The UFC is back this weekend with a rare Sunday afternoon show in North America, courtesy of doing the right thing, and catering to the local market of Stockholm, Sweden, where we have a card full of some stellar fun bets, headline by a main event which will be pivotal to the promotion’s light-heavyweight division.
While many in the MMA media and fan base are sleeping on Alexander Gustafsson, looking at his record over the past few years, they tend to forget he gave Jon Jones all he could handle in their epic bout, while also going the distance with current champion Daniel Cormier.
To wit, the betting public is showing him some love (-320) versus his opponent, Glover Teixeira (+260). Mind you, I believe those odds are too far apart, as I am not convinced Alexander will be able to finish Glover. I could be completely out to lunch on this one, but I’m leaning towards this one going the distance at +145.
Now, if you think a finish will happen but don’t know how or what, you can get Alexander at +103. But if you think he’s overrated and Glover is going to pull one off, look out … you can get him to finish at +705. #Sweet
In the co-main event, I find the same type of disparity between the massive distance in the straight up odds. Misha Cirkunov (-455) is heavily favored over Volkan Oezdemir (+320) and I’m not sure I agree.
Taking Volkan straight up would not be a bad idea. He’s got under-appreciated skills and can go the distance, which he’s done in his last two bouts. OSP couldn’t finish him, so he’s got the defense to make this one potentially go the full 15 minutes.
Misha hasn’t gone more than 12 minutes since December of 2011. His cardio could be tested here. Mind you, there is a surface level caveat that must be respected. He’s 4-0 in the UFC and finished each and every opponent: three via submission and one via KO. If you believe he will repeat one or the other, you can get him via submission at -115 or via T/KO at +370.
Looking at the rest of the card, there are all kinds of fun bets worth examining and potentially scooping up before the event goes live.
Here are a few to consider:
Ben Saunders via submission (+500) over Peter Sobotta
Pedro Munhoz wins by submission (+180) over Damian Stasiak
Marcin Held to submit (+175) Damir Hadžović
Perhaps not exactly considered ‘Fun Bets’, these could be considered value safe bets:
Abdul Razak Alhassan to finish (-165) Omari Akhmedov
Nordine Taleb and Oliver Enkamp to go the distance (-160)
As always, hit me up with your thoughts and your own fun bets, anytime, on social media. I can be found on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram: @ShowdownJoe
