UFC 150 Preview

Benson Henderson (15-2) vs. Frankie Edgar (14-2-1)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Henderson -200, Edgar +160

Headlining the UFC 150 card, Frankie Edgar will look to reclaim the lightweight title from Benson Henderson, who took it from him in February with a five-round decision victory.

This is both Henderson and Edgar’s first fight since that UFC 144 bout. Since leaving WEC, when he lost the title there to Anthony Pettis, Henderson has transitioned to UFC with no issues. While he has been unable to end fights before the final bell, he has prevailed in all four of his UFC fights, posting decision victories. In these wins, he has consistently outfought his opponents, Mark Bocek, Jim Miller, Clay Guida, and most recently, Edgar. In Edgar’s past eight bouts, he is 6-1-1 with four of his wins coming as decisions, plus one KO and one submission to boot. When these two fighters came to blows in February, Henderson’s overwhelming power was the difference. Edgar is often the aggressor and focuses on landing more attacks, but Henderson’s size advantage proved final, as he was able to answer Edgar’s weaker attacks with crushing blows.

At 5-foot-9, Henderson holds a three-inch height advantage over Edgar, fueling speculation that Edgar might drop down to the featherweight class after their last fight. But “Smooth” Henderson’s first title defense comes against the man who he took it from, so his wrestling game will need to be at its best again. With a classic ground-and-pound attacking style, Henderson is a relentless fighter who makes it count when he connects. His Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu allow him to balance that wrestling attack with good striking and submissions, but if Henderson wins this one, it will be by outdueling Edgar for the full 25 minutes.

Edgar first won the title in 2010 from BJ Penn, and defended it against Penn in the next fight with a second consecutive unanimous decision. Some people thought he deserved better in his last fight against Henderson because he tried to land more attacks than his opponent, but there is no questioning he came out of the fight more injured than Henderson. Unlike Henderson, “The Answer” Edgar has won fights both by knockout and submissions since being in UFC, and against such a punishing fighter, his best shot here might be making a move to finish this one before the final bell.

Donald Cerrone (18-4) vs. Melvin Guillard (47-11-3)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Cerrone -300, Guillard +240

With the lightweight belt up for grabs between Henderson and Edgar on this card, fellow lightweights Donald Cerrone and Melvin Guillard will also battle it out in the Octagon in Saturday’s UFC 150.

Cerrone certainly enters this fight between the two former training partners with the momentum as the winner in seven of his past eight bouts, with that one loss coming to Nate Diaz. He bounced back well, however, with a unanimous decision over Jeremy Stephens, and has beaten other top foes recently such as Denis Siver and Charles Oliveira. Guillard has lost two of his past three fights, but since 2008 is 8-3 in UFC, most recently with a win over Fabricio Camoes on July 7. In terms of common opponents, one of Guillard’s three losses was to Diaz, but he also owns a victory over Stephens to his name. While Cerrone is understandably the favorite here, with a great chance at earning a submission victory, Guillard has also proven capable of ending any fight at any point with his unmistakable knockout power.

At 6-foot-0, “Cowboy” Cerrone owns a three-inch height advantage in this bout. Strikes make up the core of his attack but when he wins, it’s because he has tactically positioned himself and earned a submission—13 of his 18 career wins have been submissions. And that could prove effective against Guillard, whose wild attacking style leaves him vulnerable to submissions, especially recently. His past two losses were both rear-naked choke submissions. The last two times Cerrone won by submission, he used that exact techinque.

“The Young Assassin” Guillard has undeniable power, the question is if he can discipline himself enough in a given fight to make that strength an advantage, not a disadvantage. His attacks sometimes leave him vulnerable to opponent counters, which he has to be wary of against a quality fighter like Cerrone. A boxer by trade, he needs to make sure he connects when he decides to pounce, and make sure his strikes count.

Jake Shields (27-6-1) vs. Ed Herman (20-7)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Shields -200, Herman +160

In one of two middleweight bouts on UFC 150, Jake Shields will come to blows with Ed Herman, the winner of three consecutive fights.

