UFC 261 odds are are drawing plenty of interest for what should be an exciting night of action on Saturday, April 24.
Not only is the card stacked, but fans are expected to pack the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena after Dana White announced that a max crowd was permitted. The card is highlighted by three title fights, including the main event, which features a rematch between welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal. UFC odds have Usman listed as a heavy -400 favorite.
Here are the UFC betting odds for the main event, plus other fights on the UFC 261: Usman vs. Masvidal card.
UFC 261 odds
| Favorite | Odds | Underdog | Odds | Weight Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kamaru Usman | -350 | Jorge Masvidal | +290 | Welterweight |
| Valentina Shevchenko | -500 | Jessica Andrade | +400 | Women's Flyweight |
| Weili Zhang | -210 | Rose Namajunas | +180 | Women's Strawweight |
| Chris Weidman | -145 | Uriah Hall | +125 | Middleweight |
| Jimmy Crute | -240 | Anthony Smith | +200 | Light Heavyweight |
| Randy Brown | -130 | Alex Oliveira | +110 | Welterweight |
| Dwight Grant | -210 | Stefan Sekulic | +180 | Welterweight |
| Brendan Allen | -155 | Karl Roberson | +135 | Middleweight |
| Patrick Sabatini | -240 | Tristan Connelly | +200 | Featherweight |
| Ariane Carnelossi | -200 | Na Liang | +175 | Women's Strawweight |
| Qileng Aori | -110 | Jeffrey Molina | -110 | Flyweight |
| Zhu Rong | -250 | Kazula Vargas | +210 | Lightweight |
| Danaa Batgerel | -185 | Kevin Natividad | +165 | Bantamweight |
Odds courtesy of William Hill US as of April 24
Usman vs Masvidal betting action
UPDATE 11:30 P.M. ET SATURDAY: Nick Kalikas, risk manager and MMA oddsmaker at Circa Sports, said underdog money is pouring in on the main event. "Lots of late money coming in on Masvidal. The line is down to Usman -305/Masvidal +255. We need Usman to win," Kalikas said. Circa opened this bout in mid-March at Usman -350/Masvidal +290 and had Usman in the -400 range much of this week.
Previous Usman vs Masvidal action
UPDATE 9:15 P.M. ET SATURDAY: Less than an hour before the five-bout main card begins, Kamaru Usman is a -400 favorite to Jorge Masvidal's +310 at BetMGM Nevada. The fight opened last month at Usman -425/Masvidal +325. "It's completely one-sided, all Masvidal. And it's a big decision for us tonight, a mid-six-figure decision," BetMGM Nevada's Scott Shelton said. "Right now, it's over 10/1 tickets on Masvidal, and money is over 50/1." The underdog Masvidal even leads in parlay money and tickets, by a 2/1 count on each, Shelton said. "Right now, barring some huge bet, we need the favorite."
UPDATE 3:15 P.M. ET SATURDAY: Kamaru Usman opened -305 at PointsBet USA and got all the way out to -450, with Jorge Masvidal correspondingly shifting from +240 to +320 in this welterweight title bout. The moneyline dialed back a touch this afternoon, to Usman -425/Usman +310, but ticket count is in the 4/1 range and money 3/1 on the favorite in tonight's main event.
UPDATE 8 P.M. ET FRIDAY: William Hill US opened Kamaru Usman -360 and Jorge Masvidal +300 on March 16, and one night before the fight, the moneyline is Usman -430/Masvidal +350. "There's definitely a lot of chalk on this card," WillHill director of trading Nick Bogdanovich said. "I have a feeling that the route many bettors will take today and (Saturday) is that they're probably going to parlay every one of these two-dollar favorites with one or all of the three main fights." So if the favorites have a good night prior to the main event, there could be substantial parlay liability rolling into Usman. On straight bets, the underdog Masvidal is seeing 64 percent of bets/73 percent of money at William Hill US.
