UFC 238 is a star-studded affair which kicks off the Summer months and a few lucrative months of 2019. From the early prelims to the main card, intriguing matchups cover each slot. Battles between newly signed Muay Thai champion Grigory Popov and Eddie Wineland, the surging Chinese prospect Xiaonan Yan and veteran Angela Hill, as well as Ricardo Lamas and Calvin Kattar, highlight the nights’ undercard.
Close Lines and Fun Fights
The main card of UFC 238 holds even more fan-pleasing fights. At the top end of the PPV card sits two title fights. In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko defends her flyweight title against top contender Jessica Eye. This bout between Shevchenko and Eye is the first opportunity for the champion Shevchenko to defend her flyweight title. On the opposing end, UFC 238 represents a first for the challenger as well. The co-main event is the first opportunity at gold for Jessica Eye. In the main event, Marlon Moraes and Henry Cejudo battle for the vacated bantamweight title.
With the high volume of important matchups, UFC 238 is a gambler’s dream. While sportsbooks such as the Hard Rock Online Casino, Oddsshark, and Bovada have tight odds across the preliminary matchups, the main card has opportunistic lines. The flyweight title has the champion Valentina Shevchenko as a massive favorite. She can be found from a -1000 all the way to -1750. Albeit, the skewed numbers are deserved for Shevchenko but for those brave enough Eye (+600 – +1050*) could bring in a hefty return win a massive upset victory.
Ferguson vs. Cerrone
Elsewhere on the main card is an important matchup between former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. The matchup is important for a slew of reasons, one being legacy another money. While the matchup on paper looks about as close as traditional razors shave, some sportsbooks have interesting lines for this particular fight.
Oddsshark listed Tony Ferguson as the favorite at -293, with Cerrone coming in at +237. Considering how closely the two align in skill as well as how the two different styles match, Donald Cerrone at +237 is a more than tempting bet to take.
The longtime fan-favorite, ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone has torn through competition recently. In his last 5 fights, he holds a record of 4-1. That record includes 3 stoppages and most recently, an eye-opening domination of Al Iaquinta over 5 rounds in the main event of UFC Fight Night 151.
Recent Activity
For Tony Ferguson, his last Octagon appearance came at UFC 229 where he battled Anthony Pettis. In what was a bloody war Ferguson came out on top, as Pettis’ corner stopped the action followed the second round as their fighter suffered a broken hand. Before gracing fight fans with the bloody affair that was Ferguson vs. Pettis, the 10th Planet BJJ fighter had a rough stretch. It all began with his scheduled title unification bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov falling through for the fourth time.
The unification bout fell through due to Ferguson injuring his knee. He supposedly suffered the injury while doing media work the week of the fight. This withdrawal devastated not only fans but Ferguson as well.
Both Ferguson and Cerrone are veterans of the sport. It could be said that both competitors are at peaks (or near peaks) of their fighting careers. At the point which they stand, it doesn’t seem unlikely the winner of this affair would go on to challenge for the lightweight title. Ferguson competed in war after war in recent years while Cerrone has run through the competition. The matchup serves many the chance to make a good chunk of change but more importantly entertain the hell out of everyone.