In his past three bouts, Herman has found his form, winning with a KO of Tim Credeur and submissions of Kyle Noke and Clifford Starks. Shields is 2-2 since joining UFC in 2010, but has fought cream-of-the-crop opponents. He won a controversial split decision over Martin Kampmann, then lost to Georges St-Pierre for the middleweight belt in a five-round decision. Five months later, he lost in a quick 1st-round KO to Jake Ellenberger, but rebounded well with a decision win over Yoshihiro Akiyama in February. With 12 submissions and six knockouts in his career, Herman undoubtedly has the ability to end this fight early. But he has never fought the quality of opponents that Shields has, while Shields has regularly made easy work of easier foes.

Herman’s major advantage in this bout may be his height advantage, standing at 6-foot-2, two inches above Shields. The 31-year-old Herman is also two years younger than his opponent. While his three-consecutive victories suggest he is ready to take on tougher fighters, it wasn’t long ago that he was struggling mightily. In the four fights before that, he lost three against opponents who are not daunting. A talented Jiu Jitsu artist, “Short Fuse” Herman will need to focus on taking this to the ground and trying to finish his opponent before the final bell with a submission. Shields, however, has never lost via submission.

Also trained in Jiu Jitsu, Shields has 10 submission victories in his career and 14 decision wins. The latter seems like his best approach for this fight, as a stronger technical fighter who should have no problem earning the nod from the judges. His wrestling is also a strong point, but ultimately what gives him an edge against most opponents is his world-class endurance that lets him fight relentlessly until the final bell.

Topping the UFC 149 card on Saturday night in Calgary, two elite 5-foot-6 bantamweights take the Octagon for a bout between Urijah Faber and Renan Barao.

Barao takes the spot on this card in place of Dominick Cruz, who would have fought for the third time against Faber. But Barao is no chump, the winner of all of his career fights but his first, including his past three, which have been UFC promoted. The Brazilian has also proven to be dangerous at winning via submission, where he has come out on top 13 career times. Faber, though, is coming off a title eliminator fight against Brian Bowles in which he won with a guillotine choke, following a bout against Cruz in which the pair went five rounds, giving Cruz a decision win. Ultimately, while Barao is climbing his way up within this division, he hasn’t beaten close to the class of fighters that Faber has. And Faber’s multi-faceted attack, that could give him a submission win or a TKO, figures to give him the edge in this one.

Faber, nicknamed “The California Kid” first fought Cruz in 2007, when Faber earned a victory in what would be the third of six successful defenses of his WEC featherweight title. But Cruz got the best of him the last time they fought, handing Faber his fourth straight title defeat in four years. The 33-year-old Faber’s submission skills are superb, as are his abilities to take an opponent down, but what may separate him from Barao is the speed and precision he demonstrates with his hands and feet to tactically put him in a position to succeed.

Significant hype surrounds Barao in this matchup, considering he hasn’t lost in 31 straight fights (30 wins, 1 no-contest). Of his most recent wins, he has either outlasted his opponent or won via submission—in UFC he has one submission in three fights, while he has five in his past eight overall. His decision win over Scott Jorgensen was big in his last fight in February, establishing himself as a legitimate contender. But his one-dimensional submission approach may not be able to keep up with a fighter as technically advanced as Faber.

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Hector Lombard (31-2-1) vs. Tim Boetsch (15-4)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Lombard -270, Boetsch +210

Hector Lombard will make his UFC debut as a heavy favorite on the UFC 149 card in a middleweight bout against Tim Boetsch.

As the Bellator middleweight champ, Lombard has made noise in MMA and could have the chance to face Anderson Silva at some point if he can be convincing enough in his victories. But Boetsch has experience fighting in the Octagon where he is 4-1, including three straight wins since he switched to fighting as a middleweight. Those victories have been increasingly impressive, with the last one a TKO over Yushin Okami. Lombard certainly has destructive power that can give him a knockout at any time, but at 5-foot-9 he cedes three inches to Boetsch in this fight. Boetsch also has a reach advantage of 2-to-3 inches, giving him a greater chance to earn a knockout or submission of his own.

