UFC 229 Main Event Betting Breakdown: Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
The Main Event for UFC 229 will be for the UFC Lightweight Championship as current title holder Khabib Nurmagomedov will look to defend his title against former UFC Lightweight and former UFC Featherweight Champion, Conor McGregor. McGregor never actually lost his titles, he was stripped of both titles when he participated in the boxing event with Floyd “Money” Mayweather.
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If you don’t have tickets to this event, the only way you will see the main event is by Pay Per View. Tickets for the event sold out weeks ago but you can still find tickets online at some of the secondary ticket outlets, if you want to spend close to $70,000 for a pair of tickets!!!
The fine folks over at SeatGeek have a pair of tickets in Section E, Row A at the whopping price of $67,063! I will gladly stay home and purchase the event on pay-per-view at the rate of $64.99!
The bad blood between McGregor and Nurmagomedov all started 6 months ago and now leads us to the biggest fight in UFC history! Let’s take a look at the timeline for Conor vs. Khabib!
- April 1 - Tony Ferguson pulled out of fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov, which created a post on Twitter from Nurmagomedov calling out Conor McGregor.
- April 4 - Khabib Nurmagomedov confronted McGregor Training Partner Artem Lobov at a hotel in Brooklyn.
- April 4 - Dana White Strips Conor McGregor of the UFC Lightweight Title for not defending the title in 6 months.
- April 5 - McGregor flies from Ireland to New York and confronts Khabib on a bus, which caused McGregor to be arrested for throwing metal items at the bus and injuring several UFC fighters that were inside the bus.
- April 6 - McGregor was arrested and charged with Disorderly Conduct, among other charges.
- April 7 - Nurmagomedov defeats fill-in opponent Al Iaquinta to become the UFC Lightweight Champion and again, calls out Conor McGregor.
- July 15 - Khabib Nurmagomedov posted an image from Luzhniki Stadium during the World Cup Soccer games, which was matched by Conor McGregor taking a photo with Khabib’s Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- July 26 - McGregor accepts a plea offer dismissing all felony charges and pled guilty to Disorderly Conduct, which was punished by community service.
- August 3 - After much anticipation, Dana White announced McGregor vs. Nurmagomedov will take place on October 6, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Experts all around the world are split on what they think will happen here in the main event. The fans of Nurmagomedov believe and hope that he will be able to use his extreme advantage in wrestling to take Conor McGregor to the ground and beat him in a basic wrestling match, where he racks up takedown after takedown on the less experienced wrestler in McGregor.
For the McGregor fans, they firmly believe that he has the striking advantage and feel that he should be able to keep distance and connect early in the fight and put Khabib out early in the fight.
Both sets of fans and experts alike are correct. Yes, Khabib has an enormous advantage in wrestling and yes, Conor has an extreme advantage when it comes to striking but which fighter will be able to pull off their game plan and finish their opponent.
Oddsmakers are completely tossed on which way to go with this fight. Our friends over at YouWager.eu have made Khabib Nurmagomedov the -165 favorite and a return on Conor McGregor being +145. They have also set the number for the round total at 2.5 rounds. If you like the over, you will have a +105 return while those under players will come in right around -135.
Whoever you think will win this fight, one thing is for sure, there will be millions of dollars wagered on the fight and a ton of excitement throughout the week for UFC 229. The fight will be the icing on the cake but the real laughter and fun will come from the interviews that will begin on Wednesday, October 3, 2018.
