We’re a little more than a week away from UFC 259, which will feature three championship bouts. In the headliner, Jan Blachowicz will defend his UFC Light Heavyweight belt against Israel Adesanya. The co-main event features Amanda Nunes in a UFC Women’s Featherweight title defense against Megan Anderson. The third fight for a belt will show us Petr Yan defending his UFC Bantamweight Championship against Aljamain Sterling. The main card will have five fights all together, which you can catch on pay per view. The preliminary bouts will be on ESPN, with the early prelims coming on ESPN+ or UFC Fight Pass.
We have some early UFC betting odds for you to consider, and some thoughts on the three title fights.
UFC 259: Very Early Odds
Main Card (Pay Per View)
Jan Blachowicz (+220) vs Israel Adesanya (-270) (UFC Light Heavyweight Championship)
Amanda Nunes (-1100) vs Megan Anderson (+700) (UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship)
Petr Yan (-130) vs Aljamain Sterling (+110) (UFC Bantamweight Championship)
Islam Makhachev vs Drew Dober (Lightweight)
Aleksandar Rakic (-175) vs Thiago Santos (+150) (Light Heavyweight)
Preliminary Card (ESPN / ESPN+)
Dominick Cruz vs Casey Kenney (Bantamweight)
Song Yadong (-165) vs Kyler Phillips (+140) (Bantamweight)
Joseph Benavidez vs Askar Askarov (Flyweight)
Early Preliminary Card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Kennedy Nzechukwu vs Carlos Ulberg (Light Heavyweight)
Sean Brady (-260) vs Jake Matthews (+210) (Welterweight)
Rogerio Bontorin (+125) vs Kai Kara-France (-150) (Flyweight)
Israel Adesanya looks to add the UFC Light Heavyweight belt next to his UFC Middleweight belt, moving up a classification to take on Jan Blachowicz, who just won the 205-pound title. Adesanya has never lost an MMA fight and has a 9-0 UFC record. His last fight was a TKO win in the second round against previously unbeaten Paulo Costa in September. Blachowicz took down Luke Rockhold, Ronald Souza and Corey Anderson in succession, earning a spot in the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship back in September. The title at that time was vacant, and Blachowicz beat Dominick Reyes in just two rounds despite coming in as a +190 underdog. Adesanya comes in with the reputation of a superior striking game. Blachowicz would have to land a bomb in order to turn the fight in his favor, and Adesanya has not, at least to this point, shown that sort of vulnerability in any fight. Costa and Blachowicz are similar fighters, looking to land massive strikes; Costa ended up taking a striking clinic from Adesanya. One possible wrinkle involves Blachowicz taking the fight to the ground, but Adesanya has shown solid takedown defense — and he is underrated as a submission artist.
Early Prediction:
Adesanya wins via knockout
Amanda Nunes currently holds two belts and is the extremely heavy favorite, at least so far, against Megan Anderson. Nunes has shown ferocity against all comers and has a striking game that has proven extremely difficult to dent. The only area of intrigue comes from Anderson’s height (6’0”). Anderson is the tallest fighter that Nunes has ever faced, which could make things interesting in both the clinch and in the striking game. Anderson has won two in a row and three of four; her last two fights were finishes of Zarah Fairn and Norma Dumont. In that win over Dumont, Anderson delivered a knockout in the first round that brought her the “Performance of the Night” honors. Anderson has a long reach, both with her arms and in the kicking game. Even so, it’s hard to see Nunes failing to adjust.
Early Prediction:
Nunes wins via decision
Petr Yan will have a challenge on his hands with Aljamain Sterling, who is a submission specialist, bring aggressiveness to the wrestling game. Yan has skills in all areas of his game, while Sterling thrives when the fight goes to the ground. In striking , Sterling does not use technique to set up his opponent but instead prefers to send kicks to the opponent. However, once he grabs his opponent, things can turn in a hurry, as when he finished Cory Sandhagen within 45 seconds. Yan’s only MMA pro loss came against Magomed Magomedov back in 2016, when Yan was taken down a few times and lost a split decision. Since then, Yan seems to have learned his lesson, though.
Early Prediction:
Yan wins via decision
UFC Betting Odds
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