UFC 315 begins tonight at the Bell Centre in Montreal, marking the first occasion the UFC has visited Quebec's largest city in ten years, headlined by a welterweight championship fight featuring Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena. 

GSP Observation 

This morning, it’s reported that Georges St-Pierre, the local hero and a UFC Hall of Famer, a champion in the 170-pound category, will assist No. 15 Aiemann Zahabi in his featherweight bout against No. 11 Jose Aldo, expressing his willingness to drape the champion gold belt around either current champion Muhammad or Maddalena. 

“Of course, if they want me to do it, I’ll do it,” St-Pierre told Sportsnet. “But Saturday I’m gonna work as a cornerman and my priority is to be there for Aiemann Zahabi.”

The main card starts at 10 p.m. EST, featuring prelims starting at 8 p.m. E.S.T. 

Muhammad the Preferred Bet 

On the main card: Champion Valentina Shevchenko faces No. 2 Manon Fiorot in the women’s flyweight title match, No. 1-ranked Alexa Grasso competes against No. 5 Natalia Silva in a women’s flyweight contest, and No. 13 Benoit Saint Denis takes on Canadian Kyle Prepolec in a lightweight bout. 

What do the betting lines look like? 

The three most popular prop bets at FanDuel are Navajo Stirling (in a preliminary light heavyweight fight against Ivan Erslan) KO/TKO & Round 1 (Method & Round Combo), Shevchenko (ML), and Stirling KO/TKO & Round 2 (Method & Round Combo). 

Shevchenko via knockout? 

A representative from ESPN BET stated that 82.5% of wagers and 66.3% of the total handle are on Muhammad to win, with 26.1% of bets and 30.3% of handle forecasting a points victory, 23.9% of bets and 11.1% of handle expecting a win by KO, and 15.2% of bets with 5.1% of handle predicting a win by submission. 

In the women's championship fight, 16% of wagers and 53% of the total handle are placed on Manon Fiorot for victory. Shevchenko’s most favored winning method: KO 26.3% of wagers, 24.7% of total, points 26.3% of wagers, 23.9% of total, and submission 10.5% of wagers, 11.8% of total. 

Fiorot’s most favored method of winning: KO 10.5% of wagers, 27.5% of total money, points 15.8% of wagers, 9.8% of total money, submission 5.3% of wagers, 2.0% of total money. 

BetMGM Sees Line Narrowing 

This morning at BetMGM, Muhammad is -192 and Maddalena is +160. Fiorot is the favored bet at -133, while champion Shevchenko is at +110. Fifty-one percent of the wagers at BetMGM are placed on Muhammad, accounting for 71% of the total handle. Shevchenko, though the underdog, is receiving 79% of bets and 62% of the handle. Aldo is favored to win his fight against Zahabi, priced at -189, while Zahabi stands at +155.