UFC Fight Night 99 opening odds: Despite past win, Uriah Hall a massive underdog to Gegard Mousasi

Despite a recent win over his UFC Fight Night 99 opponent, Uriah Hall is a massive underdog going into the rematch.

As MMAjunkie reported on Friday, Hall (12-7 MMA, 5-5 UFC), who’s No. 15 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings, will rematch No. 7-ranked Gegard Mousasi (40-6-2 MMA, 7-3 UFC) after Gunnar Nelson (15-2-1 MMA, 6-2 UFC) suffered an injury and was forced out of his planned main event with welterweight Dong Hyun Kim (21-3-1 MMA, 12-3 UFC).

Hall vs. Mousasi II now headlines the Nov. 19 card, which streams on UFC Fight Pass from SSE Arena in Belfast.

Mousasi, who’s fresh off a win over former champion Vitor Belfort, is on a 5-1 run that’s pushed him into the title picture; the loss during that stretch came via flying knee and punches to Hall at UFC Fight Night 75 in 2015.

Despite that defeat, Mousasi has opened as a -500 favorite over Hall in the rematch, independent odds consultant Joey Oddessa told MMAjunkie. That means a bettor would need to risk $500 on Mousasi to earn $100 in winnings. With Hall a +375 underdog, a winning $100 bet would result in a profit of $375.

In the first matchup, Mousasi opened as a -350 favorite and was bet all the way up to -725 by fight night.

“Writers and touts will probably push Hall as a live underdog because he won their first encounter at UFC Fight Night 75,” Oddessa said. “Be prepared for steady streams of highlight-reel spinning back kicks and flying knees from Hall to justify the rematch and make him look more appealing as an underdog, but not this time.

“But I think Gegard is worth every penny of his -500 opening price and more. Hall will exit 0-3 in his last three UFC fights and and likely to be just better than -110 or even odds to hold on to his UFC contract.”

Hall, once one of the 185-pound division’s most promising fighters, has suffered losses to Robert Whittaker and Derek Brunson in his two most recent bouts. Prior to the setback, he was on a 5-1 run that included a split-decision defeat to Rafael Natal (most media outlets scored the fight for Hall, according to MMADecisions.com).

Who wins the rematch? Cast your vote below.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 99, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.