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UFC 189 breakdown, betting odds and picks

Competitive matchups fill International Fight Week card

UFC 189 Fighters Workout Sessions

L.E. Baskow

UFC 189 fighter Conor McGregor stretches during his open training session at the MGM Grand on Wednesday, July 8, 2015.

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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