After months of speculation, the super fight between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov is finally here. The two clash for the UFC Lightweight Championship this Saturday night in the Main Event of UFC 229.
Khabib Nurmagomedov is going off as a -160 favorite on the Khabib McGregor odds to win and defend his title at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. When this fight was announced, the line opened with Nurmagomedov going off as a -170 favorite and McGregor paying +140.
Betting action on McGregor moved the line down to Nurmagomedov -155 and McGregor +125, but the current champion has received some more betting action this week and is back to -160 while McGregor has settled in as a +130 underdog.
Despite the fact that McGregor’s odds of winning the fight have dropped slightly from +125 to +130, his odds of winning by knockout have remained the same at +160. Most fight fans and experts believe that a knockout victory is McGregor’s only realistic path to victory. The Irish superstar is one of the best strikers in the world and will give Nurmagomedov a challenge that he has not faced to date in a legitimate threat to be knocked out if he is ever caught off guard.
Of course, Nurmagomedov supporters do not believe that the 26-0 champion will be caught off guard, and that he will use his superior wrestling skills to keep this match on the mat and to eventually emerge victorious.
Nurmagomedov is going off at +110 to finish the fight inside of distance (down from -105 earlier in the week) on the UFC 229 betting props as bettors seem to be wagering on props in which he wins this fight on the cards. Earlier in the week Nurmagomedov was paying +400 to win this fight by decision, but those odds are down to +325 as action has come in on this prop.
The heavily conflicting styles of these two fighters is what makes this such a compelling matchup both in the octagon and at UFC betting sites. Bettors that believe in McGregor are likely to back this belief up with wagers on knockout props and short fight props, as an early finish would likely favor McGregor.
Nurmagomedov backers seem to anticipate a longer fight with the cerebral champion controlling the tempo and patiently earning a victory.
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