UFC 287 Betting Preview
Israel Adesanya was well on his way to achieving UFC GOAT status inside the Octagon. Then he met his nemesis: Alex Pereira. No matter where the two of them have met, Pereira has always come out on top – including their Middleweight title fight last November at UFC 281. After suffering just the second loss of his storybook career, Adesanya gets his shot at redemption this Saturday when he faces Pereira in the main event inside Miami-Dade Arena, and as always, Bodog is centre to the action with our UFC 287 betting preview.
We’ve got fresh MMA odds for 13 of Saturday’s announced fights as we go to press, and as you’ll see in our preview, Pereira still isn’t getting the respect he deserves for taking down “The Last Stylebender” – again. Let’s delve into the event with our UFC 287 betting preview.
Pereira vs. Adesanya
The UFC has produced some incredible fighters at 185 pounds over the years, with Anderson Silva arguably at the top of the list. Adesanya might be a close second though. One of the truly gifted strikers in this sport, the 33-year-old New Zealander (via Nigeria) was a boxer and a former Middleweight title contender with the Singapore-based Glory kickboxing promotion before making the full-time transition to MMA in 2018.
Adesanya amassed an impressive 75-5 record as a kickboxer, but two of those losses were to none other than Pereira, a Brazilian native who also briefly dabbled in boxing. Pereira won the first fight by unanimous decision in April 2016, and the second by knockout the following March. Adesanya hasn’t fought as a pro kickboxer since.
Pereira has, though. He may have been relatively new to the Octagon when he carried a 6-1 record (3-0 UFC) into his Middleweight title shot against Adesanya at UFC 281, but Pereira continued to compete in Glory all the way up to September 2021, winning the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight titles along the way.
That will probably be it for Pereira when it comes to kickboxing, at least for now. He’s undefeated since making his UFC debut, earning Performance of the Night awards in three of his four fights – and now he’s the Middleweight champion, with a 3-0 career record in combat sports versus Adesanya.
So why is Pereira the +115 underdog on Bodog’s UFC odds board? That’s a significant move from their last encounter, where the challenger entered the Octagon at +185, but the betting public still thinks more highly of Adesanya and his considerable body of work.
It’s hard to ignore what The Last Stylebender has accomplished up to this point. He’s defeated everyone else the Middleweight division has thrown at him, including Silva himself four years ago at UFC 234. The only other loss in his 23-2 lifetime record (12-2 UFC) was at Light Heavyweight, when Adesanya came up short against the champion and fellow GOAT candidate Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259.
All well and good, but Adesanya hasn’t beaten Pereira yet. Put them in the same space often enough, and it’s bound to happen sometime. Until it does, there’s that old saying about the definition of insanity to keep in mind before betting on this title bout.
Burns vs. Masvidal
The undercard for UFC 287 is a bit lighter than usual because of some late scratches, but the co-main event between Gilbert Burns (21-5 lifetime, 14-5 UFC) and BodogFIGHT alumnus Jorge Masvidal (35-16 lifetime, 12-9 UFC) should be a banger.
Burns is the heavy –425 favourite at press time for this Welterweight fight, but you’re probably more familiar with Masvidal, the holder of the symbolic “BMF” title that he won over Nate Diaz at UFC 244. That was the Miami native’s last victory; he’s since lost back-to-back title shots to Kamaru Usman, and again to Colby Covington at UFC 272 just over a year ago.
Usman also managed to fend off Burns’ title challenge at UFC 258, but the 36-year-old product of Rio de Janeiro is 2-1 since, and his last fight was a win over respected veteran Neil Magny this past January at UFC 283. While both men are proven commodities, Burns is two years younger than Masvidal (another former boxer and kickboxer) at age 36, although the slightly smaller and less active striker of the two inside the Octagon.
Burns has something else Masvidal doesn’t: a 3rd-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Those things don’t get handed out like candy. Burns is a three-time World Champion in submission grappling, with nine of his 21 MMA victories coming via tap-out. He might not get through Masvidal’s excellent takedown defense, but a decision win is in the cards for Burns – if he plays them correctly.
Font vs. Yanez
The Bantamweight division gets a much-needed boost this Saturday when Rob Font (19-6 lifetime, 9-5 UFC) and Adrian Yanez (16-3 lifetime, 5-0 UFC) touch gloves on the main card in Miami. Yanez is the –185 favourite, having won each of his last eight career fights dating back to 2018.
Font (+152) is a worthy opponent. He’s the former CES Featherweight champion, but also coming off back-to-back decision losses to Jose Aldo and Marlon Vera – with Font missing weight for the latter. Maybe 135 pounds isn’t the ideal class for Font, who also competed at Lightweight to start his career, but the competition level here is much easier than what he’d face in just about any other division.
UFC Betting with Crypto
Now that you’re prepped on the top three matches with our UFC 287 betting preview, it’s time to hit the MMA lines at Bodog Sportsbook. Using crypto is the smart way to bet; your transactions will be faster and more secure, and you won’t have to pay the same fees you would using other methods. Check out our Bitcoin video tutorial series and our FAQ and Help guides to learn more about betting with crypto, and we’ll see you alongside the Octagon.