Most people aren’t even aware that 2020 is a Leap Year, which is basically a free day of life … and sports betting. For the second time ever and first since November 2017, the UFC is staging a card in Norfolk, Virginia, and Saturday’s Fight Night event is headlined by a flyweight title matchup between Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo. The main card at Chartway Arena in Virginia’s second-largest city by population starts at 8pm ET on Leap Day and shown on ESPN+.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
The flyweight champion is technically Henry Cejudo, but last December he announced he would be relinquishing the belt to compete solely in the bantamweight division, where Cejudo is also the champion. So, this fight is for the vacant title.
The 35-year-old Benavidez, an American, is the No. 1 contender. It’s his third title shot in this division and he lost the previous two to Demetrious Johnson (December 2013 and September 2012). Benavidez has won his past three since a split-decision loss to Sergio Pettis in June 2018 and comes off a second-round TKO victory over Jussier Formiga last June.
Benavidez spreads out his method of victory career-wise, winning 11 times by decision, nine by submission and eight by KO/TKO. He is a -145 favorite.
Figueiredo, a 32-year-old from Brazil, is 17-1 and that lone loss was to Formiga by unanimous decision in March 2019. “Deus da Guerra (God of War)” has since beaten Alexandre Pantoja and Tim Elliott. Figueiredo, ranked No. 3 in the division, wins 47 percent of the time by KO/TKO, 35 percent by submission and 18 percent by decision. He’s priced at +115 for Saturday.
A women’s featherweight title bout between Canada’s Felicia Spencer (7-1) and France’s Zarah Fairn Dos Santos (6-3) leads into the main event. Spencer, who now fights out of Florida, is a former Invicta FC featherweight champion but comes off a unanimous decision loss to one of the all-time female greats, Cris Cyborg, last July.
Dos Santos made her UFC debut in October and lost by first-round submission to Megan Anderson; Spencer beat Anderson by first-round submission in her fight previous to Cyborg. Thus, perhaps not a surprise that Spencer is a heavy -800 favorite Saturday with Dos Santos +500.