UPDATE 9 P.M. ET WEDNESDAY: Nick Kalikas, risk manager and MMA oddsmaker for Circa Sports, opened this fight in mid-March at Kamaru Usman -350/Jorge Masvidal +290, and the bout is now at Usman -385/Masvidal +315. Kalikas said action has been great thus far on this welterweight title rematch. "Most of our early action was on the champ, with a decent amount of straight bets and lots of parlays in the mix," Kalikas said of wagering on Usman. "Despite Usman's dominant decision win in their first meeting, as we get closer to fight day, we're seeing a steady flow of Masvidal money come in, which has given us a nice overall balance. With Masividal being one of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster and a big underdog price next to his name, that's to be expected. I think when it's all said and done, we'll need Masvidal small, and the house will be rooting for a nice parlay buster.
Zhang vs Namajunas betting action
UPDATE 9:15 P.M. ET SATURDAY: BetMGM Nevada opened this title fight at Zhang Weili -185/Rose Namajunas +155 and is now at Weili -210/Namajunas +170. "Ticket count is approximately 3/1 on the 'dog. Money, though, is roughly 3/1 on the favorite," BetMGM Nevada's Scott Shelton said, adding that the book needs an upset in one of the two women's title fights to help kill some parlay liability to Masvidal in the main event.
Previous Zhang vs Namajunas action
UPDATE 3:15 P.M. ET SATURDAY: Zhang Weili is out to -210 from a -175 opener at PointsBet USA, as she looks to defend her women's strawweight title against Rose Namajunas, who moved from +145 to +165. Ticket count is running 3/1 and money 4/1 on the defending champ Weili.
UPDATE 8 P.M. ET FRIDAY: Zhang Weili moved from -185 to -210 at William Hill US, where Rose Namajunas is a +180 underdog. Weili is drawing 61 percent of moneyline bets and 80 percent of moneyline cash.
UPDATE 9 P.M. ET WEDNESDAY: Zhang Weili opened a -195 favorite last month at Circa Sports and is up a tick to -200, with Rose Namajunas correspondingly moving from +170 to +175. "This one's definitely one of my favorite fights on this card. Both ladies have that championship pedigree and high-level skill set to make this an instant classic," Kalikas said. "Despite the slight line increase on Zhang, action wise, the underdog Namajunas is getting more play thus far, with about 65 percent of the money coming in her way. The ticket count is a bit more even, but still more 'dog play for us overall. With this price being a very bettable line, I'm expecting heavy two-way action on fight day, when our standard betting limits are bumped to $20,000. We should see a nice mix of sharp and public action on both sides the entire way through."
Shevchenko vs Andrade betting action
UPDATE 9:15 P.M. ET SATURDAY: BetMGM Nevada opened this flywweight title bout at Valentina Shevchenko -375/Jessica Andrade +295, and it's now out to Shevchenko -500/Andrade +375. "Tickets are almost exactly 2/1 in favor of Andrade, and money is 2/1 in favor of Shevchenko," BetMGM Nevada's Scott Shelton said.
Previous Shevchenko vs Andrade action
UPDATE 3:15 P.M. ET SATURDAY: Valentina Shevchenko stretched out to a -475 favorite at PointsBet USA, with Jessica Andrade +340, in a bout that opened Shevchenko -350/Andrade +285. It's practically all Shevchenko tickets and money, at 92 percent and 93 percent, respectively, for this women's flyweight title bout.
UPDATE 8 P.M. ET FRIDAY: William Hill US oddsmakers have this fight even more lopsided than the main event, opening Valentina Shevchenko at -400 and moving her out to -475, with Jessica Andrade +380 on the buyback. Despite the heavy price, Shevchenko is taking 82 percent of bets and 94 percent of cash wagered on this flyweight title bout.
UPDATE 9 P.M. ET WEDNESDAY: Kalikas and the Circa odds team opened Valentina Shevchenko -400 to Jessica Andrade's +325, and the moneyline has since stretched to Shevchenko -420/Andrade +340 "Out of the three title fights on the card, this one's seeing the least amount of action. Mostly parlays coming in on the champ Shevchenko, causing the line to rise marketwide," Kalikas said. "I think we'll see plenty of 'dog action come in by fight day, which should give us a decent balance by fight time. Our total rounds prop (4.5 Under -130) is actually getting the most play. The line has started to shift more toward the Under, as sharper bettors are thinking a finish is very possible here."
