The UFC is heading to Brooklyn for its first card of 2019 and its very first card ESPN following a seven-year deal with Fox Sports. The event is headlined by a winner vs winner battle as bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw is falling down to the flyweight division to take on Henry»The Messenger» Cejudo. Dillashaw is seeking to become the seventh fighter to acquire belts in two different weight classes and is a -230 favorite with Cejudo coming back at +180.
Shark Bites
T.J. Dillashaw is averaging 5.38 significant strikes per minute.
Gold was won by henry Cejudo at the 2008 Olympic Games. Five of T.J. Dillashaw’s past seven wins have come through knockout.
Odds Analysis
That can be Cejudo’s second straight fight as an underdog after he closed as a large +350 puppy against Demetrious»Mighty Mouse» Johnson, arguably the pound-for-pound greatest at the time. The Olympian outwrestled DJ en route to a split-decision victory to become the second-ever flyweight champion.
However, because he’s the bigger man it makes sense for Dillashaw to be favored. This is the fifth time that the UFC has had two sitting champions stand toe-to-toe and the fighter who has made the weight class move is 3-1 in the previous four fights, with B.J. Penn’s reduction to GSP in 2009 function as the sole defeat. That being said, Dillashaw is the first to fall down in weight to challenge for another belt, as B.J. Penn, Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier and Amanda Nunes all moved up in weight as they looked to fasten two belts at the same time.
Read more: dailysportnewspaper.org