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UFC 305: Las Vegas sportsbook insider analyzes betting trends
It’s time for another UFC main event this weekend, with UFC 305 taking place in Australia for just the third time ever, specifically at RAC Arena in Perth. The main event features Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya in a fight for the middleweight championship. Adesanya was the king of the middleweight division for several years, but has lost two of his last three bouts.
Listen to Las Vegas experts
If you’re unfamiliar with UFC betting, you will quickly realize that betting on combat sports can be quite different than on traditional team sports. To prepare for Saturday night, be sure to check out our UFC betting sites page containing a guide for fans to better understand fight terminology, learn betting strategies, and what to avoid when making UFC wagers.
I spoke with Andrew Babakitis, risk manager at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook in Nevada, to get the scoop on where the action has been coming in for a few UFC 305 fights.
Odds listed from DraftKings Sportsbook.
Israel Adesanya (-118) vs. Dricus Du Plessis (-102)
Babakitis: “Early respected action on the main event has mostly been on du Plessis. We opened this last July and Adesanya was a big favorite at -260 when he was champion. After Izzy lost, it’s been lowering towards du Plessis ever since and now we’re sitting at a flat pick-em. You usually don’t get a main event at the price of a pick-em. We’re going to reduce the juice even more come Saturday to entice more action. We did take a really large, five-figure parlay on du Plessis to win and the second leg was Mateusz Gamrot to win. We took a respected bet on Under 4.5 rounds in the main event as well.”
Kai Kara-France (+136) vs. Steve Erceg (-162)
Babakitis: “Respected money came in on Kara-France at +180, now he’s sitting at +120. We’re doing our best to be in line with the sharp action and need Kara-France, but we haven’t seen much money on Erceg yet.”
Jairzinho Rozenstruik (-230) vs. Tai Tuivasa (+190)
Babakitis: “Pretty light action on this fight, but a couple of bets on Tuivasa so right now we need the favorite.”
Mateusz Gamrot (-325) vs Daniel Hooker (+260)
Babakitis: “This morning, we took a big bet on Hooker. As of now, the book could use the ‘dog, but it’s still nice to see some ‘dog money coming in, especially with that big parlay liability from the Du Plessis parlay.”
