UFC 194 Betting Preview: McGregor Odds Favorite Against Aldo in MMA Bout
Two title belts will be on the line Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, with the main event of UFC 194 pitting interim featherweight champion Conor McGregor (18-2) against champ Jose Aldo (25-1) in a unification bout.
The two fighters were originally supposed to meet at UFC 189 on July 11, but Aldo had to pull out due to a rib injury. McGregor was then given the opportunity to fight Chad Mendes for the interim title, and his impressive win earned him favorite status versus Aldo.
The betting line opened with McGregor as a solid minus-185 favorite (bet $185 to win $100), although the odds are now closer to a pick 'em.
Aldo has not lost in more than 10 years, winning 18 in a row, with most of his time split between the WEC and the UFC. He opened as a plus-150 underdog (bet $100 to win $150) and has seen bettors back him during fight week despite not entering the Octagon since October 25, 2014, when he earned a unanimous-decision victory against Mendes at UFC 179.
The other title fight on the UFC 194 card will take place in the co-main event, as unbeaten middleweight champ Chris Weidman (13-0) will face top contender Luke Rockhold (14-2).
Weidman will be defending his belt for the fourth time and for the first time since knocking out Vitor Belfort at UFC 187 on May 23. Rockhold, the former Strikeforce middleweight champ, has won four in a row after making a disappointing UFC debut more than four years ago in Brazil, where he got knocked out by Belfort.
Like the main event, early betting action has been on the underdog Rockhold, who opened at plus-135 but was down to plus-115 as of late Wednesday night. Weidman opened as the minus-165 favorite but has since fallen to minus-145.
Rockhold has earned four consecutive performance bonuses following his loss to Belfort, with three submissions and a TKO. Weidman has knocked out four of his previous five opponents, with three of those knockouts happening in the second round, including former middleweight champ Anderson Silva twice.
He upset Silva for the middleweight title at UFC 162 on July 6, 2013.
