One more time.
For Conor McGregor, the perpetual encore continues Saturday when he battles Dustin Poirier as a substantial favorite at UFC 257.
“Notorious” transcends the sport, turning each fight into a happening. Here’s what’s happening Saturday, from Fight Island.
THE REMATCH.
💎 @DustinPoirier vs 🇮🇪 @TheNotoriousMMA is two days away…
[ #UFC257 | LIVE on #ESPNPlus PPV: https://t.co/cibwi9VLF2 ] pic.twitter.com/ZakkbNkwbY
— UFC (@ufc) January 21, 2021
UFC 257 Betting Odds
A look at the various UFC 257 betting odds:
Main Card – UFC 257 DraftKings odds
- Conor McGregor -315 vs Dustin Poirier +255
- Dan Hooker -134 vs Michael Chandler +105
- Joanne Calderwood -117 vs Jessica Eye +105
- Ottman Azaitar -155 vs Matt Frevola +155
- Amanda Ribas -335 vs Marina Rodriguez +250
Top Prelim Fights – UFC 257 FanDuel Odds
- Arman Tsarukyan -290 vs Nasrat Haqparast +225
- Brad Tavares -144 vs Antonio Carlos Jr +118
- Sara McMann -134 vs Julianna Pena +110
- Khalil Rountree -375 Jr vs Marcin Prachnio +285
How to Watch UFC 257:
- Early Prelims:6:15, Fight Pass
- Prelims:8 p.m. ESPN and ESPN+
- Main Card 10:p.m. Purchase on ESPN +
DraftKings UFC 257 Sportsbook Promos
New and regular users of DraftKings Sportsbook have an offer worth consideration.
For veteran patrons, you can make a $25 max bet with McGregor odds boosted to +100.
That’s a great markdown off his odds of greater than +300, and $25 is $25 bucks. All he has to do is win.
New users receive an eye-opening NJ sportsbook bonus & boost. Bet $1 and if McGregor delivers a first-round victory, you get $257. Go to the promo section and follow the instructions.
Here are some specifics.
- You can actually choose between McGregor the NFL conference championships.
- Make a deposit of $5 or more into your sportsbook account.
- Go from the Sportsbook Promos page to the landing page and pick your event by clicking Boost This Game/Fight next to the event of your choice.
- You will be issued a single-use odds boost. The boost is +10000 (100-1) odds for an NFL team to win that game or +25700 (257-1) for McGregor to win by first-round KO.
- Make sure you have your qualifying deposit first and are logged in when you choose your game. Apply the boost to the team in the matchup by adding that team’s money line to your bet slip and applying the boost. Your FIRST bet is the qualifying bet.
- This excludes live bets, parlays, cash-out bets, free bets, and voided bets.
UFC 257 – The Main Angle
UFC celebrates the return of “Notorious”, who hasn’t fought since last January. That’s when he stopped Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in 40 seconds. Not much of a reunion for his fans, but his bettors were happy.
McGregor’s odds have become more prohibitive each week. They started at -235 and have shot up past -300, bringing some prop betting angles into consideration.
Gamblers who believe McGregor can duplicate his one-round victory over Poirier in 2014 might consider a K0/TKO rounds prop. The actual method of victory doesn’t pay that well, -180 for a McGregor K0/TK0, but what about the rounds?
FanDuel Sportsbook returns +175 for McGregor to repeat the 2014 performance, in which he essentially stopped Poirier with one punch. Five seconds after the shot landed, the fight was called.
McGregor pays +460 in Round 2, +1100 in Round 3, +200 in Round 4, and +3300 in Round 5.
Poirier blossomed significantly since the first fight. He comes off a triumph against Hooker. His run of success included triumphs over Max Holloway, Eddie Alvarez, and Justin Gaethje. He’s in fine form right now.
The Second Angle
Hello, Khabib.
UFC 257 is not for the organization’s lightweight title. It’s a title eliminator. In the UFC’s perfect sequence, McGregor defeats Poirier and qualifies for a shot at Khabib Nurmagomedov’s crown.
McGregor badly wants to avenge his 2018 setback to Khabib and business would be stratospheric.
McGregor is the biggest pay-per-view draw in MMA history, having headlined five of the six highest-selling UFC pay-per-view cards. His 2018 battle with Khabib drew a record 2.4 million buys. His boxing match with Floyd Mayweather in 2017 generated 4.3 million buys in North America.
“Notorious” will always be a UFC superstar for what he away from it, elevating mixed martial arts to stratospheric heights via his strong effort in a 2017 boxing match defeat against the sport’s top star, Mayweather.
And now he’s a billionaire, the owner of a successful Proper No. 12 whiskey business, and an individual financially set up for life.
But Khabib isn’t dancing to the financial tune of this event. He’s retired, wants to stay that way, and even goaded McGregor this week.
Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor in the fourth round of a wild fight in 2018 and said at a recent Moscow press conference that he could tell the end of that fight was in sight when McGregor apparently tried to “calm” him in the heat of battle.
Co-Main Magic
Hooker has taken care of business inside the distance in most of his victories. He secures half his wins by knockout and 35% by submission. He faces Chandler, who makes his UFC debut at 34.
The odds reflect the difficulty of stepping into UFC from another realm, in this case, Bellator, but Chandler has gained a lot of respect regarding the price. He’s being respected as a live dog.
Chandler indicates he feels less pressure in this role after years of facing fighters he was expected to beat in the first round. Hooker is a stellar performer and gained verbal props from Chandler throughout the week. Chandler watched tape of Hooker’s Bellator era and had high praise. He said that Chandler fought a high level of opposition.
That includes two epic wars with Eddie Alvarez, which he split. How good is Alavarez? He is only three years removed from a victory over highly-regarded Justin Gaethje.
Azaitar and Frevola present a pleasing contrast.
Azaitar has notched 77% of his victories by the KO/TKO route. His average fight time is 3:33, an ideal average for anyone isolating a one-round victory.
Frevola averages a little more than eight minutes a fight. He has shown the ability to win by submission and decision, each 43% of the time. It’s rare when he scores a stoppage. It happens in only 14% of his victories.
Odds would reward either winner handsomely for his specialty.
At Draft Kings, Azaitar pays +250, +600 or +900 for a KO/TKO or DQ in the first three rounds respectively. Wanna hedge it? It pays +140 for a stoppage in rounds one OR two.
A Frevola decision pays +350.
Guess right on this one and you are getting paid.
All three women’s bouts are bettable, and competitive. Nearly all of the women’s bouts since UFC’s returns have gone the distance. Few prop bets have been rewarded, so the money has been on the moneyline.
If you want to think outside the box, Calderwood has a 36% knockout ratio of her wins. She comes off a disastrous first-round armbar loss to Jennifer Maia and badly needs this win.
Rodriguez gets knockouts in 42% of her wins. Ribas earns a submission in 40% of her triumphs.
Give a glance to FanDuel before completing all your wagering. The site has put up numerous odds boosts and deals prior to UFC events.
