UFC 294: Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski 2 betting odds
By Rami Hanna
The UFC is officially back in Abu Dhabi for their eighteenth visit overall and their first visit since 2022 at UFC 280. The main event centers around the highly anticipated rematch between the champions of the featherweight and lightweight divisions with their legacies and redemption on the line between Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski for the crown of the king at 155 lbs.
Makhachev and Volkanovski met in February of this year where the champion retained by unanimous decision, despite many people around the sport claiming that Volkanovski should have been the one who walked out with two titles over his shoulders. Despite that, Volkanovski still went back to his own division to defeat Yair Rodriguez and unify the featherweight championship at UFC 290.
The lightweight champion Makhachev was originally scheduled to defend the gold against Charles Oliveira in a rematch. However, a week before the event, Oliveira suffered a bad cut on his eyebrow which forced him out and was the reason the UFC went with this rematch between the featherweight and lightweight kings of their division.
In the co-main event, it was originally scheduled to be Khamzat Chimaev moving himself up to the middleweight division to take on Paulo Costa, but due to a staph infection that Costa is dealing with, the former title challenger was forced to pull out on 10-day notice. Despite that, Chimaev will still be in action, he will be taking on the former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman who is moving up another division to take on the hardest challenge in the UFC today.
Chimaev is undefeated in his career, his last win came by submission via brabo choke against Kevin Holland at UFC 279 where Chimaev missed weight by seven and a half pounds in his original bout vs. Nate Diaz before the final three bouts of the event were rescheduled on 48-hour notice. He is 6-0 in the UFC.
Usman is currently on a 2-fight losing streak against current welterweight champion Leon Edwards, but prior to that, Usman successfully defended the gold against Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal twice, and Gilbert Burns. Usman also holds a unanimous decision win against middleweight champion Sean Strickland when the champion was in the welterweight division in 2017.
UFC 294: Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski 2 full betting odds
According to DraftKings. Makhachev will once again come in as the favorite against the featherweight champion at -250, and the challenger Volkanovski who comes in on 10-day notice will once again be an underdog at +205.
In the co-main event, Chimaev is currently listed as the -290 favorite heading into his first bout at middleweight against another first-timer at middleweight where Usman will come into this as the underdog at +235 for the first time since he fought Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 in 2019.
The other fights on the main card feature a light heavyweight bout between former title contender Magomed Ankalaev who comes in for the sixth fight in a row as the betting favorite at -350 against Johnny Walker, the +285 underdog who is on a three-fight winning streak.
In the middleweight division, Ikram Aliskerov looks to extend his winning streak to six victories in a row, Aliskerov is the favorite coming into this at -550. His opponent Warlley Alves looks to break his two-fight losing streak as he comes into this bout as the underdog at +400.
The main card opener will be a bantamweight division bout between Said Nurmagomedov vs. Muin Gafurov. In his last bout, Nurmagomedov had his four-fight winning streak snapped by a unanimous decision loss to Jonathan Martinez. Nurmagomedov comes in as the favorite at -207. His opponent Gafurov had his two-fight winning streak snapped earlier this year to John Castaneda, he comes into this as the underdog at +177.
Main Card:
Islam Makhachev (-250) vs. Alexander Volkanovski (+205)
Kamaru Usman (+235) vs. Khamzat Chimaev (-290)
Magomed Ankalaev (-350) vs. Johnny Walker (+285)
Ikram Aliskerov (-550) vs. Warley Alves (+400)
Said Nurmagomedov (-207) vs. Muin Gafurov (+177)
Preliminary Card:
Tim Elliott (+330) vs. Muhammad Mokaev (-425)
Mohammad Yahya (+140) vs. Trevor Peek (-166)
Javid Basharat (-575) vs. (+425) Victor Henry
Abu Azaitar (+190) vs. Sedriques Dumas (-230)
Mike Breeden (+225) vs. Anshul Jubli (-278)
Nathaniel Wood (-340) vs. Muhammad Naimov (+270)
Viktoriia Dudakova (-535) vs. Jinh Yu Frey (+400)
Shara Magomedov (-290) vs. Bruno Silva (+235)
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