One weekend and Two big events. It doesn’t happen often but when it does, it’s a jolt of adrenaline for MMA fans, pundits and bettors. With Bellator NYC and UFC Fight Night OKC, we have ourselves an epic weekend of fights and whole lot of Fun Bets.
Let’s kick things off with the Bellator NYC event where we see Chael Sonnen (-150) and Wanderlei Silva (+130) in the main event.
Those straight-up odds may seem peculiar considering Silva has not competed in over 4 years but after Sonnen’s performance versus Tito Ortiz in his last bout, oddsmakers and early bettors do not seem to be believers in Chael P.
It’s a challenge to figure out which version of each fighter will show up on Saturday night, but one thing is for certain: Silva is amped for this fight and is itching to make Sonnen pay for his transgressions. It seems to me that the one thing that is just about guaranteed to happen is Wanderlei doing whatever he can to tee off on Sonnen. And if he connects with ruthless abandonment, he may score a finish, which is currently listed at +166.
Now, if you subscribe to Sonnen having nothing to do with the stand-up and working for a takedown, to smother ‘The Axe Murderer’ until the final bell, you can get Chael via decision at +410.
In the co-main event, Fedor Emelianenko (+110) is the underdog against Matt Mitrione (-130). And again, this one is a hard one to dissect. Fedor hasn’t finished a high(ish) caliber opponent in ages. If you think that opponent was Andre Arlovski, then fine - but that was over 8 years ago.
On the flip side, Mitrione has finished his fair share of finishes during that timeframe and is on a two fight winning streak. I’ll give Matt the edge in this bout and won’t be surprised if he does get a finish (+111).
As for the rest of the card, here are a few options you may want to consider:
Douglas Lima (+160) to pull off the upset over Lorenz Larkin
Disagree? Perhaps Larkin via finish (+162) instead
Phil Davis wins via decision (+230) over Ryan Bader
We move forward to the UFC’s Fight Night in Oklahoma City, where the bad blood between Kevin Lee (-140) and Michael Chiesa (+120) will ignite the hearts and minds of all MMA fans who have been paying attention to the lead up for this one.
I’m leaning towards Lee in this one and it may not be pretty for Chiesa. Look for Kevin to punish Michael here with his fists and avoid the ground game if he can. I’m liking the +320 on Lee via T/KO.
In the co-main event, Johny Hendricks (-220) will continue his push at middleweight as he takes on Tim Boetsch (+180). While ‘The Big Rigg’ will have the speed advantage here, he won’t have the power advantage.
I believe if Johnny is going to win, it will be via decision (+140) but if there is going to be a finish, I’m actually leaning towards Boetsch via T/KO (+590).
Then there’s the BJ Penn (+175) and Denis Siver (-210) bout which I personally cannot see going the distance. There’s actually a prop for this at +115 … seems like one to consider.
While I also believe the Felice Herrig (-115) and Justine Kish (-105) has decision written all over it, I would not be surprised if we see one of two things: Herrig pulling off a submission (+495) or Kish shocking the MMA world who do not know about her striking acumen. She may pull of a T/KO here. And if you buy that theory, you can get that prop for a whopping +595.
As for the rest of the card, you may see some surprises take place. Here are few to consider:
Clay Guida wins by decision (+375) over Erik Koch
No? Think Koch can T/KO Guida? You can get that for +325. Perhaps dutch these two options?
Any fun bets you think should be considered? Feel free to leave comments or hit me up on social media ( @ShowdownJoe ) anytime.