Lombard has seemingly fought everywhere but UFC, but has not stepped in the Octagon since November of 2011. That’s a significant span of eight months, with rust potentially playing a factor in any high-level MMA fight. Still, with Lombard’s combination of Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, boxing and judo, he is understandably the chalk in this one.

The 31-year-old Boetsch is called “The Barbarian” for good reason—he is an aggressive wrestler who has the brute strength to beat any opponent. He also does not go down easily; his wild fighting style lends to taking some punishing hits, but his chin lets him fight on without going down.

Cheick Kongo (27-7-2) vs. Shawn Jordan (13-3)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Pick ‘em

Cheick Kongo will look to bounce back from a loss in Saturday’s heavyweight battle at UFC 149 when he faces Shawn Jordan, who is looking for his third consecutive win.

Jordan fought in his first UFC bout his last time out, earning an impressive 2nd-round TKO against Oli Thompson. Kongo, by contrast, is a UFC veteran, as this will be his 17th UFC bout, where he carries a record of 10-5-1. Jordan was slightly favored in this bout, but the lines are currently even at -115 for each fighter. Before his win over Thompson, Jordan earned a submission win over the talented Lavar Johnson last September in Strikeforce. Meanwhile, Kongo has far more experience taking on elite fighters in this division. In a bout that figures to either end in a knockout or decision, Kongo’s experience beating names such as Matt Mitrione and Pat Barry (both in 2011) should pay dividends. And when Kongo has lost, it has often been to top-notch fighters like Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez. That experience will give him the edge against a foe who needs more seasoning before he deserves to be deemed an equal in a bout like this.
Kongo is 3-1-1 in his past five fights, earning a decision, TKO and submission win. But the 6-foot-4 heavyweight most regularly wins via knockout, by which the majority of his career victories have come. The 37-year-old Kongo is a powerful striker and an effective kickboxer, but also uses his massive size to take down his foes as a Greco Roman wrestler. For both of those tactics, his four-inch height advantage could be the key to victory on Saturday night.

Kongo may have the height advantage in this one, but Jordan will look to use his smaller frame to help him this one with a thicker (260 pounds, 20 more than Kongo) and more athletic build. “The Savage” Jordan is a deadly striker, with nine of his 13 career wins coming via knockout. The former LSU running back can also engage Kongo in a ground battle, but both of these big men will trade their fair share of punches.

UFC 149 Betting Odds & Fight Card

UFC Interim Bantamweight Championship

Urijah Faber +160

Renan Barao -200

Middleweight Bout

Tim Boetsch +275

Hector Lombard -345

Heavyweight Bout

Cheick Kongo +110

Shawn Jordan -140

Welterweight Bout

James Head +285

Brian Ebersole -355

Welterweight Bout

Matt Riddle -150

Chris Clements +120

Middleweight Bout

Nick Ring -120

Court McGee -110

Bantamweight Bout

Roland Delorme +107

Francisco Rivera -137

Light Heavyweight Bout

Anthony Perosh +140

Ryan Jimmo -170

Featherweight Bout

Bryan Caraway -200

Mitch Gagnon +160

Featherweight Bout

Antonio Carvalho +180

Daniel Pineda -220

Lightweight Bout

Mitch Clarke +130

Anton Kuivanen -160

Sportsbook.ag Line: Silva -300, Sonnen +240

In rematch of UFC 117, Anderson Silva will look to defend his UFC middleweight title against Chael Sonnen in Saturday’s main event of UFC 148 in Las Vegas.

Silva is the winner of 15 consecutive fights, never having lost since he earned the middleweight title in 2006 with a win over Rich Franklin. Sonnen’s last loss was his 2010 submission to Silva, but he has rebounded well with a submission win over Brian Stann and a unanimous decision victory over Michael Bisping in January. Notably, however, Sonnen is looking to avenge his loss to Silva in which he tested positive for drugs after the fight. Silva is perhaps the premier striker in all of UFC, and he showed that in their last bout. But his submission victory proved his well-rounded skill set, taking advantage of fortunate positioning to earn the win despite being outhit by Sonnen throughout the course of the fight. With Sonnen’s excellent wrestling skills and the strong striking he has shown lately, he certainly has what it takes to bring down the reigning champ if everything breaks his way. And there will be no shortage of intrigue in this fight with the variety of storylines — performance-enhancing drugs, revenge and the longest winning streak in UFC.