Other UFC 261 betting action
UPDATE 3:15 P.M. ET SATURDAY: Of the five bouts on the main card, the Uriah Hall-Chris Weidman clash has the most intriguing betting splits, considering the moneyline movement. Weidman opened an even-money underdog and is now the -135 chalk, with Hall correspondingly dipping from -120 to +108. However, Hall is taking 55 percent of tickets and 68 percent of cash. The main-card bout with the closest two-way money is Jim Crute (-210) vs. Anthony Smith (+165), with Crute taking 58 percent of the cash while drawing more than 80 percent of tickets..
Previous UFC 261 action
UPDATE 8 P.M. ET FRIDAY: The fight drawing the best two-way action, in both ticket count and money, is the headliner on the prelims card: Alex Oliveira vs. Randy Brown, in a welterweight clash. William Hill US has the moneyline at Brown -150/Oliveira +130, with Brown landing 54 percent of tickets and Oliveira taking 56 percent of money
UPDATE 9 P.M. ET WEDNESDAY: Of all the other matchups on this 13-bout card – the early prelims, prelims and main card – Kalikas pointed to another main-card contest that he finds intriguing: Uriah Hall vs Chris Weidman. Circa Sports opened this fight a -110 pick 'em, and it's now at Weidman -132/Hall +112. "This is definitely one of the most popular fights for us at the betting window up until this point. At a pick 'em price, we saw lots of two-way action early on, as both fighters were getting respect from our bettors," Kalikas said. "This week, we've seen a slight change of pace, as more sharp action is starting to side with the former middleweight champ Weidman. If the price continues to climb, I have no doubt we'll see a heavy support comeback on Hall by fight day."
Where will UFC 261 take place?
UFC 261 will take place at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. This is set to be the first UFC event in front of a full-capacity crowd in over a year, as 15,000 fans are expected.
Who is fighting at UFC 261?
The main event between Usman and Masvidal will be their second fight in the last year. They first met at UFC 251 last July, where Masvidal fought on short notice and lost to Usman via unanimous decision.
Two more title fights are on the card, including a women's flyweight match between champion Valentina Shevchenko and Jessica Andrade. Weili Zhang, the women's strawweight champ, will fight Rose Namajunas in the third championship bout of the evening.
UFC 261 odds for title fights
Kamaru Usman vs Jorge Masvidal
The reigning welterweight champ Usman enters on a 17-fight winning streak and is a perfect 12-0 in his UFC career. He's fresh off his third successful title defense after knocking out Gilbert Burns in February. The "Nigerian Nightmare" began his career as a wrestling specialist and cardio machine but has developed into an impressive striker as well.
The last time Masvidal entered the octagon was in July against Usman when he lost via unanimous decision. The BMF came into that fight after three consecutive knockout wins and took the fight on less than a week's notice with a brutal weight cut he managed to pull off.
While Usman won the first time with his typical smothering wrestling and foot stomps, he has vowed to finish the challenger this time around saying, "I'll give you a whole training camp, I guarantee you won't sign on that dotted line because this time I'll finish your ass."
Valentina Shevchenko vs Jessica Andrade
Valentina "Bullet" Shevchenko will make her fifth defense of the women's flyweight championship as a massive -400 favorite. She's coming off a win against Jennifer Maia in November and is 13-2 in her last 15 fights, with both defeats coming by decision to Amanda Nunes at bantamweight.
Jessica Andrade is fresh off a first-round knockout win against Katlyn Chookagian in her flyweight debut in October. The 29-year-old is 5-2 in her last seven fights, with those losses coming against the two highest-ranked fighters in the strawweight division. Andrade is a powerful fighter that loves to bully her opponents both standing up and on the mat.
Weili Zhang vs Rose Namajunas
Speaking of the top two fighters in the strawweight division, they'll also be squaring off at UFC 261 and oddsmakers are expecting a close bout with current title-holder Zhang opening as a -188 favorite. Zhang began her MMA career with a loss but has since won 21 fights in a row, including five at the UFC level. She's coming off a war against Joanna J?drzejczyk last March that was named Fight of the Night.
Rose Namajunas will be looking to regain the championship after losing it to Andrade in 2019. Thug Rose got revenge for that defeat with a victory over Andrade last summer and is 7-2 in her last nine fights.
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