Anderson Silva opens as huge favorite over Chael Sonnen in July boxing match

Unsurprisingly, Anderson Silva is a huge favorite over Chael Sonnen for their upcoming trilogy fight.

This past weekend, news broke that Silva and Sonnen will face off in a boxing match in Brazil on July 15. While there are still several details of the fight yet to be announced, such as weight class and rounds, the fight is being promoted as the “grand finale” of Silva’s illustrious combat sports career. The 44-year-old Silva has yet to confirm whether this will be his retirement fight, but if it is, he’ll go into it as a healthy betting favorite, per the opening odds courtesy of Sportsbetting.ag.

• Anderson Silva -500
• Chael Sonnen +325

The odds on Silva require a bettor to wager $500 to earn $100 back, plus the wager, and imply an 83.3 percent change of victory for “The Spider.”

Silva and Sonnen met twice before inside the UFC in one of the most memorable rivalries in UFC history. Silva won both meetings, but is perhaps best known for his incredible comeback submission win in their first encounter at UFC 117, a fight that will be enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame later this summer.

In recent years, Silva shifted his focus from MMA to boxing, most recently losing a unanimous decision to Jake Paul in October of 2022. Meanwhile, Sonnen has not competed since 2019, losing to Lyoto Machida at Bellator 222.