Opening odds: TBA has better odds to win Bellator tourney than 'King Mo,' Sonnen, 'Rampage'

Welcome to the wild world of multi-event MMA tournaments, where chaos often reigns supreme.

Take for instance the Bellator MMA World Grand Prix 2018, where eight fighters – heavyweights and light heavyweights – will fight for the organization’s vacant heavyweight title. The veteran-heavy field (the youngest participant is a not-so-young 34, after all) features many familiar names, and the odds are now out for who will claim the tournament championship.

And here’s an interesting tidbit: “The field” – or, a fighter not currently in the group of eight – has better odds to win the tournament than three of the announced participants.

Veteran MMA oddsmaker Joey Oddessa recently posted the lines for the full tournament field, which includes four heavyweights: former PRIDE champion Fedor Emelianenko (36-5 MMA, 0-1 BMMA), two-time former UFC titleholder Frank Mir (18-11 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), Matt Mitrione (12-5 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) and Roy Nelson (23-14 MMA, 1-0 BMMA). Additionally, at light heavyweight, we have current Bellator 205-pound champ Ryan Bader (24-5 MMA, 2-0 BMMA), former UFC titleholder Quinton Jackson (37-12 MMA, 4-1 BMMA), ex-Strikeforce champ Muhammed Lawal (21-6 MMA, 10-4 BMMA) and multi-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen (29-15-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA).

Here are the odds via Oddessa, listed from best to worst (via Twitter):

1. Mitrione +200
2. Bader +260
3. Mir +380
4. Nelson +500
5. Emelianenko +500
6. Field (any other fighter) +1000
7. Sonnen +1200
8. Lawal +1200
9. Jackson +1500

At those odds, a winning $100 bet on Mitrione would result in a net profit of $200; a winning $100 bet on “Rampage” Jackson would net $1,500. And if you bet the field and none of the eight listed fighters wins the tourney, the payoff would be $1,000.

The odds are close to mirroring a poll we ran earlier this week in which we asked MMAjunkie readers to predict the eventual tourney winner:

The opening-round matchups and event dates haven’t been formally announced, but they could have an impact on the odds once they’re set. For now, though, the big men – with the exception of Bader, who has the second-best odds – are the frontrunners to win the grand prix.

Should “TBA” pull off the tournament victory, it wouldn’t be the first time Bellator President Scott Coker has seen a replacement claim a grand-prix title. When Coker was at the helm of now-defunct Strikeforce organization, current UFC light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier won the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix in 2012.

For more on the upcoming Bellator schedule, visit the MMA Rumors section of the site.