UFC 292 at TD Garden in Boston on Saturday features 12 fights, including a pair of world title fights.
In UFC’s first event in Boston since before the pandemic, Aljamain Sterling (23-3) will put his bantamweight title on the line against Sean O’Malley (16-1, 1 NC).
Sterling has won nine consecutive fights, including a split decision over Henry Cejudo in his most recent outing. Meanwhile, O’Malley has been rising through the ranks and earned a close decision over Petr Yan in his last time inside the octagon.
Sterling opened as the heavy -270 favorite at BetMGM, although those odds have shortened a bit to -250 with O’Malley drawing 89 percent of the fight bets and 74 percent of the money as the +200 underdog.
This is a significant step up in competition for O’Malley, who will face arguably one of UFC’s all-time great bantamweights. Sterling is a strong grappler and could be looking at a move to featherweight for a date with Alexander Volkanovski if he can get past O’Malley.
On the women’s side, Zhang Weili will defend her strawweight title against Amanda Lemos.
Weili (23-3) has defeated Carla Esparza and Joanna Jedrzejczyk in her past two fights, while Lemos (13-2-1) is coming off a win over Marina Rodriguez in her most recent bout.
Weili’s lone two losses in her past two fights have both come against Rose Namajunas, and Weili is the big pre-fight favorite at -350 at BetMGM. She does have to be wary of the power of Lemos, who has been backed by 65 percent of the fight bets but just 25 percent of the total money.
There are three other fights on Saturday’s main card:
Neil Magny vs. Ian Garry
Garry (12-0) is seeking to continue his climb up the rankings but he faces an interesting test in Magny (28-10), who is an injury replacement for Geoff Neal. Magny has previously taken out the likes of Phil Rowe, Daniel Rodriguez and Max Griffin among his all-time record of 21 welterweight wins in the UFC. Garry, 25, is 11 years younger and the -500 favorite – the biggest on the main card. Garry has been backed by 40 percent of the bets but 91 percent of the total money.
Mario Bautista vs. Da’Mon Blackshear
Bautista (12-2) is filling in for Cody Garbrandt just a week after beating Jose Johnson in UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. He’s attempting the rare feat of winning on consecutive weekends, while Blackshear (14-5-1) enters on a four-fight winning streak. Bautista has held steady at -225, while Blackshear has drawn 85 percent of the bets and 89 percent of the money as the +180 underdog.
Chito Vera vs. Pedro Munhoz
The opening fight has been the most evenly-bet on the main card. Vera has been backed by 56 percent of the money while his odds have shifted from -190 to -200, while Munhoz has drawn 53 percent of the total bets as the +165 underdog. Vera (20-8-1) lost his most recent fight to Cory Sandhagen in March, snapping a four-fight win streak. One of those wins came against Dominick Cruz, who beat Munhoz (20-7, 2 NC) in December of 2021. Munhoz fought O’Malley to a no contest when he was poked in the eye, and he’s coming off a win over Chris Gutierrez in April.
–Field Level Media
