UFC 226 Odds Roundup: Miocic a Growing Betting Favorite Against Cormier

All eyes will be on the heavyweights in Las Vegas this Saturday night when champion Stipe Miocic (18-2) battles light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier (20-1, 1 No-Contest) for his belt as a large favorite on the UFC 226 odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark for the main event.

Miocic is listed at -250 (bet $250 to win $100) and will likely weigh in under 250 pounds, while it will be interesting to see Cormier's weight as a +195 underdog (bet $100 to win $195) now that he is moving up from 205 for this superfight.

Cormier, 39, is a little more than three years older than Miocic, and they have had nearly the same amount of MMA fights over their respective careers. Miocic comes from a boxing background, though, and has gone 12-2 in the UFC compared to Cormier, who is a former Olympic wrestler with a 9-1 (1 NC) mark in the promotion since winning the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix just over six years ago.

Cormier's lack of competition at light heavyweight prompted this move up to his natural weight, as former champ Jon "Bones" Jones was really his only true challenger. With Jones currently suspended by the organization following a doping violation leading up to their last fight, Cormier is seeking to become a two-division title holder. However, he will be giving up five inches in height and 7.5 inches in reach to the 6-foot-4 Miocic.

The UFC 226 co-main event was originally supposed to feature a featherweight title bout between champ Max Holloway and Brian Ortega. But Holloway was suffering from concussion-like symptoms and had to be pulled from the fight, so another heavyweight matchup pitting Francis Ngannou (11-2) and Derrick Lewis (19-5, 1 NC) will fill that void.

Ngannou is a massive betting favorite off a unanimous-decision loss to Miocic for the heavyweight belt at UFC 220 on January 20. He was 6-0 in the UFC prior to that setback, with all of his wins coming by stoppage (five knockouts and one submission).

Lewis is a +280 underdog and has won seven of his past eight bouts, including six by TKO. The exception was a fourth-round TKO loss to Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night 110 in New Zealand on June 11, 2017. Despite the loss to Hunt, it still earned Fight of the Night honors, one of three consecutive post-fight bonuses for Lewis.

For more odds information, betting picks and a breakdown of this week’s top sports betting news check out the OddsShark podcast with Jon Campbell and Andrew Avery. Subscribe on iTunes or listen to it at OddsShark.libsyn.com.