McGregor/Dos Anjos Line Continues To Move in Featherweight Champion's Direction

Published on February 12th, 2016 11:02 am EST
There are a few universal truths when it comes to Conor McGregor - his fans love him and his fans love to bet money on him.

For these reasons, the opening lines for Conor McGregor's fights rarely hold. When the betting lines are released to the public, McGregor's legions of fans usually rush to put down money on their favourite fighter. To date, McGregor has not disappointed, as he has even provided his fans with the courtesy of correctly predicting the round in which all of his fights will end. Prior to his fight with Jose Aldo, Conor McGregor implored his fans to put down money on him knocking out Jose Aldo instead of one round. McGregor did not disappoint, stopping the former champion inside of a minute.

Until "Mystic Mac" incorrectly predicts the outcome of a fight, his fans will continue to bet heavily on him.

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When the line for the UFC 196 between Rafael dos Anjos and Conor McGregor first opened, Rafael dos Anjos was a slight favourite to win. Things have changed, however, as the money has come pouring in on McGregor, which is why the line now looks like this:

Conor McGregor, 1.62
Rafael dos Anjos, 2.30

As McGregor and his fans stream into Las Vegas for the fight next month, more money will be bet on the mercurial Featherweight champion, which will likely push the betting line even further in McGregor's direction. Don't be surprised if McGregor is a 1.50 favourite to win by the time that the two champions step into the Octagon for their main event tilt in March.

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Let's look at how the odds for this fight have changed since the line was first released on December 21st of last year:

December 21st

Conor McGregor, 2.30
Rafael dos Anjos, 1.63

January 11th

Conor McGregor, 2.00
Rafael dos Anjos, 1.81

January 22nd

Conor McGregor, 1.81
Rafael dos Anjos, 2.02

February 7th

Conor McGregor, 1.71
Rafael dos Anjos, 2.17

The line for Conor McGregor vs Rafael dos Anjos is quite insane when you consider the fact that McGregor will be moving up a division to take on one of the promotion's most dominant champions. Dos Anjos has only been champion for about a year, but he has already destroyed Anthony "Showtime" Pettis and Donald Cerrone. For Dos Anjos to be a betting underdog against a fighter who is moving up a division to face him is quite unprecedented, but such is the power of Conor McGregor and his loyal fans.

Will Conor McGregor reward this loyalty once again in March?