Back in January, Raoni Barcelos scored one of the biggest upsets of the year, according to the oddsmakers, when he handed unbeaten Dana White’s Contender Series alum Payton Talbott the first loss of his professional career.
Opening as a +440 underdog, the odds continued to climb leading up to the event at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California until the Brazilian veteran closed somewhere north of +700, a number that basically says, “It’s going to be pretty unexpected if this guy goes out and gets the victory on Saturday night.”
On one hand, the intense action on Talbott — and the corresponding skyrocketing of Barcelos’ betting line — made sense: the 26-year-old Reno native sat at 9-0, coming off consecutive stoppage wins over Cameron Saaiman and Yanis Ghemmouri, and rightfully appeared on every watch list of the top prospects in the UFC to start the year.