UFC on FOX 23 takes place Saturday, Jan. 28 from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo. Top women’s bantamweights Valentina Shevchenko and Julianna Pena will battle in the main event to see who becomes the next challenger to Amanda Nunes’s 135-pound title.
Also, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone will battle “Gamebred” Jorge Masvidal in a welterweight showdown in the co-main event, and former champ Andrei Arlovski takes on dangerous surging heavyweight Francis Ngannou.
The oddsmakers have weighed in and have Russian kickboxer Shevchenko (-155) the slight favorite over TUF 18 winner Pena (+135). Shevchenko is coming off a unanimous decision win over Holly Holm last July, but dropped a decision to Nunes in March. She also holds decision wins over Sarah Kaufman and Jan Finney inside the octagon. Pena is unbeaten inside the octagon with knockouts over Jessica Rakoczy and Milana Dudieva, as well as unanimous decision wins over Jessica Eye, and most recently Cat Zingano in January.
In the co-main event Cerrone (-145) is a slight favorite over Masvidal (+125). “Cowboy” has looked phenomenal since debuting at welterweight with a submission over Alex Oliveira in January of last year. Following that he racked up a trio of knockouts, starting with Patrick Cote in June, Rick Story in August, and Matt Brown in December. Masvidal snapped a two-fight skid last July with a unanimous decision over Ross Pearson, and most recently stopped Jake Ellenberger with a first round TKO in December.
Here’s the full MMA betting odds for UFC on FOX 23 (via 5dimes):
Main Card (Fox)
- Women’s Bantamweight: Valentina Shevchenko (-155) vs. Julianna Peña (+135)
- Welterweight: Donald Cerrone (-145) vs. Jorge Masvidal (+125)
- Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski (+330) vs. Francis Ngannou (-370)
- Featherweight: Alex Caceres (+125) vs. Jason Knight (-145)
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)
- Middleweight: Nate Marquardt (+125) vs. Sam Alvey (-145)
- Bantamweight: Raphael Assunção (-145) vs. Aljamain Sterling (+125)
- Welterweight: Bobby Nash (+100) vs. Li Jingliang (-120)
- Light Heavyweight: Luis Henrique da Silva (+175) vs. Jordan Johnson (-210)
- Middleweight: Eric Spicely (-110) vs. Alessio Di Chirico (-110)
- Catchweight (209.5 lbs): Marcos Rogério de Lima (-145) vs. Jeremy Kimball (+125)
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
- Flyweight: Alexandre Pantoja (+110) vs. Eric Shelton (-130)
- Lightweight: Jason Gonzalez (+115) vs. J.C. Cottrell (-135)