UFC 212: Aldo opens as a short favorite vs. Holloway
In savage fashion, Max ‘Blessed’ Holloway pleaded with Ricardo Lamas to throw haymakers in the last 10 seconds of the third and final round of their UFC 199 showdown.
Published on Friday, 3/10/17, at 5:19 p.m. Eastern.
5Dimes opened UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo as a -130 favorite for the first title defense of his second reign at 145 pounds against Max ‘Blessed’ Holloway, who is the even-money underdog.
The number was quickly bet up to -155 early this afternoon, but it was back down to -130 again just as quickly. The total is 4.5 rounds (‘over’ -165, ‘under’ +125).
Aldo was the only champion in UFC featherweight history until losing by first-round KO to Conor McGregor in only 13 seconds at UFC 194.
While McGregor was busy dealing with a pair of fights against Nate Diaz, Aldo was booked to face Frankie Edgar for the interim 145-pound belt at UFC 200. Aldo defeated Edgar for a second time by unanimous decision.
After McGregor dusted Eddie Alvarez by first-round KO to win the lightweight title and become the first simultaneous two-division champ in UFC history, the promotion stripped ‘The Notorious’ of his featherweight belt and declared Aldo the champ.
Holloway faced former lightweight champ Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis at UFC 206 this past December, winning by third-round KO to become the interim featherweight champ. Now Aldo and Holloway will square off to unify the belt.
Holloway has won 10 fights in a row and hasn’t tasted defeat since losing to McGregor by UD in August of 2013. The 25-year-old Hawaiian has bagged four fight-night bonuses during his 10-fight win streak.
