The price to bet Conor McGregor grew leading up to Saturday’s main event of UFC 247 as big bets continued to come in on the native of Ireland, who is always a big draw at sportsbooks.
With a few hours to go before the fight, McGregor was a -330 favorite to beat Dustin Poirier, according to Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill. Poirier was listed as a +270 underdog.
A month ago, when the fight was made official, McGregor was around a -260 favorite, but the betting action has been lopsided, causing the price to grow steadily. At William Hill books, 84% of the money wagered was on McGregor.
FanDuel reported taking $80,000, $65,000 and $55,000 bets on McGregor on Saturday, in addition to a $188,900 bet on the favorite that was placed last Friday in New Jersey. Sportsbook PointsBet said it took a $100,000 bet on McGregor last Friday.
“McGregor has always been a big draw, and pretty much whatever’s in the pot right now is on McGregor,” Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading for William Hill U.S., said in a company release Friday. “I would imagine that we’ll need Poirier pretty good.”
As of Saturday, bookmakers were struggling to attract big money on the underdog. The largest reported bet on Poirier was $14,800, placed Saturday with DraftKings.
“One guy late last night put $3,000 on Poirier +265, but it’s still all Conor money,” John Murray, executive director at the SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas, told ESPN on Saturday.
McGregor knocked out Poirier in the first round of their 2014 bout. Saturday’s rematch will take place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and be available on ESPN pay-per-view.