The UFC returns to Yas Island for UFC 267 after a month straight at the UFC Apex. The MMA leader is returning with a stellar card loaded with big fights. The two title fights headline the event with Jan Blachowicz defending his light-heavyweight title against veteran Glover Teixeira, whilst Petr Yan defends his Bantamweight strap against Cory Sandhagen. The rest of the card is full of interesting fights and ponders the question, will UFC 267 be the UFC’s best event of the year?
A Solid Group of Fights on the Prelims
Whilst the headlines are made on the main card, the foundations of UFC 267 still contain some big names. Six-year veteran Makwan Amirkhani is looking to snap a two-fight losing streak when he faces unbeaten Lerone Murphy in the prelims.
However, it seems a longshot as Amirkhani is the outsider at +250 with BetMGM.
Alongside Amirkhani, light-heavyweight Michal Oleksiejczuk makes his seventh UFC appearance as he fights another unbeaten prospect in Shamil Gamzatov.
The unbeaten Gazmatov is favored at -167 to win the bout whilst the more experienced Oleksiejczuk lands as a +140 underdog.
Arguably the most important fight on the UFC 267 prelims, Amanda Ribas faces Virna Jandiroba in a women’s strawweight eliminator. Both fighters enter this bout with numbers next to their names. Ribas is the 11th ranked contender in the strawweight division whilst Virna Jandiroba could leapfrog her with a win but currently sits at number 12.
The Main Card That Promises Fireworks
After an impressive round of prelims, fans can look forward to an even better main card. The first fight on the UFC 267 main card pits Magomed Ankalaev against former light-heavyweight title contender Volkan Oezdemir. Since defeat in his UFC debut, Ankalaev has won six-straight, and he looks to make it seven as a -350 favorite against the Swiss light-heavyweight.
The heavy-Russian contingent on UFC 267 continues on the main card with Alexander Volkov and Islam Makhachev also competing on Yas Island. Alexander Volkov will try to quell the polish power of Marcin Tybura and display why he is the -300 favorite. Whereas Islam Makachev faces serial lightweight contender Dan Hooker.
Hooker has sounded confident throughout the week, but the Australian is one of the largest underdogs on the card at +500.
A Co-Main for the Interim Belt
Onto the title fights. The co-main event is an interim bantamweight title fight between Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen. This is Petr ‘No Mercy’ Yan’s first UFC appearance since he controversially lost his bantamweight title against Aljamain Sterling back in March. Before he lost his title, Yan had strung together an impressive streak of wins in the bantamweight division.
Veteran contenders like Jose Aldo, Jimmie Rivera, and Urijah Faber all fell to Petr Yan’s power so Sandhagen is in for a difficult night.
Yan is the -275 favorite to leave Yas Island with the interim belt.
The man across the octagon from Petr Yan is Cory Sandhagen. The fighter from Colorado may have fallen to T.J. Dillashaw last time out, but he had a winning streak of his own before that July defeat. The 29-year-old won seven of eight and leaped into title contention.
After Aljamain’s injury, Sandhagen gets the interim title shot and is currently a +220 underdog.
A Light-Heavyweight headliner
Finally, for the main event, Jan Blachowicz tackles MMA veteran Glover Teixeira. Like a fine wine, Teixeira is getting better with age. The 41-year-old faces Blachowicz after a five-straight streak but he isn’t heavily favored to leave Yas Island with the gold. You can back the Brazilian to leave with the strap at +225 with BetMGM. Much like the previously mentioned Marcin Tybura, Polish power returns in the main event through Jan Blachowicz.
He is the heavy favorite at -275 after winning five straight, including a victory over middleweight star Israel Adesanya.
Get the best UFC 267 betting odds with BetMGM
All of the UFC 267 betting odds mentioned throughout this article have come courtesy of BetMGM and are correct at the time of writing. You can keep up to date with the current odds by heading on over to BetMGM today.
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