Sterling The Betting Favorite Against Dillashaw

Reigning UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is in talks to make his next 135-pound title defense against former division kingpin TJ Dillashaw as part of the upcoming UFC 279 pay-per-view (PPV) card on Sept. 10 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sterling opened as the slight betting favorite, clocking in at -140 (5/7) against +120 (6/5) for the underdog Dillashaw. That’s according to the number crunchers over at BetOnline.ag, though you can expect this line to fluctuate as we inch closer to fight night.

Sterling (21-3) is the winner of seven straight and captured back-to-back victories over Petr Yan to cement himself as the bantamweight champion, first by way of disqualification at UFC 259 then by split decision at UFC 273.

As for Dillashaw (17-4), he returned from a two-year drug-testing suspension — and an unsuccessful trip to flyweight — to win a split decision over top contender Cory Sandhagen in the “real title fight” at UFC Vegas 32.

UFC 279 will also feature the featherweight fracas between Norma Dumont vs. Danielle Wolf, while Melissa Martinez makes her Octagon debut against strawweight slugger Elise Reed. Elsewhere on the card, Shamil Abdurakhimov and Jailton Almeida hook ‘em up at 265 pounds.

Stay tuned for more UFC 279 fight card announcement in the coming weeks.