UFC 249 Title Odds: Ferguson, Cejudo top board

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Major professional sports returns to the United States this Saturday with a rescheduled UFC 249 card from VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. UFC president Dana White had to look far and wide for a place to hold this event after he had to postpone it last month due to the coronavirus.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

ufc-249-title-odds-ferguson-cejudo-top-boardWhite picked Florida in large part because Gov. Ron DeSantis had deemed professional sports as an “essential service” in the state as long as the location is closed to the general public. The Florida State Boxing Commission also will regulate the event, whereas other states haven’t deemed sports as essential and/or their commissions wouldn’t regulate this card.

The main card begins at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view and is headlined by two title fights: Tony Ferguson (26-3) vs. Justin Gaethje (21-2) for the interim lightweight belt, and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo (15-2) defending his belt against Dominick Cruz (22-2). All four are Americans.

Ferguson was a sizable underdog for the original UFC 249 matchup against lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (pulled out) but is a -180 favorite against Gaethje (+150). Since Ferguson joined the UFC in 2011, he has been an underdog just once: Against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 98. Ferguson won that by unanimous decision at +110. He was -240 in his most recent fight, a second-round TKO victory over Donald Cerrone in June 2019.

Gaethje has been an underdog a handful of times in his UFC career, most recently at -105 against Edson Barboza in May 2019. Gaethje won that by first-round knockout. He also comes off a fight against Cerrone, winning by first-round TKO in September 2019 as a -225 favorite. The favored result in this fight is Ferguson inside the distance at -140 and the over/under for rounds is 2.5.

Meanwhile, Cejudo is a -230 favorite over Cruz, who is +180. Cejudo enters on a five-fight winning streak but was a +110 underdog last time out at UFC 238 against Marlon Moraes. Cejudo won by third-round TKO. That was the third straight fight Cejudo was an underdog.

Cruz is a legend in the bantamweight division but hasn’t fought since a December 2016 loss to Cody Garbrandt as a -270 favorite. That ended Cruz’s 13-fight winning streak. He was last an underdog in January 2016 against TJ Dillashaw and won by split decision.

The over/under rounds for this fight is 4.5, and the favored result at +130 is Cejudo by decision.