Cris Cyborg will be aiming to defend her UFC women’s featherweight title with a 10th straight victory when she takes on newcomer Yana Kunitskaya on Saturday as a heavy -1600 favourite on the UFC 222 odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Cyborg won by unanimous decision in the first defence of her UFC crown, topping Holly Holm at UFC 219 as a -285 wager, and takes a 19-1 professional MMA record into Saturday night’s Kunitskaya vs. Cyborg UFC matchup at T-Mobile Arena.
The 32-year-old’s victory over Holm marked the first time she has gone the distance during her current nine-fight win streak. Cyborg has recorded first-round finishes on five occasions during her current tear, including a trio of title defences during her reign as Invicta FC featherweight champion, and needed just 81 seconds to top Leslie Smith as a -1200 favourite in her promotional debut at UFC 198.
After making a stormy climb to the top of the Invicta FC bantamweight division, Kunitskaya makes her UFC debut on Saturday as a lengthy +800 underdog. Kunitskaya eked out a unanimous decision win over Raquel Pa’aluhi as a +125 underdog in her last outing at Invicta FC 25 to finally claim the Invicta FC bantamweight title on her third attempt.
Kunitskaya was denied the championship belt after a first-round victory over Tonya Evinger at Invicta FC 20 was overturned on appeal due to a controversial referee call. Kunitskaya suffered a second-round TKO loss as a +165 underdog in her rematch with Evinger at Invicta FC 22 before eventually claiming the title with her win over Pa’aluhi, and has failed to tally consecutive wins over her past five fights.
Earlier on Saturday, former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar is listed as a strong -175 favourite on the UFC 222 odds as he takes on Brian Ortega in a featherweight clash.
Pegged as the No. 2 challenger on the UFC featherweight rankings, Edgar is coming off a second-round TKO win over rising star Yair Rodriguez as -130 chalk at UFC 211, but has gone the distance on five occasions during his current 7-2 run as a featherweight.
Ortega trails at +145 on the UFC 222 betting lines despite finishing opponents in each of his five straight wins, and earned Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night bonuses for his second-round submission of Cub Swanson as a -115 bet at UFC Fight Night 123.
In other UFC 222 action, Stefan Struve battles fellow heavyweight Andrei Arlovski as -190 chalk, while Ketlen Vieira is a -160 bet in her women’s bantamweight clash with Cat Zingano.
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