The highly anticipated UFC 246 takes place on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The main event has former two-division champion Conor McGregor taking on Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone in welterweight action.
When MMA fans get a great fight like this, there are certainly plenty of bets to be made. Let's take a look at some of them.
McGregor vs. Cerrone odds
As of Jan. 16, online sportsbook Bovada has McGregor as a heavy favorite. McGregor comes in at -325, meaning you'd need to wager $325 to win $100, and Cerrone comes in at +250, meaning if you bet $100, you'd net $250.
The biggest star in the sport, McGregor (21-4), returns after losing by fourth-round submission to current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in October 2018.
Since then, the 31-year-old has done all of his fighting outside the famed octagon, beating up an older gentleman in an Irish bar and getting arrested for smashing a cell phone outside a nightclub in Miami. Both of those cases have been settled.
Cerrone (36-13) enters the bout with the most wins in UFC history (23) and the most finishes (16). In his first run at welterweight from February 2016 to November 2018, "Cowboy" went 6-4 with all of the wins coming by stoppage.
Wanting to make one more run at a world title, Cerrone dropped back to lightweight and went 2-2, losing the last two fights to Tony Ferguson and, most recently, Justin Gaethje by first-round TKO in September.
An intriguing prop bet is the fight not getting out of the first round, as it's +145. Four of Cerrone's last eight tilts have ended inside the opening round, and 15 of McGregor's 25 career fights have ended in the first five minutes.
The odds show how people feel about Cerrone's chances of beating McGregor. The knock on Cerrone has been when it's come to being in a marquee spot, he fails to deliver, with losses to then-lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, Tony Ferguson, Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis and Gaethje. And you don't get any bigger than locking horns against the Irishman.
One of the critical advantages Cerrone has is that he's been the more active of the two. Since the last time McGregor's competed, "Cowboy" has fought five times. Staying active is significant because it allows a fighter to improve in the gym with each passing fight camp, as MMA is an ever-evolving sport. The other is UFC 246 will be bout No. 11 at 170 pounds while it will only be the third time McGregor is at the weight class.
Cerrone has excellent striking, highlighted by his explosive leg kicks, and possesses a highly underrated ground attack that he doesn't implement often enough. The prevailing thought among many pundits would be for the 36-year-old to get McGregor to the mat.
But Cerrone told ESPN on Tuesday that it's unlikely he'll take the easiest route. Instead, he wants to stand and trade strikes with perhaps the best puncher in MMA. The left hand of McGregor is unlike anything we have seen in MMA. If he touches you flush, you are going down. McGregor also has more than the left hand. His striking is crisp and accurate, and his takedown defense is underrated.
When it comes right down to it, this is McGregor's fight to lose. From every indication seen, McGregor appears to be in the right place physically and mentally for the first time since winning the lightweight title against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November 2016. A focused and determined McGregor is one of the best in the world.
Unless McGregor is putting on a facade, he steamrolls through Cerrone to get 2020 started as he embarks on what he says is a three-fight journey this calendar year.
McGregor vs. Cerrone pick
Muehlhausen's pick: Conor McGregor
Best bet: Fight ending in the first round (+145)