Odds have been released for the reported interim middleweight championship bout between Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya at UFC 236.
As presented by BetDSI via MMAOddsbreaker.com, the line opened with Adesanya as a -185 favorite, with Kelvin Gastelum coming in as a +155 underdog for the bout.
Kelvin Gastelum is currently 15-3-1 and is coming off of two consecutive victories over Michael Bisping and, most recently, Jacare Souza, which earned Gastelum an opportunity at Robert Whittaker at UFC 234. Unfortunately, an emergency hernia surgery forced Whittaker to pull out of the fight and bring about a need for this scheduled interim title fight. From an odds standpoint, Gastelum may have a new opponent, but he still finds himself in the same underdog position, as he closed as the +195 underdog for that contest.
The undefeated (16-0) Israel Adesanya has never been an underdog in his professional career. The closest to underdog status Style Bender has ever been is opening at pick-em odds against Brad Tavares for the TUF 27 Finale. Since then, Adesanya has reverted back to being a comfortable favorite.
MMAOddsmaker Nick Kalikas had the following breakdown for the odds:
“Stylistically, if Adesanya can keep this fight standing, he clearly has an advantage with his elite kickboxing background and striking skill-set. Gastelum has power on the feet and presents issues as a southpaw, but he’s almost certainly needs to take this fight to the floor to win it.
“It’s easy to assume that this is a great stylistic matchup for Adesanya, but perhaps we are underestimating Gastelum here. Gastelum has faced some of the best fighters in the world at middleweight as an undersized 185-pounder and has performed well. That being said, Adesanya is on a crazy rise right now has a tremendous amount of support from the betting public so I’m going to open him as a -185 betting favorite with the comeback on Gastelum being +155.”
What are your thoughts on the odds for Kelvin Gastelum vs. Israel Adesanya?
