In front of what is predicted to be the biggest crowd for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event, Australia’s Rob Whittaker is the slight $1.85 favourite at TAB to defeat Israel Adesanya ($1.95) in their UFC 243 middleweight bout at Marvel Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Even though Whittaker will have an enormous following in his home country, 68 percent of the money with TAB punters has been placed on Adesanya to remain undefeated.

“It doesn’t surprise me to see the market as close as it is. Both Whittaker and Adesanya are as dangerous as they come,” TAB’s UFC expert Kristen Fahd said.

“Although Whittaker is coming into this off a decent layoff, he is still undefeated in his last nine fights. Adesanya equally boasts an impressive record leading into this bout having never lost in 17 fights.”

“I’d love to see this fight last the full 25 minutes. If it does go to the judges’ scorecards, I think Whittaker will win by a split decision.”

Two TAB punters are hoping that their long-range Multis pay off if Whittaker accounts for Adesanya on Sunday.

On August 15, one customer placed a $10,000 Multi at $2.28 on New Zealand to win the Second Bledisloe Cup Test against Australia (won 36-0), the Sydney Roosters to win their NRL Round 22 clash over the Warriors (won 42-6) and Whittaker for a potential $22,800 collect.

On September 17, another punter plonked $10,000 Multi at $3.39 on Ajax to beat Lille on Matchday 1 of the UEFA Champions League (won 3-0), Melbourne to defeat Parramatta in their NRL semi-final (won 32-0) and Whittaker for a possible $33,900 payday.

TAB traders expect the bout between Whittaker and Adesanya to be the biggest UFC fight ever in terms of turnover with TAB customers.

TAB ODDS
UFC 243 Middleweight Bout

$1.85 Rob Whittaker opened $1.70 on July 10

$1.95 Israel Adesanya opened $2.15 on July 10