention whether you’re a casual fan or you’ve been watching for years on end.
Depending on who you talk to there are a few different ways in which these fights can realistically go, and we’re open to all of them. When it comes to Sky Bet, however, there are definitive favourites for the two main title fights and they won’t come as big surprises.
For the Alpha Male collision the youngster Garbrandt is an 8/11 favourite, despite missing almost a year of action due to injury. On the other hand his bitter rival Dillashaw is a modest 1/1 underdog, proving that there really isn’t all that much in it between these two competitors.
As we move up into the main event the returning Georges St-Pierre comes in as a 4/6 favourite, and given that he used to be known as the greatest of all time that makes sense. Still, you can never count out Bisping and in many respects his 11/10 odds can be seen as something of a bargain for those who have been following his work over the course of the last decade.
In terms of the female bout Joanna Jedrzejczyk is the unsurprising favourite at 1/3, as she continues to hunt down the record for consecutive title defences within any of the women’s divisions that was set by Ronda Rousey.
Her opponent, Rose Namajunas, will be happy enough as the underdog at 9/4 – as we’ve seen this year that truly anything can happen at the drop of a dime.
Whilst it’ll be difficult for the UFC to live up to the success of the UFC 205 event last year, they’re certainly doing everything they can to stack this card full of great bouts. There’s no guarantee of an entertaining night, but if you’re an MMA fan at heart then you’ve got to be hopeful.
