Israel Adesanya opens as sizeable favorite over Alex Pereira

Israel Adesanya has opened as the betting favorite over Alex Pereira which will likely be his next title defense.

Adesanya and Pereira both competed at UFC 276 and they have a history with one another. Pereira beat Adesanya in kickboxing twice, including knocking him out once and now it appears they will be meeting for a third time, but this time in MMA in the UFC.

In the main event of UFC 276, Adesanya won a lackluster decision win over Jared Cannonier to defend his title. Pereira, meanwhile, scored a first-round KO win over Sean Strickland to likely get the next title shot.

After UFC 276, BetOnline.ag opened odds for the fight and Adesanya opened as a -180 favorite with the comeback on Pereira at +160. However, money immediately came in on Pereira as Adesanya now sits at -165 while Pereira is a +145 underdog.

Image via @ufc on Instagram (photographer not listed)

If you like Adesanya at the current odds, you would need to bet $165 to win $100 if the middleweight champ wins. If you like the underdog in Pereira, a $100 bet would net you $145 if the Brazilian gets it done.

It is interesting to see money come in on Pereira, but he does have two wins over Adesanya and many fans weren’t impressed by the champ’s performance. However, in his past couple of fights, he has been well above -200 including being around -500 for his last fight against Cannonier.

Israel Adesanya (23-1) is coming off the win over Jared Cannonier and before that, he beat Robert Whittaker and Marvin Vettori by decision to defend his belt. In his career, he holds notable wins over Derek Brunson, Paulo Costa, Yoel Romero, Anderson Silva and Kelvin Gastelum among others.

Alex Pereira (6-1) lost his MMA debut in 2015 but has rallied off six straight including going 3-0 in the UFC. In the Las Vegas-based promotion, he has the win over Sean Strickland, a decision win over Bruno Silva, and a TKO win over Andreas Michailidis.

Who would you bet on between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira?