UFC 253 edges near as the highly-awaited middleweight title clash between Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa headlines the pay-per-view event.
It’s a unique yet rare fight that involves two unbeaten foes at the top of their division. When the fight was first announced, Adesanya, being the champion as well as the more experienced fighter, naturally opened as the betting favorite at -140. Costa, meanwhile, was a +120 underdog.
However, with just over a day to go for the event, Adesanya’s odds have shortened, if only slightly, as he now ranges from a -172 to a -190 favorite. Costa is as long as a +161 underdog.
That means you would have to bet $190 to win $100 on Adesanya while a $100 stake on Costa would earn a profit of $161.
It seems that oddsmakers and bettors remain confident in Adesanya’s chances of defending his title for the second time.
That said, Costa’s odds still signify that he has more than a shot of becoming the first fighter to defeat Adesanya in mixed martial arts and the new middleweight king.
Here are the opening odds for the pair’s last five fights:
Israel Adesanya last five fights
- vs. Yoel Romero (W): -185
- vs. Robert Whittaker (W): +160
- vs. Kelvin Gastelum (W): -220
- vs. Anderson Silva (W): -400
- vs. Derek Brunson (W): -260
Paulo Costa last five fights
- vs. Yoel Romero (W): +165
- vs. Uriah Hall (W): -290
- vs. Johny Hendricks (W): -135
- vs. Oluwale Bamgbose (W): -215
- vs. Garreth McLellan (W): -210