UFC 251 Odds And Betting Preview: Kamaru Usman And Jorge Masvidal Ready To Rumble

Load up for July. There’s never been a better (or bettor) time to love the UFC. Its comeback string of cards since May have been top sportsbook performers. After a one-week holiday breather last weekend comes four July cards, starting with a star-studded UFC 251 at Fight Island July 11 in Dubai. That blockbuster will be followed by cards on July 15, 18 and 25.

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UFC 251 odds

Here are DraftKings Sportsbooks' UFC 251 odds for this Saturday night's event in Dubai. Preliminary fights start at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN, followed by the main card beginning at 10 p.m. ET.

• Kamaru Usman -278 vs Jorge Masvidal +225
• Alexander Volkanovski -230 vs Max Holloway +185
• Petr Yan -250 vs Jose Aldo +200
• Jessica Andrade +162 vs Rose Namajunas -200
• Amanda Ribas -835 vs Paige Van Zant +525
• Volkan Oezdemir -177 vs Jiri Prochazka +140
• Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos -100 vs Muslim Salikhov -124
• Makwan Amirkhani -215 vs Dan Henry +170
• Leonardo Santos -190 vs Roman Bogatov +150

View complete UFC 251 odds at DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook and BetMGM.

UFC 251 odds and fight overview

The UFC inserted Jorge Masvidal in the main event of the card after Kamaru Usman's original opponent, Gilbert Burns, tested positive for COVID-19 last Friday. Still, Fight Island’s debut fashions three world title fights, a couple rematches and some performers from the organization’s top 10 pound-for-pound rankings. The card is big enough for DraftKings Sportsbook and FanDuel Sportsbook already establish props.

• Usman is No. 6 on the UFC’s top 10 pound-for-pound list.
• Volkanovski is favored in the rematch of their 2019 encounter, in which he lifted Holloway’s featherweight title.
• Volkanovski, No. 7 and Holloway, No. 10, provide a rare matchup of UFC’s top 10 pound-for-pound performers.
• Another rematch involves Namajunas -200 against Andrade, despite Andrade defeating her last year. These are the top two strawweight division contenders.
• Yan is -250 against Aldo in a bantamweight title bout. Yan is 6-0 in UFC and comes off a head kick KO in round 3 against Urijah Faber in December.
• On the same card, Aldo lost a split decision in his bantamweight debut against Marlon Moraes. He has lost two fights to Holloway and one to Volkanovski in recent times.

UFC 251 odds and betting overview

It’s never too early to eye up your bets and consider some important angles. There will also be late action, so this is a good time to lock in something you love before the odds change. Usman has been a distance fighter throughout his UFC career. Eight of his 10 matches have gone all the way. He’s undefeated in the UFC and won his welterweight championship with a decision over Tyron Woodley in March of 2019. Last December, he notched a fifth-round TKO over Colby Covington in his first defense. Volkanovski changed the course of the first Holloway fight with 75 leg strikes, forcing Holloway to go southpaw as he favored one side. In the end, it was simply Volkanovski’s night. He is 8-0 on the UFC circuit since entering in 2016 and may simply have the stylistic goods on Holloway. The board says so. We’ll find out. A Volkanovski decision is -230, while Holloway is +185. Yan, +275 and Aldo, +450, would both pay handsomely for a decision victory. Neither has a submission win in UFC, that’s why submission odds are ranging from +1400 to +1600. The Andrade-Namajunas fight should generate passionate betting interest from both sides. Andrade took away Namajunas’ strawweight title in 2019. The odds may reflect Andrade getting what looked like a sudden victory, lifting Namajunas up and slamming her head to the canvas. Namajunas had controlled the early part of the fight. On closer inspection, Andrade had started to bull her way inside and force a prolonged slugfest before gaining that victory. Although she was cut and out-classed in the opening round, Andrade had found a groove before winning the fight. If that carries over, she will return a bargain price. Andrade lost the title in her next fight to Weili Zhang. FanDuel was teasing Namajunas bettors, dropping its line to -178 late last week. That number now sits at -198. DraftKings is -200.

Betting in layers

Anything in the even-money range or above is a fair bet on the moneyline. This will appeal to someone making a large bet. On the razzle-dazzle end, the big money on the board matches the difficulty in predicting prop outcomes. But they pay handsomely for:

• Predicting the method of victory. This gives you both fighters to win a certain way.
• Nailing the exact round. You can select both fighters here too.
• Combining the exact round with the right fighter. This has paid up to +3500 already during the UFC return tour.