UFC 294 odds: Usman-Chimaev moneyline for middleweight bout

The Etihad Arena from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates will be the location for UFC 294: Makahachev vs. Volkanovski 2 on Saturday, October 21. The co-main event on the card is a middleweight title eliminator between former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and Khamzat Chimaev. The winner of the fight will receive a title shot against UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland. ESPN+ will handle the broadcast of the main card at 2 p.m. ET.

Usman (20-3) will go down as one of the greatest champions in UFC history. He won the welterweight title in a dominant performance over Tyron Woodley at UFC 235. He went on to successfully defend the title against Colby Covington (twice), Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal (twice). Usman lost the title to Leon Edwards at UFC 278 when he was knocked out by a head kick with 56 seconds remaining in the fifth round of a fight Usman was winning comfortably on the scorecards. He lost the rematch with Edwards at UFC 286 by majority decision. He is making his middleweight debut.

Chimaev (12-0) is an interesting case of a fighter who has been between welterweight and middleweight. “Borz” is 6-0 in the UFC and has won five fights by finishes in less than two rounds. His only nonfinish was a thrilling three-round brawl with Burns at UFC 273. That fight put Chimaev on the map as a top contender at welterweight. Unfortunately for Chimaev, he had struggles making the 170-pound limit for the weight class, which reared its head at UFC 279 when he missed weight for a main event fight with Nate Diaz. He was forced to take an undercard fight at a 180-catchweight against Kevin Holland, which he won in the first round. Since then he’s been waiting for his next fight — almost 13 months to the day.

Here are the betting odds at DraftKings Sportsbook for Usman vs. Chimaev at UFC 294 on October 21, 2023.