Is Zhang Weili a betting underdog against Tatiana Suarez for UFC 312? Fans confused about SHOCKING odds

UFC 312 PPV co-main event title challenger Tatiana Suarez is bigger on the money line over UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili.

Is Zhang Weili a betting underdog against Tatiana Suarez for UFC 312? Fans confused about SHOCKING odds

Zhang Weili vs. Tatiana Suarez are defying odds and orders for UFC 312 PPV (Source: X)

Zhang Weili looks to hand Tatiana Suarez her first loss at the UFC 312 title fight. Weili has been on a dominant run so far. Her five victories in UFC bantamweight competition title fights are second-most behind Joanna Jedrzejczyk [6]. The only Chinese fighter in history to win a UFC title, she has been a reckoning for her rivals. However, the curious case of strawweight Tatiana Suarez might be different.

Per FanDuel, Zhang Weili opened up a moderate -225 favorite on the money line for UFC 312. But the standout wrestler Suarez, who was a +172 underdog, ballooned up! According to DraftsKing Sportsbook, Tatiana Suarez (-122) is now riding over the champ Weili – little behind as a +102 underdog. If the current odds hold, this will be the second time the Chinese fighter will close an underdog.

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The first time she challenged Jessica Andrade for the title in 2019, Weili came into the bout as an underdog. It’s been a long road since then. Since dominating Carla Esparza to reclaim the strawweight title at UFC 281, Weili has defended her title twice. They came in the way of unanimous decision wins over Amanda Lemos and Yan Xiaonan.

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She was a part of the historic UFC 300 PPV title tripleheader last April, where she fought Xiaonan. While her opening props make sense, Suarez doesn’t. “TSP” has her wrestle-heavy background as her unique selling point, and it has given her a lot of momentum. The MMA community has reacted to the wild odds.

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Fight fans react to Tatiana Suarez’s ginormous odds

Suarez will earn her first-career title crack after an unbeaten run. She has defeated former champs Esparza, Alexa Grasso, and Jessica Andrade. The challenger was due to fight with Virna Jandiroba at UFC 310, but the fight was canceled for undisclosed reasons.

Fans react to Tatiana Suarez odds
Fans react to Tatiana Suarez odds (Source: X)

Suarez explained that with Xiaonan in the cog as a recent title challenger, Zhang Weili might have chosen her for a rematch. As such, she’d have to wait out even as a top contender and biggest seed for UFC WMMA’s strawweight gold. But now, here is what fans think of that and the disparity in odds for Tatiana Suarez (10-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC),

Weili and her prowess are well documented. Her disparity of +267 in total strikes landed (296 to 29) at UFC 292 PPV is the second-biggest margin. Kamaru Usman holds that crown in a UFC title fight. Weili’s five fight night bonuses in UFC strawweight bouts are fourth-most on the record. But UFC 312 title challenger Saurez, 34, is no mere matter.

Suarez’s seven-fight UFC winning streak ties only with Manon Fiorot. A wrestle-heavy cardio machine, she has landed multiple takedowns on all of her opponents so far; quite the Merab Dvalishvili syndrome. Fans have expressed as much. Weili is also nearing her champ’s curse of “35”; her chin isn’t what it used to be either.

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For now, though, a major portion still stands by the champ due to her striking proficiency and the fact that Suarez has blanks in her resume. Suarez can become the 15th fighter in UFC history to win a title while remaining undefeated. If so, she’ll be defying more than just mere odds and digits for a while.

Related: Best wrestlers in UFC history: 10 fighters that dominated opponents with ins*ne wrestling skills