Bettors getting in on the UFC 271 pay-per-view are backing the underdogs, including Robert Whittaker to top Israel Adesanya in the main event for the middleweight title.
Adesanya (-275) defeated Whittaker (+230) by knockout to win the belt back in 2019. He's successfully defended his belt three times since, with wins over Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori. He came up short in his quest for the light heavyweight title, suffering his lone professional defeat in March to Jan Blachowicz.
Whittaker has won three in a row since that loss to Adesanya, beating Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum all by decision.
Most of the bets are on Whittaker in the rematch. According to data released by BetMGM on Saturday, Whittaker is receiving 65% of the bets while 57% of the money is on the champion. Despite the bets coming in on the challenger, Whittaker has moved from a +200 underdog at open to +230 on Saturday. Adesanya's number has remained at -200.
Whittaker is just one of the underdogs bettors like on Saturday.
Tai Tuivasa is a +155 underdog to Derrick Lewis in a heavyweight clash while receiving 66% of bets and 80% of dollars. Tuivasa has won three fights in a row, all by knockout. Lewis has won five of his last six, with his only loss in that stretch coming to Ciryl Gane.
The majority of bets are on the other three underdogs on the main card, too. Derek Brunson is down to a +130 dog from his opener of +155 while receiving 53% of bets against Cannonier (-160). Alexander Hernandez (+130) is getting 81% of bets and 75% of the handle versus Renato Moicano (-160).
In the first scheduled fight on the main card, Nasrat Haqparast (+120) is getting 54% of bets and 68% of dollars against Bobby Green (-145).
