This weekend, fans will have the opportunity to place sportsbook bets on one of the biggest sporting events of the year: UFC 217. Last year, at UFC 205, MMA bettors were treated to a wild show at the MSG as the promotion pulled out all the strings to make the UFC’ debut at Madison Square Garden as epic as possible. This year, the UFC will try to build on last year’s hype in order to make this event as gigantic as it can be. With a total of three title fights, one returning legend and a fight card that is star-studded from top to bottom and you have yourself the perfect sequel to the action we saw last year. Let’s take a look at just how magnificent this year’s fight card truly is.
UFC 217: Bisping vs. St-Pierre – Saturday, November 4th
Main Card
Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre
Cody Garbrandt vs. TJ Dillashaw
Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Rose Namajunas
Stephen Thompson vs. Jorge Masvidal
Johnny Hendricks vs. Paulo Costa
Under Card
James Vick vs. Joe Duffy
Walt Harris vs. Mark Godbeer
Ovince Saint Preux vs. Corey Anderson
Randy Brown vs. Mickey Gall
Aleksei Oleinik vs. Curtis Blaydes
Michael Oleksiejczuk vs. Ion Cutelaba
Aiemann Zahabi vs. Ricardo Ramos
2️⃣5️⃣2️⃣3️⃣
That's how many strikes Georges St-Pierre has landed in UFC career – the MOST. EVER. pic.twitter.com/lJbbCuirlW
— UFC (@ufc) November 3, 2017
The event will go down this upcoming Saturday and the lucrative and famous Madison Square Garden. The Early Prelims, the first 3 fights of the night, will be broadcast on UFC Fight Pass beginning at 6:30 pm ET. The Under Card will be broadcast afterwards, starting with the fight between Brown and Gall and ending with the headlining match between James Vick and Joe Duffy. The fight featuring Mickey Gall is of note because the young stud is 4-0 with all of his victories coming via submission. The Main Card features some of the biggest names of the sport. First up is GSP, a Hall of Famer making his return to the octagon after a 4 year hiatus. Let’s take a look at the odds gambling websites are giving St-Pierre against the Middleweight Champion of the world.
Bisping 4 ½ (-155) -110vs. St-Pierre 4 ½ (+135) -110
Players placing sportsbook bets on this matchup are essentially facing Pick ‘em odds on the money line for the headlining match of the night. However, a close inspection will reveal that Bisping is the favorite on the spread, with MMA sportsbooks predicting that it’ll go the distance. This is an interesting fight because it’s at a heavier weight that GSP competed in, but maybe the geezer is just looking for an easier weight cut and you can’t blame him for that. Bisping will be looking to stay on the feet where he has the advantage while most bettors feel that GSP will be trying to take this fight to the ground – where he would have the upper hand. This might not be a guarantee in this fight however, since Bisping is notorious for being one of the best at getting off the ground. The odds justify the type of matchups this fight will be.
Garbrandt 3 ½ (+155) -175 vs. Dillashaw 3 ½ (-175) +155
This fight is extremely appealing because both fighter are world class athletes. Putting that aside, the promotion both of these two have delivered on this matchup has just been plain atrocious. Honestly, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some people get turned off after seeing these two bicker on the stage at the latest UFC 217 press conferences. With a mic in their hand, these two look more like bratty teenagers than a couple of mixed martial artists. But make no mistake, once inside the octagon, these two are brutal human-killing machines. That said, players making sportsbook bets on the co-headlining fight of the night should stick with the champ on this one.
