UFC 214 Main Card Betting Preview

(SPONSORED CONTENT) -- There’s really no other way to describe UFC 214 other than calling it a summer blockbuster. Three championship fights, highlighted by one of the sport’s best rivals, along with a stacked main card that features Cris Cyborg? This is a card that you can sink your teeth into.

Cormier-Jones 2 is the main event as the two continue their war of words outside the octagon and their war of attrition within the cage. Beyond that Tyron Woodley defends his championship against the re-tooled Damian Maia who may be getting his last shot at glory. Both of those main event fights have been previewed in separate articles.

For this one, we’re breaking down the remainder of the main card with odds from BetOnline.ag. There’s some good value on the betting board, but at least one fight that you should probably just kick your heels up and enjoy.

UFC 214: Cormier-Jones 2 comes to you live from the Honda Center in Anaheim on Saturday, July 29th and you can bet on all the action at BetOnline.ag!

Cris Cyborg (-1000) over Tonya Evinger (+675)

The artist formerly known as Cyborg Santos continues her rampage in the biggest promotion on the planet by taking on the reigning Invicata FC Bantamweight Champion Tonya Evinger. As you can tell by the cavernous BetOlnine.ag fight odds, this one’s pretty much a done deal. I always like to advocate for an underdog play when odds get this lopsided but Cyborg has knocked out 16 of her last 19 opponents. You may not like her, but you can’t bet against her.

Donald Cerrone (+135) over Robbie Lawler (-155)

The former champ and the guy that almost deserves a title shot. It’s a brilliant and fitting matchup in terms of careers. This is such a compelling fight from a lot of angles because both fighters are coming off of losses. Lawler was last out losing his title to Tyron Woolley, while Donald Cerrone saw his four-fight win streak end via TKO against Jorge Masvidal six months ago.

Lawler is a likeable fighter and certainly has his fans because of how unexpected his title reign was. But it’s worth noting that he won the title on a split decision and last defended the strap successfully thanks to another split decision. In between he went to war with Rory MacDonald. I’ve never truly been completely sold on Lawler but his results have been admirable.

You can probably already tell that I’m leaning towards Cerrone He’s a workhorse and there’s so much I appreciate about how well-rounded his game is. Lawler doesn’t have a weapon in his tool box that can truly give Cerrone problems. It’s a great matchup; there’s no doubt about that.

But more than anything I think Cerrone’s ability to take the fight to Lawler will undo the favourite. The BetOnline.ag odds on this are fantastic, and I’d expect action to come in on Cerrone pretty quickly closer to the end of the month. If you’re convinced that Lawler is better than guys like me believe he is, then his mark is totally takeable. But Cerrone is a better bet and a much stronger value play.

Jimi Manuwa (-180) over Volkan Oezdemir (+155)

The marquee event of UFC 214 will decide who the true champion of the light heavyweights is, but the fight that opens the main card may preview who the next contender is. Jim Manuwa is right on the cusp but desperately needs to shed the memory of rough losses against Rumble Johnson and Alexander Gustafsson from history. To be fair, those are his only two losses.

Volkan is a much more difficult prospect to gauge. He has just a single loss at 14-1, losing over three years ago via submission in Bellator. He hasn’t exactly dazzled since migrating to the UFC, and that’s why he’s such a long underdog on BetOnline.ag and in Vegas.

Simply put there’s too much to like about Manuwa. He has a huge reach at 79.5 inches, and has consistently proven himself against the top ranks. A wealth of experience against the best of the best, along with his physical attributes, paints Manuwa as the logical choice in your UFC 214 betting picks.