Friday, July 10, 2015 | 2 a.m.
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UFC 189 doubles the number of championship fights with a betting line of less than 2-to-1 that the promotion has staged this year.
There had been two such evenly matched contests in the first six months of 2015, but both bouts with a belt on the line Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena fit the criteria. Conor McGregor is up to a minus-175 (risking $1.75 to win $1) favorite to defeat Chad Mendes, who comes back at plus-150 (risking $1 to $1.50), in the main event after opening as the slight underdog.
Given McGregor’s popularity, the main event’s betting-line flip is far from surprising. Perhaps more unexpected to some fans are the co-main event odds, where welterweight champion Robbie Lawler enters as an underdog in his first title defense.
Lawler is currently plus-140 (risking $1 to win $1.40) despite previously beating Rory MacDonald, who’s listed at minus-165 (risking $1.65 to win $1). The top two fights on the pay-per-view, which begins at 7 p.m., aren’t the only tight matchups on the main attraction of International Fight Week.
Six of the nine other fights have a favorite of 2-to-1 or less, too. It makes UFC 189 one of the most parity-driven cards in recent memory with picks from the Sun’s panel all over the place.
Check below for picks from ESPN Radio’s Steve Cofield (50-28 year to date), KSNV’s Randy Howe (48-30), Las Vegas Sun’s Ray Brewer (46-32) and Las Vegas Sun’s Case Keefer (46-32).
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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