UFC 273 Betting Preview
UFC 273 is on this weekend with some fantastic fights to look forwards to. Two title fights, plus the self-styled “People’s Title Fight” between Burns and Chimaev.
Let’s take a deeper look at the fight matchups and betting markets:
Alexander Volkanovski v Korean Zombie
Undefeated Volkanovski is defending his featherweight belt for the third time against the Korean Zombie.
It’s hard to see the fight going anywhere apart from in Volkanovski’s favor. Volkanovski has beaten some absolute savages (Holloway, Aldo, Ortega) recently and exhibited some masterful striking and grappling.
The Korean Zombie is called ‘Zombie’ for a reason… he just keeps walking forward! However, a fighter that keeps walking forwards and is susceptible to being hit matched up with a masterful striker seems to suggest they’re going to take some big hits. Plus, the fact that Volkanovski has knock-out power for a featherweight.
The odds, unsurprisingly, are heavily favored towards Volkanovski. At the time of writing Volkanovski is 1.08 and Korean Zombie 8.1 at 888Sport.
We’re going to take Volkanovski by KO/TKO for 3.20 at Betway.
Aljamain Sterling v Petr Yan
We’ve had to wait a while for this rematch between Sterling and Yan for the bantamweight title. Sterling won the belt (contentiously) in March 2021 then was out injured so delayed the rematch. Yan, in the meantime, faced Sandhagen for the interim belt and won.
In their first fight, Aljo did really well for the first couple of rounds then Yan dominated. It all ended with an illegal knee by Yan.
There’s a massive amount of bad blood between these two and it’s fair to say they’re both training 110% for this fight. Just take a look at some of their recent posts on Instagram:
The odds are heavily in favor of Yan - currently, Sterling is 4.6 and Yan is 1.18 at Betway. These are probably a fair reflection of how the first fight went down - Yan was fairly convincingly winning until the illegal knee.
Sterling being out of the ring for over a year, plus the fact that he had a major surgery in that time, is stacking the odds against him.
Sterling is typically the better wrestler and could look to be take the fight to the ground - probably a wise gameplan given Yan’s top-level striking. So, is there value to be had betting on Sterling?
We think it’s unlikely Sterling can take the win, so we’re going with Yan to win on points 2.40 at Betway.
Gilbert Burns v Khamzat Chimaev
Chimaev is one of the most hyped fighters in the whole UFC… he’s dominated every opponent he’s faced. He’s knocked guys out, submitted others and all without taking a single strike (officially, he’s taken one strike, but that’s debatable).
Chimaev’s last opponent (The Leech) was meant to be a test for Chimaev and he made it look effortless - he submitted him while talking to Dana White!
However, Burns is a recent title contender and current #2 ranked fighter (Chimaev is #11). Burns has faced the best of the best (Usman, Woodley, Thompson) and is a seasoned UFC veteran.
This is no doubt the biggest test for Chimaev in the UFC, however, the odds are heavily in Chimaev’s favor. Currently, Chimaev is 1.18 and Burns 4.6 at Betway. Clearly the bookmakers are on the Chimaev hype-train too!
In our opinion this fight is much more evenly matched than the odds would suggest. This means there is value to be had. We see that value in Burns to win for 4.6 at Betway.
UFC273 Accumulator/Parlay
Our first accumulator/parlay is going to be the selections above:
- Volkanovski by KO/TKO @ 3.20
- Yan to win on points @ 2.40
- Burns to win @ 4.6
- Accumulator Odds: 34.56
Then, as we believe Burns is the most likely to let us down in the accumulator above, we’re going to place the same accumulator again but with Chimaev to win instead of Burns:
- Volkanovski by KO/TKO @ 3.20
- Yan to win on points @ 2.40
- Chimaev to win @ 1.2
- Accumulator Odds: 9.21
*Odds correct at time of publishing. Always check with the operator for the latest odds.
