For the fourth straight fight, Glover Teixeira is a betting underdog.
Former champ Teixeira (33-8 MMA, 16-6 UFC) meets Jamahal Hill (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) for the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 283 on Jan. 21 in Rio de Janeiro.
Being an underdog is not unfamiliar territory for Teixeira, who wasn’t favored to win against Jiri Prochazka, Jan Blachowicz or Thiago Santos. Teixeira stopped both Santos and Blachowicz, and was up 3-1 on two of the judges’ scorecards against Prochazka at UFC 275 before he was submitted in Round 5.
At Draft Kings, Hill opened as a -130 favorite, meaning a $130 bet would be needed on “Sweet Dreams” to return $100. Teixeira is a +110 underdog, meaning a $100 bet on the former champ would result in $110 with a win.
Hill is riding plenty of momentum after he knocked out Jimmy Crute, Johnny Walker and Santos in his past three outings. The rising contender originally was scheduled to face Anthony Smith in the UFC Fight Night 221 headliner March 11, but was pulled from the matchup to face Teixeira for the vacant 205-pound belt.
After Jiri Prochazka vacated the belt, a new light heavyweight champ was set to be crowned this past Saturday when Blachowicz faced Magomed Ankalaev in the UFC 282 main event. But a split draw left the division with no titleholder. UFC president Dana White called the fight “terrible” and decided to move on by booking Teixeira against Hill.