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Looking at UFC 94 betting odds, Georges St. Pierre is the solid -170 favorite for Saturday night's welterweight title fight, but don't tell B.J. Penn that.
The American-born Penn (13-4-1) is the UFC lightweight champion and he's not about to back down just because he's moving into a higher weight class.
And while bettors like Penn in this underdog role at +140 odds, Penn himself is happy to take on the challenge and give his backers a big payday.
"I love to be the underdog," Penn said. "I haven't been the underdog for a long time. Fighters who don't believe I can win this fight, it's simply because they don't believe in themselves, that they could go out and beat a great champion at a higher weight."
B.J. Penn as the underdog pays out $140 for every $100 bet should he win and this has a lot of Gambling911.com readers putting aside some of their Super Bowl betting funds to take a shot at UFC 94. UFC 94 betting odds were available at Sportsbook.com
St. Pierre (17-2) is a Canadian fighter with tremendous athleticism and also considered perhaps the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. He became the undisputed UFC welterweight champion this past April with a huge win over Matt Serra. His last fight was a unanimous decision against Jon Fitch in August.
Note that this is a rematch of a March 2006 bout that was a close, split-decision win by St. Pierre. The closeness of that fight and the revenge factor for Penn is another reason bettors are looking towards the underdog in this one.
"The (St. Pierre) fight is done," Penn says. "I wasn't living my life like a champion, so what happened in that fight is done and in the past. I can't really take anything from that fight. I feel we're two totally different people. I improved my will to prepare and I feel that's more important than any techniques he has learned."
Note that Penn has only had two fights in the last year. Last January, he won the UFC lightweight championship by beating Joe Stevenson. Last May, he defended the title in Las Vegas against Sean Sherk with a TKO in the third round.
Can he do it again Saturday night in what could be the biggest PPV event in UFC History?
Bet on it now at Sportsbook.com
Other UFC 94 Odds
Lyoto Machida (-245) vs. Thiago Silva (+195)
Stephan Bonnar (-170) vs. Jon Jones (+140)
Karo Parisyan (-275) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (+215)
Nate Diaz (-125) vs. Clay Guida (-105)
Jon Fitch (-625) vs. Akihiro Gono (+425)
Thiago Tavares (-145) vs. Manny Gamburyan (+115)
Chris Wilson (-295) vs. John Howard (+235)
Jake O'Brien (-240) vs. Christian Wellisch (+190)
Matt Arroyo (-200) vs. Dan Cramer (+160)
This is Carrie Stroup reporting for Gambling911.com.
