UFC 276 features plenty of intrigue with fan favorites and highly-touted champions, which leaves the betting public rooting for chaos.
There are three favorites of at least -200 on the main card, which will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. However, live underdogs are getting early attention.
According to data released by BetMGM on Saturday, underdogs Jared Cannonier, Max Holloway and Pedro Munhoz are each getting the majority of bets in their Saturday night matchups.
Cannonier will challenge champion Israel Adesanya in the main event as a +375 underdog. That number continues to lengthen from the opener of +260. The challenger is getting 70% of bets as Adesanya's price grows from a -350 opener to -550.
Adesanya still has just one loss in the UFC, which came up a weight, at light heavyweight, to Jan Blachowicz. Adesanya has since rebounded with wins over Marvin Bettors and Robert Whittaker, each coming via decisions. Cannonier's only loss in his past six fights came against Whittaker.
In the co-main event, Max Holloway gets his third crack at Alexander Volkanovski. Holloway's price is +165, with 72% of bets coming in on the popular fighter. Volkanovski is getting 45% of the handle at -200. Volkanovski has won each of the past two matchups, although the second fight came with debate over the results.
Volkanovski is a perfect 11-0 in the UFC and has two wins since his last fight with Holloway. Holloway has done the same, beating Yair Rodriguez and Calvin Kattar.
Before the championship fights there will be two fights with title implications.
Two middleweights who hope to be next for the belt are Sean Strickland and Alex Pereira. Strickland hasn't lost since 2018. Pereira is getting elevated to title contention with just two fights under his belt in the promotion. Bettors are leaning toward Strickland, who flipped from a -105 underdog to a -125 favorite. Over 60% of the handle is on the new favorite.
Perhaps the biggest fan favorite on the card, "Sugar" Sean O'Malley is a -300 favorite, but bettors are split with 51% of bets on the underdog Munhoz. Munhoz has lost four of his past five fights, but they've come to top contenders in Dominick Cruz, Jose Aldo, Frankie Edgar and Aljamain Sterling. His last win was over Jimmie Rivera in February 2021.
In the pay-per-view opener, 60% of bets are on Bryan Barberena over veteran Robbie Lawler.
