Conor McGregor opens as bigger betting underdog against Kamaru Usman than he was against Floyd Mayweather

Not too long after Kamaru Usman’s manager suggested interest in a fight with Conor McGregor, the betting lines opened up for the potential showdown. 

And those betting lines may surprise you. 

According to odds sent to DAZN News by BetOnline, McGregor would be a +280 underdog against Usman (-350). It would be the biggest underdog line of McGregor’s MMA career. But that’s not the entire story. 

McGregor’s underdog status would rival his 2017 boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, when McGregor was as low as a +265 underdog according to online oddsmaker Odds Shark. He would eventually close as a +285 underdog the day of the fight while Mayweather held at -350. McGregor would be stopped in the 10th round of the blockbuster fight by Mayweather, who introduced the MMA fighter to the world of boxing the hard way and sent him back to the Octagon with an 0-1 professional boxing record.  

What makes this truly fascinating is the idea that McGregor would be a bigger underdog in his own profession than in a boxing match against one of the greatest boxers of all time. 

For the record, McGregor did open up as a massive underdog (+1100) against Mayweather (-2500) when the fight was first announced. However, a lot of money came in on the UFC fighter, which brought the line all the way down to the +300-400 range as the fight drew closer.

A fight with Usman, the UFC welterweight champion, would see McGregor at a size disadvantage after spending much of his career campaigning at featherweight (145 pounds) and lightweight (155 pounds), where he won world titles in both weight classes. A welterweight title for McGregor would be a UFC-record third weight class. He has had two welterweight fights, both against Nate Diaz. He lost his first UFC fight by submission to Diaz in March 2016 but won a return bout by decision five months later. 

The idea of a possible showdown between Usman and McGregor came after Ali Abdelaziz suggested to ESPN that if Jorge Masvidal chooses to face Diaz in a rematch for the BMF title, it would open the door for McGregor to challenge Usman for the 170-pound title. 

Usman responded to the idea on Twitter. 

McGregor has yet to say anything about a potential fight on social media but recently went on a rant explaining why he will retire as the greatest pound-for-pound mixed martial artist of all-time. It's safe to say that he'd be more than willing to accept the challenge.