What are Conor McGregor’s chances of upsetting longtime UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo? According to the betting public, they’re surprisingly good. In fact, for a brief time, “Notorious” was actually favored to win.
After some line movement earlier today, McGregor (25-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC), who meets Aldo (17-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) in UFC 189’s pay-per-view- headliner, was a small favorite to win.
Only a handful of sportsbooks currently offer odds on the July 11 fight, which takes place at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Initially, Aldo opened as a fairly substantial -270 (nearly 3-1) favorite. But money quickly poured in on McGregor, the brash contender who used some impressive fighting skills, as well as an already-legendary trash-talking game, to earn a title shot.
At one point earlier today, enough money came in McGregor to make him the favorite over Aldo, who’s riding a lengthy 18-fight winning streak with seven consecutive UFC title defenses.
McGregor was -125 (bet $125 to win $100) while Aldo was -115.
MMA handicapper Luca Fury had the details (via Twitter):
Aldo is currently ranked No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings (and No. 2 pound-for-pound). Yet, McGregor, who’s ranked No. 6 at 145 pounds, is proving a surprisingly popular pick ahead of the summer title fight.
Although it’s arguably a matter of fight fans better more with their hearts than their heads, McGregor has backed up his talking with some impressive results in the cage. He’s 5-0 under the UFC banner and has recently posted knockout wins over Diego Brandao, Dustin Poirier and Dennis Siver to earn a shot at Aldo. (Watch McGregor announce his title shot in the video above.)
For more on UFC 189, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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