UFC 303 lost out on Conor McGregor due to injury, but Saturday night’s card at T-Mobile Arena still features an intriguing main event with Alex Pereira defending his light heavyweight title against Jiri Prochazka.
Prochazka (30-4-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), a former light heavyweight champion, stepped in as UFC scrambled to fill the massive hole left by McGregor’s absence. It’s a rematch of a fight Pereira won by stopping Prochazka at Madison Square Garden in November.
Pereira (10-2, 7-1) since defeated former champion Jamahal Hill in quick fashion at UFC 300. Prochazka was also on that card, beating Aleksandar Rakic in a second-round stoppage.
Pereira enters as the -160 favorite, having been backed by 53 percent of the money wagered on the fight at BetMGM, while Prochazka has drawn 55 percent of the total bets at +130.
The most popular prop bet among all the main card fights has been Pereira at +100 to win by knockout, technical knockout or disqualification. Meanwhile, Prochazka winning by submission has been the third most popular with +1000 longshot odds.
UFC 303 has undergone several changes. Not only was McGregor slated to fight Michael Chandler, Hill also pulled out of a fight against Carlos Ulberg due to injury. Hill was replaced by Anthony Smith, but then Ulberg pulled out due to an injury of his own.
The main card is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET.
Other Main Card Fights:
–Brian Ortega (+120) vs. Diego Lopes (-145): The co-main event is a 155-pound match between fighters who are typically featherweights, but Ortega reportedly was unable to make weight at 145 pounds. Lopes is coming off a TKO win over Sodiq Yusuff in April, while Ortega scored a submission victory over Yair Rodriguez in February.
–Anthony Smith (+115) vs. Roman Dolidze (-140): Dolidze stepped in on short notice and is attempting to rebound from consecutive losses against Marvin Vettori and Nassourdine Imavov, while Smith is coming off a submission victory over Vitor Petrino. This fight is the result of all the scrambling by the UFC due to the multiple injury situations. Smith has been popular with the public, drawing 66 percent of the total fight bets while the money has been split almost evenly.
–Mayra Bueno Silva (-115) vs. Macy Chiasson (-105): This is a fight between two of the top contenders, as Silva enters at No. 3 and Chiasson at No. 7. Silva opened as the -200 favorite, but those odds have shifted significantly with Chiasson backed by 56 percent of the bets and 54 percent of the money since opening at +165.
–Ian Machado Garry (-150) vs. Michael Page (+125): Page follows up on a win over Kevin Holland in his UFC debut against the seventh-ranked Garry, who is 14-0 overall and 7-0 since joining the UFC three years ago. That includes wins over Neil Magny and Geoff Neal in his past two fights. Garry enters as the big favorite, having been backed by 84 percent of the money wagered on the fight.
–Field Level Media
