The return of the UFC has provided some relief for fans thirsty for live sports, and some much-needed action for sportsbooks hit hard since the coronavirus pandemic shut down major sports across the globe.
Last Saturday’s UFC 249, the first of three events over eight days, brought more action to Rush Street Interactive’s platforms than any single NFL game. “We received more betting action on UFC 249 than we have for any regular season NFL game,” said COO Mattias Stetz, whose company operates BetRivers.com and PlaySugarHouse.com. “It was even 33 percent more popular than Conor McGregor’s return to UFC this past January.”
Bettors have another opportunity with Wednesday night’s card featuring Anthony Smith against Glover Teixeira in the main event.
Smith, the UFC’s fourth-ranked light heavyweight, is favored at -190 by PlaySugarHouse and -182 by DraftKings. He hasn’t fought since last June due to a broken hand. DraftKings is offering him at +100 to win by knockout, TKO or disqualification.
The 40-year-old Teixeira is +155 at PlaySugarHouse and +152 at DraftKings, which is offering him at +700 to win by KO, TKO or DQ. As of Tuesday, 81 percent of the moneyline splits by total bets at DraftKings was on Smith to win.
The over/under at both sportsbooks for the total rounds in the scheduled five-round fight is 2.5. The 11-fight card sets up a busy night.
The most-wagered fights at PlaySugarHouse after the main event are Ricky Simon (-165) vs. Ray Borg (+130) and Ovince Saint Preux (-139) vs. Ben Rothwell (+115). DraftKings is offering the same moneyline odds on both fights.
Borg has gone 2-1 since losing to former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and returned to bantamweight after missing weight for the fourth time in his career. Simon is 15-3, but has lost a pair of fights to Urijah Faber and Rob Font. With seven of Borg’s last eight UFC fights going the distance, DraftKings is offering the fight at -295 to go the distance and Borg at +1400 to win by KO, TKO or DQ as compared to +550 for the same bet on Simon.
Saint Preux will make his heavyweight debut after 20 light heavyweight fights, but the action has been almost even at DraftKings with Rothwell receiving 51 percent of the handle and 46 percent of the total bets.
–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)
The San Francisco Giants will look to further close the gap in their all-time rivalry with the visiting Oakland Athletics when they seek a second straight win Wednesday night in…
The Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Angels will play the third game of their four-game series Wednesday night in Anaheim, Calif., as the Guardians try to rediscover their offense. Cleveland’s…
The Los Angeles Kings are playoff-bound for the first time since the 2017-18 season. The Kings (43-27-10, 96 points) punched their postseason ticket Tuesday night when Dallas defeated Vegas in…
Guardians, slumping Franmil Reyes take on Shohei Ohtani’s Angels
Playoff-bound Kings seek to keep Kraken reeling
Six-man rotation kicks in as Astros, Cristian Javier face Rangers
Jason Robertson, Stars can lock up playoff berth vs. Coyotes
Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM
