Betting roundup /

Betting roundup: Sports books take a hit on UFC 196 after late money comes in on Diaz

A pair of upsets stunned the mixed martial arts world Saturday, as heavy favorites Holly Holm and Conor McGregor went down in back-to-back bouts to close UFC 196 in Las Vegas.

Holm, in her first fight since upsetting Ronda Rousey in November, fell by submission in the fifth round to +240 underdog Miesha Tate. Soon after, Nate Diaz (+350) handed McGregor his first loss since 2010 via second-round submission.

Among sports books, the consensus seems to be that it was a bad night—but it could’ve been worse.

For most of the week, Diaz, who was filling in for an injured Rafael dos Anjos, drew loads of small-ticket support, but the big money remained on McGregor. That started to change in the hours before the fight, as bigger bets poured in on the underdog.

As of Friday night, William Hill US was reporting that just 12 percent of the money wagered was in favor of Diaz, but by fight time, that had swung dramatically to 56 percent at the operator’s 105 books in Nevada.

Those trends appear to have held elsewhere, as well. Prior to the main event, a BetOnline representative tweeted that a Diaz win would deal the online book its second-biggest loss on a fight in company history, and Jeff Stoneback of the Mirage told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Saturday was “probably our worst UFC result ever, besides the night Ronda Rousey got beat.”

It could’ve been much worse if not for late-arriving money on Holm.

Tate was receiving 81 percent of tickets and 85 percent of the money at William Hill books on Friday night, but was down to 55 percent by Saturday night, and Stoneback said big bets on Holm helped the Mirage avoid a truly ugly night.

“We did win every undercard fight,” Stoneback said, “so we were very fortunate to break even on the night after losing that McGregor fight.”

AROUND THE WEB

TWEETS OF NOTE

ODDS & ENDS