Mad Bets: Dana White talks UFC 249 Betting Odds
Kevin Iole talks with Dana White about betting lines for UFC 249.
Video Transcript
DANA WHITE: If you spend the money and you buy this fight, just with the main event alone, you will not be disappointed.
KEVIN IOLE: Tony Ferguson, to me, is just, you know, an incredible fighter, has won 12 in a row. He is a 170 favorite over Justin Gaethje, who is plus 135 at the MGM Grand. Does that surprise you a little bit that Tony's only a 170 favorite?
DANA WHITE: No.
KEVIN IOLE: No?
DANA WHITE: No. Gaethje is a very dangerous fighter. This is a insane main event. Tony hasn't lost in, like, eight years. Gaethje has had six fights in the UFC and won seven bonuses.
KEVIN IOLE: [LAUGHING] Yeah.
DANA WHITE: So this fight is incredible. I mean, it's-- it's a very violent main event. Anything can happen in this fight. Either guy can win. It is impossible for Tony Ferguson versus Justin Gaethje to not be an incredible fight-- impossible.
KEVIN IOLE: And as I said, the heavyweight fight, to me, is a nutso fight. That is Francis is minus 280. Jairzinho plus 220. Now, I'm not going to advise anybody to bet against Francis because I think Francis is awesome. But with the kind of power that Jairzinho has, is he worth a flyer plus 220 for somebody who's looking to get an underdog?
DANA WHITE: Yeah. I think that, you know, the reason that is, is Francis has been in the big fights, you know. He's pretty much done it all except win the belt. And if you look at his last fight, I'm sure that has a lot to do with it too, because it was a similar opponent.
They both fought the same guy, right? And you saw what Francis did to him. [INAUDIBLE] too, but, you know, at the end of the round. So I--
KEVIN IOLE: Well, he was losing the fight. But I'm just saying from a standpoint, when you have a guy that can punch like that, like he can punch, and he showed against over him, you know, that he doesn't need a combination, right? He needs one shot to end the fight, as we know Francis can do. I just say, hey, he might be worth a flyer if you're sitting there looking to get some plus-- you know, plus money. You get plus 220 on him.
DANA WHITE: Yeah, I agree. But you look at the experience factor, and you've got to go with Francis for the experience.
KEVIN IOLE: I agree. I agree. And then I want to get you to break down the co-main event. And Henry is 240. And Dominick Cruz is plus 200. A little-- I would have thought it would have been a bigger spread, given what Henry has done and Dominick's inactivity. I'm a little bit surprised at that one. I think I'd have to lay the money on Henry on that.
DANA WHITE: I would say, yeah, the guy's had too much time off. That's been his whole career. His whole career has been with these big gaps of time off because of injuries. I've never seen anybody more unlucky than Dominick Cruz. But this is nothing new.
The guy has been one of the best in the world for a very, very long time. He's always had these big gaps in between fights and gone in and performed. When he's healthy and he goes in, he looks damn good.