History in the making? Conor McGregor opens as favorite over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205

Conor McGregor was supposed to have a chance at history in March. He’ll get it in November, instead, on what could be the biggest event ever for the UFC.

Before signing with the UFC in 2013, McGregor was a simultaneous two-division champion for Cage Warriors in England with belts at featherweight and lightweight. Randy Couture and B.J. Penn have won titles in two divisions in the UFC – but didn’t hold two belts at the same time.

In 2015, McGregor became the UFC’s interim featherweight titleholder, then won the belt outright with a 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo this past December at UFC 194. In March, he was supposed to fight then-lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos, but an injury forced dos Anjos out.

Dos Anjos lost the title to Eddie Alvarez (28-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC) in July, and now McGregor (20-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) will get another crack at history when he moves up to lightweight (or down to lightweight, given his two most recent fights against Nate Diaz were at welterweight) to challenge for Alvarez’s title in the UFC 205 main event.

UFC 205 takes place Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The event is the UFC’s long-awaited return to New York and its debut at the esteemed venue after MMA legislation finally was passed in the state earlier this year. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass, and the card also features title fights between welterweight titleholder Tyron Woodley (16-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) and Stephen Thompson (13-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) in the co-main event, plus strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) vs. Polish countrymate Karolina Kowalkiewicz (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC).

Ahead of the fight, McGregor opened as a mild -125 favorite over -105 underdog Alvarez, according to MMAOddsBreaker.com. The brash Irishman then moved to -135 at 5Dimes and can be found at -150 at Bovada and as much as -175 at William Hill sportsbooks.

At -135, a winning $100 bet on McGregor would result in a net profit of $74.07. A winning $100 bet on Alvarez at his current +105 at 5Dimes would pay out $105 in winnings.

McGregor has opened as the favorite in all nine of his UFC fights. For his fight against Aldo, he opened as the favorite, but closed as a mild underdog at -110 to Aldo’s -135 – the only time a McGregor UFC fight has closed with him less than a 1.5-1 favorite.

Thompson is a -170 favorite to capture the welterweight title from champ Woodley (+140) at 5Dimes and can be found for as much as -205. While no odds have been made yet for Jedrzejczyk vs. Kowalkiewicz, the champ is likely to open as the favorite.

For more on UFC 205, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.