UFC 252 Betting Odds Breakdown: Cormier vs. Miocic III

• Cormier is a mild favorite across the sportsbooks, by differing amounts.
• The two fighters have fought twice before, with each winning once.

LAS VEGAS - UFC PPV’s are back with a bang this week, and cards don’t get much better than this one.

The main event of the evening is the rematch between Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic in the UFC’s heavyweight division.

Miocic has been one of the most dominant performers of all time in the heavyweight division, while Cormier’s career and legacy is second to none.

This is arguably a fight that matters more for the legacy of these two fighters than most others in their careers.

Let’s take a look at the two fighters, and their odds to win the matchup tonight.

Cormier vs. Miocic Breakdown

This could be the last fight of Daniel Cormier’s storied career. The legendary wrestler has proven himself across the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions.

Cormier’s bouts with Jon Jones were nothing short of legendary, although they ended on a sour note as Jones won, but was disqualified after the fact due to use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Cormier moved on to a new rival in the form of Stipe Miocic, a solid champion in a division where nothing is solid.

The UFC’s heavyweight division is known for change and fluctuation, a division where anyone can get knocked out at any time.

Despite this, Miocic has held the heavyweight belt for the better part of four years, losing it only to Cormier in 2018 before reclaiming it the next time they fought.

The two fights before this have each been billed as a superfight, and they very reasonably could be described as such.

The 2018 matchup saw Cormier take the title off of Miocic and hand him his third professional loss. In 2019, Miocic recovered, reclaiming the belt, and setting up this very fight as the rubber match.

Both of the previous fights were noted for Cormier’s use of eye pokes - something that might well happen tonight again.

In fact, this fight was delayed not just due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but due to an injury to Miocic’s eye.

This matchup is for more than just the UFC’s heavyweight belt - it’s for legacy, and a claim to being the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time.

So who is going to win?

The matchup obviously looks close, given the history between the two fighters. Miocic’s victory in the last matchup has not made him the favorite in this one, notably.

Cormier is an extremely mild -116 favorite as of right now, and the fight will be different across the online sportsbooks in terms of odds.

For example, the above odds were from BetOnline’s sportsbook, but on Bovada’s sportsbook, the odds look a bit different.

The same basic ratio is in play here - Cormier is an incredibly slight favorite - but the specific numbers are different.

Interestingly, for both MMA bettors wagering on Miocic and MMA bettors wagering on Cormier, BetOnline would, in this case, offer slightly more profitable odds.

It’s not a huge difference, but every little bit counts.

The sportsbooks seem to think that this matchup could be too close to call, and the previous history between the two fighters supports this conclusion.

This is going to be a fight that gets remembered for a long time - a legacy-making fight - and it could be one of the best of the year. It could also be a profitable one for certain bettors.