Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
One great thing about the UFC from a betting standpoint is that it rarely takes a weekend off. There’s another Fight Night card from the organization’s Apex facility in Las Vegas this Saturday that is headlined by a welterweight bout between Americans Colby Covington and Tyron Woodley. The main card will start at 8 p.m. ET and is available on ESPN+.
An argument can be made the welterweight division is the deepest in the UFC. Kamaru Usman is the champion with Covington ranked second and Woodley fifth. Perhaps Saturday’s winner would be closer to a potential title shot next year – but probably only if it’s Covington.
The 32-year-old Covington (15-2), who was an excellent collegiate wrestler at a few stops in the United States, won the UFC’s interim welterweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Rafael dos Anjos in June 2018. Covington was then linked to a bout with the then-overall champion Woodley in September of that year but Covington had to pull out for health reasons.
Because of that Covington was stripped of the interim belt. He returned to the Octagon in August 2019 and beat Robbie Lawler by unanimous decision. In December 2019, Covington got a shot at the champion Usman but lost by TKO with just 50 seconds left in the bout. “Chaos” was a +130 underdog for that but is -350 for Saturday.
Woodley (19-5), 38, won the welterweight title in July 2016 with a first-round knockout of Lawler at UFC 201. “The Chosen One” defended it four times, including a draw against Stephen Thompson, but lost the belt to Usman by unanimous decision in March 2019. Woodley returned to the Octagon this past May as a -200 favorite over Gilbert Burns but was upset by unanimous decision. Woodley is +265 for this bout and a third straight loss probably ends his shot at another title shot for good.
At women’s strawweight, the USA’s Mackenzie Dern (8-1) takes on Canada’s Randa Markos (10-9-1). Dern is ranked 15th in the division and her lone loss was to Amanda Ribas in October 2019 in Dern’s first fight after giving birth to a daughter in June of that year. She bounced back with a first-round submission of Hannah Cifers in May. Markos comes off a March unanimous decision loss to Ribas. Dern is priced -170 for Saturday with Markos at +140.
