Cris Cyborg (L) of Brazil and Yana Kunitskaya of Russia pose during UFC 222 weigh-ins in Las Vegas Friday, March 2, 2018. Cyborg will defend her women’s featherweight title against Kunitskaya during UFC 222 at T-Mobile Arena Saturday.
Saturday, March 3, 2018 | 2 a.m.
The odds were stacked against UFC 222 from the beginning, and now the top of betting boards across the valley reflect as much.
Women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg is as big of a favorite as a bettor will ever see in any mixed martial arts bout, let alone a main event. She’s minus-1600 (risking $16 to win $1) against Yana Kunitskaya, who comes back at plus-800 (risking $1 to win $8).
The headliner for tonight’s pay-per-view card, which starts at 3:30 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena, wasn’t always supposed to be this lopsided. A featherweight championship bout between Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar was slated to top the card, but fell through when the former suffered an injury.
A replacement in a bantamweight championship grudge match pairing T.J. Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt was then reportedly sought after, but not able to come together. That’s led to the current situation, where the line implies Cyborg has around a 92 percent chance at victory — and some would argue that’s not enough.
Check below to find picks from Las Vegas Sun’s Ray Brewer (17-5 year to date), KSNV’s Randy Howe (16-6), ESPN Radio’s Steve Cofield (14-8) and Las Vegas Sun’s Case Keefer (14-8) along with odds and breakdowns on every fight.
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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