The UFC is going straight back to the Honda Center in Anaheim, California in late January to get UFC 233 with present bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw falling down in weight to take on current flyweight champion Henry”The Messenger” Cejudo in the main event. Dillashaw looks to put an end to the flyweight division and he’s a -190 favorite with Cejudo coming straight back at +155.
Odds Analysis
This is the fourth time in Cejudo’s nine-fight career in the UFC he has been an underdog and he’s only 1-2 in the previous three bouts. However, that one triumph came against arguably among the best pound-for-pound fighters in UFC history in Demetrious Johnson in UFC 227. Meanwhile, Dillashaw was preferred in five of his past six bits and is riding a four-fight winning series, including back-to-back victories over Cody Garbrandt, the first of which he had been an underdog for. This is a timeless grappler vs striker matchup, which tends to favor the grappler if history tells us anything, yet it’s Cejudo, the grappler, who is the dog from the bout.
Breaking down Henry Cejudo vs T.J. Dillashaw
Dillashaw (-190) is a spectacular striker who has incredible hand speed and fantastic footwork. The 32-year-old averages 5.38 significant strikes per minute when absorbing just 2.94 considerable strikes per second, protecting 66 percentage of strikes against. It is not death by a million cuts by Dillashaw, as he will put you to sleep, with half of the 16 professional wins coming via T/KO. Not only does the California native have excellent striking abilities, but he stuffs 86 percent of takedown attempts, forcing his rivals to stand and trade .
Cejudo (+155) is a elite-level wrestler who struck gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The Messenger has landed at least one takedown in eight of the nine bouts within the Octagon and contains several takedowns in five of these scraps. As is the case with most wrestlers, Cejudo has outstanding cardio and can keep up a frenetic pace for the whole period of a complete five-round bout. The California native has certainly improved his striking throughout his career and that has been on full display when he pumped out Wilson Reis at UFC 215.
This might be the maximum level of talent colliding from the lower weight class divisions ever. The matchmakers could not have asked for a better conflict of styles as you’ve got a striker that has been able to bully his rivals, taking on an Olympic-level wrestler. Dillashaw are the bigger man when the two enter the Octagon, but we have never noticed him at 125 lbs and could cutting off that additional 10 pounds from 135 leave him depleted and not as powerful? Meanwhile, if Cejudo is not able to haul Dillashaw into the mat, is he able to endure the elite-level striking? Irrespective of the outcome, we’re in for a treat at UFC 233.
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