UFC Fight Night Poirier vs. Gaethje Odds: Betting Trends, Preview, Card Analysis

Gregory Payan/Associated Press

Following a crazy week of promotion for UFC 223 in Brooklyn, the organization heads west to Arizona for UFC on FOX 29 on Saturday with a fun card of fights planned.

Leading the way is a main event matchup between two top lightweight contenders in Dustin Poirier (22-5, 1 No-Contest) and Justin Gaethje (18-1), with the former listed as a small -145 favorite (bet $145 to win $100) on the UFC odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.

Gaethje and Poirier both have a common recent opponent in former 155-pound champion Eddie Alvarez. Gaethje, who is listed as a +125 underdog (bet $100 to win $125), suffered his first career loss to Alvarez in his last bout via third-round knockout at UFC 218 last December 2.

Prior to that, Alvarez walked away with a No-Contest after landing illegal knees to the head of Poirier in his fight immediately after losing the lightweight title to Conor McGregor back at UFC 205 on November 12, 2016.

Poirier has since rebounded from that disappointing result though, scoring a third-round TKO win over former lightweight champ Anthony Pettis at UFC Fight Night 120 last November 11.

He has lost just once since falling to McGregor himself in 2014, going 6-1 with the one NC and four T/KO wins during that impressive stretch. Two of Poirier's past three bouts have resulted in Fight of the Night bonuses, including his last one.

Meanwhile, Gaethje is the former World Series of Fighting lightweight champ and has gone 1-1 in the UFC so far. He does own a second-round TKO victory against former TUF finalist Michael Johnson, who handed Poirier his latest loss nearly two years ago.

In the co-main event, an intriguing welterweight scrap will take place when former interim champ Carlos Condit (30-11) battles Alex Oliveira (18-4-1, 2 NC), with both of them coming off losses. In fact, Condit will be looking to break a three-fight skid, with another setback here possibly sending the 33-year-old veteran off to retirement.

That is one of the reasons Oliveira is a -190 favorite over Condit, who is a +170 underdog. Oliveira went 4-0 with a NC in his previous five bouts before losing to Yancy Medeiros via third-round TKO in a Fight of the Night performance at UFC 218 on December 2. Of Condit's last three losses, two have been decided by the judges.

For more odds information, betting picks and a breakdown of this week’s top sports betting news check out the OddsShark podcast with Jon Campbell and Andrew Avery. Subscribe on iTunes or listen to it at OddsShark.libsyn.com.