Mixed martial arts fans will be thrilled that the sport’s biggest promotion returns this weekend, as the UFC sees its first fight night of the year take place in Las Vegas. Headlining the 11 fight event will be light-heavyweights Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker, who meet for the second time in three months.
Just last August, the pair squared off at UFC 294. Walker won the bout by way of no contest, courtesy of an illegal knee by Ankalaev. With plenty of controversy surrounding that outcome, expect this clash to be a spicy one. Can Walker prove the nay-sayers wrong and defeat Ankalaev fair and square, or will the Russian gain revenge for what felt like a stolen fight last year?
We break down the latest odds from bookmaker William Hill to answer these questions and outline the best bets to make on UFC Fight Night: Ankalaev vs. Walker 2.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: January 13th, 5:00 A.M. (GMT)
Outright betting odds show that Magomed Ankalaev is a heavy favourite in this clash, despite technically losing their first meeting last year. The Russian is at 1.20 to win outright, well ahead of Johnny Walker’s odds of 4.50.
In terms of how bookmaker William Hill says this fight will end, the most likely outcome according to the odds is an Ankalaev knockout at 1.44. Next is Ankalaev winning by decision, well behind on 5.50. Walker’s best chance is also a knockout but at long odds of 8.00.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: January 13th, 5:00 A.M. (GMT)
Looking at the past fight between these two is the best place to start when it comes to betting on this bout. Across the few minutes that they fought before Ankalaev’s disqualification, the Russian dominated Walker in almost every exchange.
Walker has a very poor ground game for a Brazilian, particularly his cardio on the floor. While he’ll be attempting to keep Ankalaev at bay and try to catch him with big overhands, sooner or later things will get close. In this situation, Ankalaev will do damage to Walker, whether it’s hurting him in striking exchanges or dominating him in the ground and pound.
We say the best bet, as conservative as it may be, is backing Ankalaev to win this one by knockout. It’s not terribly exciting, but it’s by far and a way the most likely outcome. Those looking for a larger return could wager on Walker getting lucky and landing one of those big overhands. The Brazilian has pulled this off before, but the chances of executing this against a fighter of Ankalaev’s calibre is slim.
