Why We Expect Another Nunes Win at UFC 239

The next big UFC pay-per-view happens this Saturday, July 6, and we’re here to bring you the best odds, tips and picks ahead of every main card fight.

The co-main event is what we’ll be focusing on in this article. Amanda Nunes, who is now known as the greatest female mixed martial artist in the world, returns after knocking out Cris Cyborg to defend her bantamweight title. She’ll be entering a fight against Holly Holm, a former champion of the bantamweight division, as a moderate betting favorite.

The main event of UFC 239 is a light heavyweight showdown between current champion Jon Jones and #3 ranked contender Thiago Santos. That’s sure to be a brilliant fight, so make sure to review the best odds for Jones vs. Santos here before reading further.

For now, it’s time to focus on the best odds for Nunes vs. Holm as well as our breakdown and betting advice.

Amanda Nunes vs. Holly Holm Odds

Amanda Nunes really did it all in 2018. She defended her title successfully by beating Raquel Pennington decisively over five rounds. “The Lioness” then came out and defied the odds by stopping Cris Cyborg in just 51 seconds at UFC 232 to claim her second UFC title.

Nunes is now the first female two-division champion in the UFC.

Holly Holm has been skipping up and down divisions since losing the bantamweight title to Miesha Tate in 2016. She failed to get back on track in a fight with Valentina Shevchenko before then dropping a tight unanimous decision against Germaine de Randamie in the UFC’s first-ever UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship bout.

Holm’s last fight at 135-pounds was against Bethe Correia and Holm impressed with a devastating head kick knockout in round three. Since then, however, Holm again was unsuccessful in her attempt to take the featherweight title in a fight with Cris Cyborg. In her most recent appearance, Holm defeated Megan Anderson in a three-round featherweight fight at UFC 225.

Fight Breakdown

An interesting narrative heading into this title fight is the fact that Holly Holm has already dethroned a female who was viewed as the greatest in the sport at the time once before. Holm knocked out Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 and helped bettors who played her at huge odds of 9.30Bet €100 to win €93083/10Bet £100 to win £930+830Bet $100 to win $9308.30Bet HK$100 to win HK$9308.30Bet Rp100 to win Rp930-0.1205Bet RM100 to win RM930  to an extraordinary profit.

Now, as we approach the weekend, it’s Nunes who is viewed as the best to have ever entered the Octagon and Holm is viewed as a considerable underdog yet again.

On paper, Holm does have some of the tools that may be required to defeat the champion. She moves well and excels at maintaining a safe, effective distance between her and her opponent. Her long punches are sharp and accurate and she also has a kicking game that can certainly trouble the champion at times.

Another important factor is that Holm is surprisingly strong in the clinch and can easily defend takedown attempts as well as setting up her own.

Holm needs to control the center of the Octagon to have any chance of defeating Nunes. If Nunes can push forward and pressure (as she does best), she’ll be asking Holm to fight at an extreme disadvantage and the challenger will have limited opportunities to set up not just her kicking attacks but her counter strikes as well.

Nunes does need to be careful of Holms’ round-winning ability in this fight, however. Whereas Nunes packs incredible power in her punches and has the likelihood of stopping Holm inside the distance in this fight, Holm’s strikes and activity can help sway the judges who are sitting cage side.

It’s also important to note that as dangerous as Nunes is standing up, there’s a decent chance she’ll look to win this fight on the ground against Holm. Nunes has hinted at taking Holm to the mat and testing her jiu-jitsu ability and that does seem like a relatively simple pathway to victory for the champion, especially when compared to the sometimes tricky striking game of the challenger.

At UFC 239, it’s Nunes’ physical advantages together with her boxing expertise that will see her defend her title successfully against Holly Holm. The odds here are tighter than they probably should be and for that reason, we’re going to be betting on Nunes to win.

UFC 239: Amanda Nunes vs. Holly Holm
Saturday, July 6 – 10:30 pm (ET) /  2:30am (GMT)

About the author

Jake Nichols

MMA Reporter

Jake is a mixed martial arts reporter from Australia. At SBO.net, Jake uses his industry knowledge to uncover exceptional betting opportunities and share them with readers before the bookmakers can adjust their lines.