Vettori favoured on UFC odds for Saturday Vegas bout

Marvin Vettori, left, punches Cezar Ferreira during a middleweight mixed martial arts fight at a UFC Fight Night in 2019. (Jeff Chiu/AP)

Marvin Vettori will be vying for a fifth straight victory when he faces off against fellow middleweight Kevin Holland on Saturday in the main event at UFC Vegas 23 as a heavy -325 favourite on the UFC odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.

Vettori outlasted Jack Hermansson last time out, earning the first five-round unanimous decision win of his professional MMA career while sporting -145 odds. The 27-year-old also earned his first career Fight of the Night bonus with last December's victory, and now takes a solid 16-4-1 pro record into Saturday night's bout at UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Vettori has overcome the rough start he endured over his first two years fighting in the UFC. The former Venator FC welterweight champion posted wins in just two of his first five UFC matchups, a run that ended with a three-round split decision loss to current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC on Fox 29 as a +195 wager at sports betting sites.

However, he has quickly turned things around, getting the nod from the judges on three occasions during his current four-fight win streak. Vettori also held a demonstration of his impressive submission skills while finishing Karl Roberson just 4:17 into their clash at UFC Vegas 2, earning his lone Performance of the Night bonus for his efforts.

Listed as a +250 underdog for Saturday's tilt, Holland returns to the octagon just three weeks after dropping a five-round unanimous decision to Derek Brunson at UFC Vegas 22. Darren Till was originally scheduled to battle Vettori, but he was forced to withdraw after suffering a broken collarbone during training. No stranger to a busy schedule after tying the UFC record with five octagon appearances in 2020, Holland wasted no time answering the call to replace Till.

Overall, Holland has competed in nine fights since the beginning of 2019, with largely successful results. The 28-year-old went 7-2 during that stretch, including a pair of first-round finishes over Ronaldo Souza and Charlie Ontiveros to close out 2020.

Holland has also regularly been set as a betting favourite since joining the UFC, and has risen to No. 10 in the UFC middleweight rankings during his recent busy stretch. However, at No. 6, Vettori represents the highest ranked opponent that Holland has faced since making his UFC debut three years ago.

Elsewhere on the UFC Vegas 23 odds, a pair of fast rising featherweights clash as Sodiq Yusuff takes on Arnold Allen as -140 chalk. Earlier in the evening, Julian Marquez faces Sam Alvey as a -200 wager in more middleweight action, while Nina Ansaroff sports -140 odds in her women's strawweight bout with Mackenzie Dern.

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