- The betting odds for the expected Leon Edwards vs Colby Covington title fight have tilted in the champion’s favor.
- Covington opened as the -190 favorite at BetOnline but those odds have faded to -132 with the early betting money going to Edwards.
- Edwards proved his worth as champion when he defeated Kamaru Usman as the +210 betting underdog at last Saturday’s UFC 286 main event in London.
The early odds for the expected welterweight title bout between Leon Edwards and Colby
Covington crashed shortly after they opened on Sunday morning following Rocky’s win at UFC 286.
BetOnline opened the betting odds for Edwards vs Covington shortly after UFC President Dana White announced during the UFC 286 post-fight press conference that Covington will be Edwards’ next challenger.
When the odds went live, BetOnline had Covington as the -190 favorite and Edwards as the +165 betting underdog. The odds are much closer now.
Early Bets Shift Odds Towards Edwards
BetOnline’s Dave Mason reported that early bettors at the sportsbook, including the sharps, had Edwards’ name on their betting slips. That caused the sportsbook to adjust the betting lines to Covington -132 and Edwards +112 just a couple of hours after posting the odds on their website.
The opening odds versus Covington marked the third straight time where Rocky has opened as the betting underdog in a UFC bout. Edwards opened at +250 odds during his rematch with Usman at UFC 278. In that bout, Rocky closed at +290 odds.
During last Saturday’s UFC 286 main event, Edwards also opened as the underdog at +285 odds and closed at +210 via BetOnline.
UFC Odds Opening Alert!
Colby Covington opens -190 vs Leon Edwards (+165).
Early bettors (including sharp) on Leon. Odds crash to:
Covington -132
Edwards +112PS Should be Belal vs Leon
— Dave Mason (@DaveMasonBOL) March 19, 2023
If we include the opening odds for the potential fight between Edwards and two-weight contender Khamzat Chimaev, it’s four consecutive opening lines where Edwards has been pegged at plus money odds. Rocky opened at +250 odds versus Chimaev who hit the betting boards at -300 odds.
Edwards was an even bigger underdog in the live odds of his UFC 278 bout versus Usman. The Nigerian Nightmare seemingly had that fight the bag when Edwards stunned him with a head kick that knocked Usman out and changed the landscape of the UFC welterweight division.
In that bout, Edwards’ odds dropped to +300 after two rounds and he was a +775 entering round 4. With Usman dominating the fight right from the start, BetOnline pegged Edwards at +1200 odds entering the final round with Usman as a massive -5000 favorite.
We all know what happened next. And After Edwards proved that his win over Usman was no fluke, it’s not surprising why bettors are placing the early money on Rocky.
Leon Edwards Beat Kamaru Usman via Majority Decision
Last Saturday, Edwards solidified his status as the best welterweight in the UFC when he defeated Kamaru Usman via majority decision at the main event of UFC 286 at the O2 Arena in England.
The 31-year-old Jamaican-born British fighter entered the fight as the +210 betting underdog despite being the champion. Online sportsbook BetOnline also listed Edwards as a +450 to win the fight via decision while Usman was the -250 betting favorite to reclaim his belt and a +120 to win a decision.
But Edwards came to UFC 286 well-trained and better prepared than Usman. Although the Nigerian Nightmare was able to land 4 takedowns during the fight, he was 4-15 on his takedown attempts and only had 5:03 minutes of control time, while being unable to do damage when he had Rocky down.
Meanwhile, Edwards outstruck Usman 123-113 in total strikes landed, including 120-87 in total significant strikes landed. The former champion had the edge in head strikes landed 57-34 but Edwards invested in body strikes (36-24) and implemented a superb kicking game while holding a massive 50-6 edge in leg strikes landed.
It wasn’t easy but when all was said and done, two judges had Edwards winning 48-46, while the third judge had it a 47-47 draw. The win was Edwards’ first title defense and extended his unbeaten streak to 12 fights.
"I don't know how that makes sense": Leon Edwards pushes back on UFC's plan to have him fight Colby Covington next.
"I'm the king now. … I feel like I should decide who’s next."#UFC286 | Full video: https://t.co/GhPIdqG29B pic.twitter.com/hjCfiQp10H
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) March 19, 2023
Edwards Not Interested in Covington
But while Uncle Dana has told the public that he wants Covington next for the welterweight king, Edwards isn’t sold on Covington and didn’t sound like he is interested in facing Chaos next.
During the post-event press conference, Edwards told reporters that he doesn’t know that a Covington fight makes sense. He went on to say that as the champion, he feels like he should decide who’s next. Rocky however did not say he won’t fight Covington, so we’ll see where this goes.
Covington was believed to be fighting Khamzat Chimaev next. In fact, BetOnline had opened the odds for that bout last September, listing Chmaev as the -155 favorite and Covington as the +135 underdog. But Chimaev blew up a chance to fight Nate Diaz by missing weight at UFC 279. Now Colby says he doesn’t want to do anything with the “unprofessional” Chimaev.
UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev also tweeted on Sunday that he wants to fight Leon Edwards in October in Abu Dhabi. Makhachev is coming off a close victory against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, in a fight where some say Volkanovski won.
Edwards is also linked to Jorge Masvidal, with whom he had a run-in in the past. The top MMA sportsbooks have listed Rocky as the -300 favorite to beat Masvidal in a potential fight. Masvidal however, still has an upcoming bout against Gilbert Burns at UFC 287. Jorge is a -400 favorite in the April 8th event.
