UFC 282 Betting: Top Five UFC Upsets of All Time
This Saturday, UFC fans will be treated to a light heavyweight title fight that will see former champion Jan Blachowicz (No. 3) take on the fast-rising Magomed Ankalaev (No. 4). This matchup was promoted to the main event after Jiri Prochazka had to pull out of his rematch against Glover Teixeira due to a serious shoulder injury. Unfortunately, the recovery process is expected to take at least six months, so Prochazka had no choice but to vacate his title. Now it’s up to former champion Blachowicz to battle Ankalaev for the vacated title at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas. As always, Bodog has you covered with your UFC 282 betting.
Jan Blachowicz vs Magomed Ankalaev Odds
Ankalaev has gone from -275 to -300 in UFC 282 betting, while Blachowicz has seen his odds grow from +215 to +235. Since losing to Paul Craig in his UFC debut four years ago, Ankalaev has racked up nine straight victories, with the most recent one coming by TKO in the second round against Anthony Smith. Ankalaev is a powerful striker and will have youth on his side, being 10 years younger than Blachowicz.
Blachowicz is an underrated veteran in the light heavyweight division. After compiling a 9-5 UFC record, he went toe-to-toe with Dominick Reyes for the vacant light heavyweight title and pulled off an upset via second-round TKO, earning Performance of the Night accolades in the process. Then Blachowicz defended his title against Israel Adesanya, who was testing the water in light heavyweight after spending so much time undefeated in the middleweight division.
Unfortunately for Blachowicz, he lost his title against Teixera in October 2021, but bounced back with a technical knockout over Aleksandar Rakic, who couldn’t carry on when his knee was injured.
Five Biggest UFC Upsets
We’ve already covered the top five UFC knockouts of all time. Instead, we’re ranking the five biggest UFC upsets, in terms of UFC odds, beginning with the fight that won both Knockout of the Year and Upset of the Year in 2015.
Holly Holm (+830) vs Ronda Rousey (-1400)
Ronda Rousey was feared in the women’s bantamweight division during her four-year reign; no one was able to beat the American in 12 professional fights. At UFC 193, she was set to defend her title for the eighth time against a relative newcomer in Holly Holm—a boxer-turned UFC fighter who had just two UFC fights under her belt.
Holm held her own and surprised the record crowd when she made it through the first round; previously, only Miesha Tate made it beyond the first round against Rousey. Then, one minute into the second round, Holm made a name for herself when she knocked out Rousey with a violent head kick.
Mariya Agapova (-1400) vs Shana Dobson (+950)
Looking back, Mariya Agapova had an unrealistic level of confidence going into her bout against Shana Dobson. The Kazakhstani fighter had amassed a 9-1 professional record that included many years on the softer indie circuit. In just her second fight with UFC (not including her appearance in Dana White’s Contender Series, which she lost in 2019), she was a massive -1400 favourite over Shana Dobson. The lopsided odds were in part due to Dobson coming off of three straight losses after winning The Ultimate Fighter 26 Finale against Ariel Beck.
Agapova pointed to a lack of rest and recovery following her last fight as the cause contributing to the second-round loss against Dobson, who went on to lose against Casey O’Neill before retiring from MMA altogether.
Matt Serra (+850) vs Georges St. Pierre I (-1300)
Matt Serra, a silver medallist in Submission Wrestling World Championship, didn’t have a lot of success in UFC despite winning the Ultimate Fighter 4 Welterweight Tournament. By the time he was facing Georges St. Pierre in April 2007, he had a 5-4 UFC record and was a massive +850 underdog. The only reason he got a title shot in the first place was because his victory at the Ultimate Fighter 4 Welterweight Tournament guaranteed it, in addition to a contract with UFC. St. Pierre had a 7-1 UFC record at that point and was coming off a title win in the Welterweight division.
At UFC 69, Serra did what no one expected when he knocked out St. Pierre (TKO via punches) just three and a half minutes into Round 1. Unfortunately for Serra, he was unable to replicate his success in his rematch with St. Pierre at UFC 83.
Julianna Pena (+700) vs Amanda Nunes (-1125)
Amanda Nunes has been the top female pound-for-pound fighter for years now. The Brazilian became the first female UFC fighter to successfully defend titles in two different weight classes (featherweight and bantamweight). She had a dominant 14-1 UFC record going into her fight against Julianna Pena, who had already lost against two elite fighters, in Germaine de Randamie and Valentina Shevchenko.
Nunes started strong in the first round of the fight, but that changed in the second round, when she was taken off guard by a rear-naked choke. Pena did what no fighter had done before when she submitted Nunes. Unfortunately for Pena, she was unable to repeat the victory seven months later.
Dean Barry (-1100) vs Mike Jackson (+700)
Not an overly notable upset, but the odds in the Barry-Jackson fight were so great that it is the fifth biggest one to date. Coming into the fight with questionable credentials (he lost his UFC debut and had a unanimous decision overturned due to testing positive for marijuana), Jackson was expected to be more fodder for Dean Barry, who was on a three-fight win streak with all three victories coming in the first rounds—but that’s not how things turned out.
In the opening round, Barry knocked down Jackson, and as Jackson was trying to slow the pace with a clinch, Barry gouged his opponent’s eye while trying to push his face away. Unfortunately for Barry, he was already warned when he committed a foul earlier on and was disqualified. He was subsequentially released from the UFC.
If you fancy another upset this weekend, our how to bet on UFC blog is right up your street.