The UFC returns to London’s The O2 Arena with a Fight Night card highlighted by a fight between top featherweight contenders Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy on Saturday night.
The winner of the battle of unbeatens could be set up for a shot at the title against Alexander Volkanovski.
The 32-year-old Evloev (19-0 overall, 9-0 UFC) enters with wins over Dan Ige, Diego Lopes, Arnold Allen and Aljamain Sterling in his past four fights. Meanwhile, Murphy (17-0-1, 9-0-1) ran his win streak to nine with a finish of Aaron Pico last summer.
Evloev opened as the -220 favorite at BetMGM, with those odds moving to -250 as he has been backed by 69% of the money. However, Murphy has been the second-most popular choice on the entire card in drawing 66% of the total bets at +200.
OTHER MAIN CARD FIGHTS
LUKE RILEY (12-0, 1-0) vs. MICHAEL ASWELL JR. (11-3, 1-1)
The co-main event will see Liverpool’s Riley coming off a finish of Bogdan Grad in just 30 seconds in Qatar in November. After a short-notice loss to Bolaji Oki, Aswell Jr. returned to the featherweight division to stop Lucas Almeida in under two minutes in October.
Aswell has been a popular underdog at +155, drawing 66% of the bets and 52% of the money to upset Riley, who has shifted from -250 to -200.
MICHAEL ‘VENOM’ PAGE (24-3, 3-1) vs. SAM PATTERSON (14-2-1, 4-1)
The 38-year-old “MVP” has UFC wins over Kevin Holland, Shara Magomedov and Jared Cannonier. He’ll face an interesting test in the Dana White Contender Series grad Patterson, who has four consecutive first-round stoppage wins since the 29-year-old moved to welterweight from lightweight.
This is one of the closest fights on the main card in terms of the odds. Page has held steady as the -190 favorite, drawing 54% of the total bets while Patterson has been backed by 61% of the money at +155. The most popular prop bet at the book for the entire card has been Patterson to win by D’Arce Choke at +2500, followed by a win by Anaconda Choke at +5000.
IWO BARANIEWSKI (7-0, 1-0) vs. AUSTEN LANE (13-7, 1-4)
Baraniewski won his promotional debut in just 90 seconds against Ibo Aslan at UFC 323. The 27-year-old has yet to see the second round in winning his first seven fights. He’ll face a far more experienced opponent in Lane, the former NFL defensive lineman who is trying to show he can be a factor at 205 pounds after spending his first 20 professional fights as a heavyweight.
The biggest favorite on the main card, Baraniewski has been backed by 73% of the money while shifting from -425 to -7000. Lane has been supported by 65% of the total bets with the public drawn to his +500 underdog odds.
ROMAN DOLIDZE (15-4, 9-4) vs. CHRISTIAN LEROY DUNCAN (13-2, 6-2)
The veteran Dolidze is coming off a loss to “Fluffy” Hernandez that snapped a three-fight win streak. He has far more experience in the Octagon than Duncan, an ascending talent who will be making just his seventh appearance. After starting out 2-2 in the promotion, Duncan has reeled off five wins over his past six fights.
The public is leaning heavily on Duncan continuing his rise up the rankings, backing him with 94% of the money while his odds shifted from -350 to -500. Duncan has been backed by the most money of any fighter on the card. Dolidze has drawn 71% of the total bets and is now at +360.
KURTIS CAMPBELL (8-0, 0-0) vs. DANNY SILVA (10-2, 2-1)
A pair of DWCS grads facing off in a featherweight fight kicks off the main card. Campbell has won each of his first eight fights, with seven coming by finish, but this marks his Octagon debut. Silva has more UFC experience but is coming off a decision loss to Kevin Vallejos.
Campbell has been backed by 89% of the money at -235, while Silva has been supported by 62% of the total bets at +190.
–Field Level Media
