UFC 196 betting preview, McGregor vs. Diaz: McGregor, Holm big odds favorites

Conor McGregor has taken the UFC by storm, surging through the card to a 7-0 record in less than three years. McGregor will look to add another win to his resume at UFC 196 in Las Vegas squaring off against Nate Diaz in the main event.

McGregor is a -380 betting favorite in Saturday's main event at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Irish star has not lost a professional fight since 2010, stringing together 15 straight MMA wins since then.

McGregor is going up in weight class to take this fight, giving up advantages in both height and reach. Still, despite usually fighting as a featherweight, McGregor's striking ability is much more powerful than Diaz's, as indicated by 17 of his 19 professional wins coming by knockout.

Diaz (+290 to win the fight) has nothing to lose and everything to gain from this fight as the late replacement for Rafael dos Anjos. Diaz (18-10 as a professional) may own a slight advantage over McGregor if the fight gets taken to the mat, but that will be a tall order against McGregor's takedown defense.

To pull off the upset, Diaz will likely be best suited staying on the defensive and hoping to catch McGregor in a mistake.

Holly Holm put herself firmly on the map in the UFC with her knockout win over Ronda Rousey at UFC 193. Holm is a -350 betting favorite in her first defense of the bantamweight title squaring off against Miesha Tate, who would pay +265 with an upset win.

Since losing back-to-back fights to Cat Zingano and Rousey back in 2013, Tate has won each of her last four fights to pave the way to this title shot. Holm is undefeated to date with a 10-0 record as a professional and seven knockouts. One of the best woman strikers in the world, Holm is likely to successfully defend her title if she keeps the fight off the mat.

Other fights leading up to the UFC 196 headline events include Brandon Thatch (-300) vs. Siyar Bahadurzada (+230), Amanda Nunes (-135) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (+105), Corey Anderson (-300) vs. Tom Lawlor (+230), and Ilir Latifi (-200) vs Gian Villante (+160).