UFC 331 mixed things up for two divisions, and oddsmakers believe it will lead to two new champions.
On Saturday night, UFC 331 went down in Los Angeles, with Joshua Van successfully defending his flyweight title by winning a unanimous decision over Alexandre Pantoja in the main event. It was arguably the best performance of Van’s career, but despite how impressive he looked, Las Vegas thinks the 24-year-old may drop the belt in his next fight.
Though nothing is official, Manel Kape is widely viewed
as the next title challenger for Van, and after UFC 331, BetOnline released odds for the hypothetical title fight, installing Kape as the betting favorite.
Manel Kape -160
Joshua Van +140
Those odds imply Kape has a 61.5 percent chance of becoming the flyweight champion. However, the public already bet that line down to near pick’em odds.
In the co-main event of UFC 331, Arman Tsarukyan reestablished himself as the top contender at lightweight, brutally knocking out Mauricio Ruffy in the first round. While the lightweight title picture is slightly more muddled than flyweight, most assume that Tsarukyan will be the next challenger for Justin Gaethje’s title, and should it happen, oddsmakers are very confident in “Batman,” plugging him in as a huge favorite.
Arman Tsarukyan -450
Justin Gaethje +350
These odds imply that Tsarukyan is an 81.8 percent favorite in the hypothetical matchup.
