Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC. Pictured: Stipe Miocic, Francis Ngannou
Things can change as it gets closer to the event, but the early money is backing Francis Ngannou in his rematch against heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 260.
According to data released by PointsBet, Ngannou is getting a higher percentage of both total bets and money placed on Saturday’s main event.
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Ngannou lost in a decision to Miocic in the first meeting back in January of 2018. He followed that with a disappointing loss to Derrick Lewis in which the challenger looked like a complete no-show. However, he earned his way back to title contention with four consecutive wins, all via first-round knockout.
At time of publish, 59% of bets and 64% of money was on Ngannou, who is the -140 favorite.
The key to solving Ngannou has been to survive the first round. He hasn’t won a fight that went to the second round since 2016 against Curtis Blaydes in his second fight in the UFC. In fact, all of his first-round stoppages have come inside the first two minutes of the round.
Miocic (+110) weathered the early storm before overwhelming Ngannou and outclassing him for the next four rounds in the first meeting. Ngannou will need to be prepared to defend Miocic’s takedowns — at least more prepared than the first time around.
Miocic has fought three times since defeating Ngannou, but all three were in a trilogy against Daniel Cormier.
Elsewhere on the card, bettors are behind fan favorite Sean O’Malley (-350) against Thomas Almeida with 96% of bets and 97% of money in on “Sugar” who is coming off his first career loss.
