Anderson Silva opens as the odds-on favorite in UFC 168 rematch with Chris Weidman

Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva may have lost his belt, but he hasn’t lost his favored betting status, although it has taken a hit.

Now that the rematch is set and Weidman vs. Silva II is signed for UFC 168 on Dec. 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the odds are coming out for fight number two.

Silva, despite the upset loss to Weidman at UFC 162, is still the favored fighter, with the odds opening at -140 for Silva compared to +100 for Weidman, according to the line set by MMAOddsbreaker.com’s Nick Kalikas.

The -140 number means that Silva is favored and that you’d have to place a $140 bet on him to win $100, should he win the rematch. The +100 on Weidman means that you would have to wager just $100 on Weidman to win $100 if he again defeated Silva.

That’s a bit of a drop from the first fight, where Silva opened at -215 (bet $215 to win $100), while Weidman opened at +165 (bet $100 to win $165). The first fight closed with Silva at -240 (bet $240 to win $100) and Weidman at +220 (bet $100 to win $220).

That’s to be expected since Weidman won the first fight, proving that he can beat Silva.

“The first time around I opened Anderson Silva -215. This time around the line is significantly lower, but Anderson is still coming in as a slight betting favorite,” Kalikas said on MMAOddsbreaker.com. “I’m opening him at -140, with the comeback on Chris Weidman at +100.

“I have a feeling a lot of the general betting public will support Silva because they feel Weidman’s win was a fluke. But I think you can make the argument for Weidman actually coming in as a slight favorite, as stylistically he still matches up very well with Silva and now he has the confidence backing it up coming off that knockout win.”