UFC Vegas Betting Odds - Prelim & Main Card Rundown
Tomorrow, a hectic, brutal, and bloody year of drag-out MMA bouts will come to a close, as a huge lineup of heavy hitters steps into the Octagon tomorrow night for UFC Vegas. Middleweight strikers Sean Strickland and Jared Cannonier will be going at it for the main event, while lightweights Damir Ismagulov and Arman Tsarukyan will be going toe to toe for the co-main event.
Two events ago, UFC Vegas 64 garnered significant controversy in the betting world - as first reported by ESPN, several sportsbooks reported “suspicious betting activity” around the fight between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke, which abruptly ended in the first round. This subsequently led to the suspension of Minner and his coach, James Krause, and prompted an investigation of the suspicious bets and line movements.
Minner and Krause both hit some bad beats, but you don’t have to! As long as you’re not a UFC fighter, coach, or employee in any meaningful capacity, you’ll be able to go all in on tomorrow’s betting action. We've already covered the best bets, but let’s take a deep dive into the prelim card odds, the main card odds, and two great no-sweat insurance promos worth looking at, all courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.
Preliminary Card UFC Vegas Lines
From 4:05 to 6:40, UFC fans and MMA bettors will have an exciting 8-fight undercard to look forward to before the main event. Right now, here’s where the Vegas moneyline odds stand on each prelim card fight for UFC Vegas 66:
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Morozov vs. Newsom: Right now, Sergey Morozov is a heavy -310 FanDuel favorite over Journey Newsom, who’s priced as a +230 underdog. While those odds don’t mean that the outright winner is safest or the most profitable bet, they seem to logically track with the experience of both fighters; though Morozov has two more losses to his name than Newsom, he’s been tested through more fights than Newsom, and has eight more wins on his record to show it.
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Dvorak vs. Kape: Manel Kape is a decent -265 favorite on FanDuel, while David Divorak is a +200 moneyline dog. Kape himself seems as confident as the oddsmakers that he’ll get the win, as he recently told MMA Junkie all about the “weapons” he has over his “stiff guy” rival. Time will tell whether or not that confidence pays off.
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Battle vs. Fakhretdinov: Bryan Battle is heading into a short-notice matchup against Rinat Fakhretdinov, who is slightly favored at -158 moneyline odds on FanDuel. Battle is a +124 underdog, but he’s coming into this match off a three fight win streak, so he’ll definitely be motivated to try and keep that streak going.
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Garcia vs. Maheshate: Rafa Garcia and Maheshate have their money lines closely priced on FanDuel: Garcia is narrowly favored by -146 odds, while Maheshate is a +114 underdog. Expect this to be a battle between an experienced grappler and a younger, speedier striker.
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Nurmagomedov vs. Kakhramonov: It’s a borderline pick-em between Said and Saidyokub. FanDuel has Saidyokub Kakhramonov narrowly favored at -125 odds, with Said Nurmagomedov at -102 odds. No matter which way this coin flip falls, expect a close fight either way, close enough to potentially go the distance at -134 odds.
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Marquez vs. Winn: This fight will entail a brawl between a top-heavy striker and a freestyle wrestler. Right now, Julian Marquez’s on-foot fisticuffs are favored to take down Deron Winn’s grappling game with -180 moneyline odds on FanDuel. In order to get the win, Winn will need to find opportunities to exploit Marquez’s wrestling weaknesses, but the oddsmakers aren’t favoring that he will, as he enters this fight a +140 underdog.
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Vlismas vs. McKenna: Like the last fight, this match will present a battle between two different styles: heavy technical striking versus heavy grappling. Cheyanne Vlismas is favored for -196 odds on FanDuel, while her opponent Cory McKenna is a +152 underdog. It makes sense that she would be favored this way; apart from her fight with Montserrat Ruiz, Cheyanne’s takedown defense has been relatively solid.
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Matthews vs. Semelsberger: It’s a prime battle of the Matthews, with Jake Matthews priced as a heavy -295 FanDuel favorite over Matthew Semelsberger’s +220 odds. Much like Sergey Mozorov, Matthews is also heading into this fight with more experience and eight more wins than his opponent, so it makes sense why Matthews is so heavily favored over Matthew.
There are plenty of events to look forward to before the main event, including five on the main card! But if those aren’t quite your jam, let's take a closer look at the main event itself.
UFC Vegas Main Card Breakdown
From 7:10 through 9:00 PM, UFC Vegas 66 will have five main card matches before the main event matchup between Sean Strickland and Jared Cannonier. Those events are:
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Michael Oleksiejczuk (-295) vs. Cody Brundage (+220)
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Drew Dober (-164) vs. Bobby Green (+128)
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Alex Caceres (+140) vs. Julian Erosa (-180)
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Amir Albazi (-480) vs. Alessandro Costa (+330)
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Arman Tsarukyan (-215) vs. Damir Ismagulov (+164)
We’ve got three heavy favorites against three heavy underdogs for the main card, and two closer-looking matchups as well. Like those two main card fights (Dober V. Green and Caceres V. Erosa), the odds on the main event are also really close. Razor close.
Like the Said V. Saidyokub fight in the prelims, Strickland V. Cannonier’s odds are practically pick ‘em odds. Jared Cannonier is only favored by a mere four points over his opponent, -115 odds relative to Sean Strickland’s -111 odds. Strickland has ten career wins over his opponent, but Cannonier is likely hungry to rebound from his last recent loss.
It’s a tough call, but one potential betting trend of note is that Strickland has one 6 of his last 7 matchups, while Cannonier has only won 2 out of his last 4 fights. Do with that info what you will, do diligent research beyond this story, and bet responsibly. Never wager more than you’re comfortable with losing, especially on an even money match.
One way you can wager safer is through FanDuel’s no-sweat promos, which refund the stakes of losing bets into (non-withdrawable) site credit for a second chance. Right now, they have two ongoing promotions you might want to consider ahead of UFC Vegas 66.
FanDuel UFC Promo
FanDuel offers a big no-sweat first-day welcome offer for new users (with single bets or parlays), and occasionally offers no-sweat parlay insurance promos for eligible events. Typically, these MMA parlay insurance offers are strictly reserved for UFC Fight Night contests.
You can follow our page to stay up to date with the next eligible event, read Frank's guide for a deeper analysis of this card's best bets, and read our in-depth FanDuel review to find out more about the popular online sportsbook.
