Tony Ferguson slight betting favorite over Justin Gaethje entering UFC 249 fight week

UFC 249 fight week is upon us, and Tony Ferguson remains a slight betting favorite over Justin Gaethje.

According to BetMGM, Ferguson (25-3 MMA, 15-1 UFC) is currently favored at -176, while Gaethje (21-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) is the underdog at +145.

In layman’s terms, a bettor would have to put down $176 dollars on Ferguson in order to profit $100 should he win. Conversely, $100 on Gaethje would result in a $145 profit.

Entering UFC 249, Ferguson is riding a 12-fight winning streak. The 36-year-old lightweight standout hasn’t lost since May 2012. His most recent three victories were all finishes – against Kevin Lee, Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone.

As for Gaethje, the former WSOF lightweight champ has won three straight fights. After knocking out James Vick in 78 seconds, Gaethje flattened Edson Barboza in 2:30 in March 2019. Most recently, Gaethje finished Donald Cerrone with punches last August.

UFC 249 takes place Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

The UFC 249 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje – for interim lightweight title
Champ Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz – for bantamweight title
Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Calvin Kattar vs. Jeremy Stephens
Yorgan De Castro vs. Greg Hardy

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET)

Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis
Aleksei Oleinik vs. Fabricio Werdum
Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson
Uriah Hall vs. Ronaldo Souza
Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price
Bryce Mitchell vs. Charles Rosa
Sam Alvey vs. Ryan Spann

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