- Bettors at BetOnline heavily favor Magomed Ankalaev to win the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 282.
- Ankalaev has 62% of the total betting tickets and 79% of the total betting handle for his title fight against former champion Jan Blachowicz.
- Darren Till is the most popular bet as far as betting slips are concerned with 71% at +160 odds against Dricus Du Plessis (-185).
Bettors are hammering Magomed Ankalev to win the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 282 this weekend.
According to online sportsbook BetOnline, early UFC 282 betting action has seen Anklalaev take 62% of the betting tickets and 79% of the betting handle for his title fight against former champion Jan Blachowicz.
The 30-year-old Russian is the most popular bet among the UFC 282 main event fighters with the second-highest percentage of tickets and has the highest percentage of betting handle
Magomed Ankalaev Says UFC Title is Rightfully His
Magomed Ankalaev: UFC title is 'rightfully' mine, Jan Blachowicz's 'Polish power' won't work at #UFC282 https://t.co/WzpbI6gNkW
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) December 7, 2022
Ankalaev opened as the -200 favorite to beat Blachowicz (+170) at the BetOnline App when their UFC 282 bout was announced by the UFC. Ankalaev’s odds shortened to -255 after his bout with Blachowicz was promoted to the UFC 282 main event following Jiri Prochazka’s decision to vacate the belt due to a serious shoulder injury. Those odds are now down to -275 with three days left before the fight while Blachowicz is now listed at +235 odds to reclaim his old belt.
The Russian is coming off a second-round TKO win over former 205-pound title challenger Anthony Smith at UFC 277 last July 30th. In his last three bouts, Ankalaev has defeated former light heavyweight title challengers in Volkan Oezdemir, Thiago Santos, and Smith. He has won his last nine bouts and has not been defeated since losing his UFC debut to Paul Craig via submission at UFC London in 2018.
Meanwhile, Blachowicz defeated Aleksandar Rakic in his most recent Octagon appearance at the main event of UFC on ESPN 36 last May 14th in a bout where Rakic could not continue after suffering a knee injury. That victory was the first for the Polish Power since losing the belt to Glover Teixeira at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi last October 2021. Prior to that defeat, Blachowicz had won 5 in a row including a decisive victory against former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 259.
The UFC initially wanted to book Ankalaev against Teixeira, who was supposed to fight Prochazka for the belt in the main event. But the UFC put Teixeira on the shelf after he asked for more time to fight Anklalaev because he had spent the majority of his camp preparing for a different fighter in Prochazka.
Paddy the Baddy Returns to Face Jared Gordon
'𝙊𝙝𝙝𝙝 𝙋𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙮' 🎵
Paddy Pimblett returns to the Octagon this weekend to face Jared Gordon 🔥#UFC282 | Saturday | BT Sport 1 pic.twitter.com/K4WsWg4kwr
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) December 8, 2022
Meanwhile, Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett returns to the Octagon on Sunday to face Jared Gordon in the promoted co-main event. Pimblett opened as the +125 betting underdog against the veteran Gordon but those odds have since moved as Pimblett is now listed at -255 odds with days to go before the bout. According to BetOnline, Pimblett has 77% of the total dollars (second-most behind Ankalaev) and 55% of the total betting slips written for that match.
Fellow British fighter Darren Till as the +160 underdog is the most popular bet as far as betting tickets are concerned with 71% of the bets for his bout against Dricus Du Plessis (-185). The Gorilla also has 55% of the money to beat Du Plessis and end a two-fight losing skid. Till heads to UFC 282 having lost four out of his last five bouts including his last two against Robert Whitaker and Derek Brunson.
Santiago Ponzinnibio is slightly favored by bettors against Alex Morono in their catchweight bout. The Argentinian was supposed to fight Robbie Lawler on Saturday night but Lawler withdrew due to an undisclosed injury. Ponzinnibio is currently the -180 favorite to beat Morono (+155) who took the fight on very short notice.
Lastly, the main card curtain raiser between featherweights Ilia Topuria and Bryce Mitchell is a pick’em fight with Topuria the slight -133 favorite over Mitchell who is listed at +113. Bettors at BetOnline slightly favor Topuria with 54% of the tickets and 58% of the total betting handle.
