While the rest of the sports world sits and wait for normal service to be resumed, the UFC is waiting for no one, as they will have UFC 249 going ahead as planned this coming weekend in Jacksonville, Florida. This is an event that has been on again off again for a couple of months now, but there will be no stopping it this time around. The initial event in Brooklyn was sensibly called off, while the “Fight Island” event in California was grounded after ESPN asked the UFC to reconsider. With Florida now essentially back open for business, there is nothing stopping UFC 249 from finally going ahead. It will be battled out in an empty arena, with reports suggesting that everyone who plan on being there will be tested for COVID-19 prior to the action. The headline bout will be a Lightweight Interim Title Fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje, so let’s take a closer look at their UFC 249 odds.
MMA UFC 249 Ferguson vs Gaethje
Breakdown of Ferguson Vs Gaethje
Ask the average UFC fan about what their dream match-up would be, and you can bet that a lot of people would have loved the idea of putting these two fighters in the ring for a head to head battle. This was not originally meant to be on the UFC 249 card, though, as Ferguson was supposed to be going against the current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, but he was forced to bow out due to Ramadan and travel restrictions.
Ferguson has been on the books to fight the champ no less than 5 different time, with each of those bouts ultimately cancelled for one reason or another. One of those cancellations actually cost Ferguson his interim lightweight title, which was back in 2018 after he backed out due to a knee injury. Those stalled battles aside, Ferguson has been on an absolute tear, winning 12 fights in a row. You need to go all the way back to 2012 to find the last time he stepped out of the octagon after a loss, that one coming at the hands of Michael Johnson. Ferguson is now 15-1 under the UFC banner and is going to be tough to take down.
One thing that you can be sure of with Gaethje is that you are going to get an entertaining fight, as he has had 4 Fight of the Night awards in his 6 fights with the UFC. This is a guy that comes to brawl every single time he steps inside the octagon, and it is a big part of what makes this bout so exciting. His battling style can cost him at times, though, with Gaethje falling to back to back defeats before rallying to win 3 in a row ahead of this one. His last fight was a devastating first round TKO versus Donald Cerrone.
Fight Odds and Prediction
When you go on a winning streak as long as the one that Tony Ferguson has going, you deserve to enter your next fight as the favorite. That is where Ferguson is at, sitting at -173, while Gaethje is currently listed at +143 for the win. I do not see this one going the distance and I am on Ferguson to extend his win streak to 13.