Despite being 37 years old, “The Spider” Silva has had no trouble making quick work of anybody thrown his way. He has two straight knockouts with a TKO of Yushin Okami in his last bout, and a first-round KO of Vitor Belfort in his previous fight. Silva has 18 career wins via knockout and six from submissions. Of all his opponents, however, Sonnen gave him the best fight—reports were that after the fight, Sonnen would have won should it have reached a judges’ decision. But, Silva earned that fifth-round submission, so it never got there.

After Sonnen tested positive for PEDs following the Silva fight, his stock was down. But, he has boosted it back up since then with two strong wins that have reasserted him among the elite in the middleweight class. Those wins earned him this much-anticipated rematch after he nearly won the last time. Sonnen’s wrestling skills caused Silva a great deal of trouble last time, setting up the way for strikes and an effective attacking style that Silva was not prepared for. Silva will undoubtedly be more prepared this time, but Sonnen’s skills undeniably pose a threat to Silva.

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Forrest Griffin (18-7) vs. Tito Ortiz (17-10-1)

Sportsbook.ag Line: Griffin -400, Ortiz +300

In another rematch on the UFC 148 card, Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz will battle Saturday night for a third time in a bout between two former light heavyweight champs.

This fight represents what will likely be Ortiz’s last bout, with the veteran being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame prior to the fight. Ortiz is calling it quits for good reason—he has lost two consecutive fights and six of his past eight, one of which was to Griffin in a split decision in UFC 106. In particular, Ortiz has shown he is vulnerable to strong striking attacks, losing both of his last two fights by TKO. Although Griffin did not look his best in his most recent bout either, a first-round defeat at the hands of Mauricio Rua, he should be able to fend off Ortiz’s wrestling advances fairly easily. As long as Griffin is able to keep that distance, he should have no trouble making relatively easy work of Ortiz, who as his recent string of losses shows, just does not have enough fuel to win another fight against a quality opponent. Griffin’s kicking will be instrumental in fending off Ortiz. Still, going down either by KO or a decision against his nemesis Griffin is an appropriate way for Ortiz to end his career.

In Griffin’s last bout, he was outworked by Rua, who quickly earned a knockout in the first round. But don’t expect Griffin to come out looking like that again. The 33-year-old Griffin is not the fighter he once was—he had defeated Rua back in 2007—but he is still a guy who belongs among the elite in the light heavyweight class. In his two fights before losing to Rua, he had defeated Rich Franklin and Ortiz, with the Franklin fight coming in 2011 after a long layoff. Griffin’s strong legs and expert grappling skills, having won seven times in his career via submission, should let him take this fight against a familiar opponent.

Ortiz’s best shot at winning this one is turning it into a wrestling match, something Griffin will look to avoid. Ortiz’s most recent win was a submission last July over Ryan Bader in UFC 132, but since then he has looked sluggish with two consecutive losses that showed he is truly over the hill. If the 37-year-old Ortiz can coax Griffin into letting him make this a close-contact takedown battle, he has a chance for the upset. But Griffin has always been a fighter smart enough to avoid his opponents’ strengths, and this fight should be no different.

Cung Le (7-2) vs. Patrick Cote (18-7)

Sportsbook.ag Line: Cote -220, Le +170

Cung Le will look to rebound from his second career loss and prove he belongs among the elite in the middleweight division with win over Patrick Cote on UFC 148’s main card Saturday night.

Cote enters this fight as the favorite, once placing himself near the top of the middleweights until he lost to Anderson Silva challenging for the divisional crown. Two losses followed that defeat, but he then left UFC and has since won four straight. Le lost his last bout to Wanderlei Silva, but before that earned an impressive KO over Scott Smith after losing to him in their previous fight. Cote is a traditional striker with immense punching power and he will need to get close to Le in order to pounce. That can be difficult, however, given that Le is one of the most powerful kickers in the game and gives his opponents plenty of confusing looks. Given the incredible power both of these fighters will bring to the octagon, and great shot at a knockout from either side, this fight is difficult to predict. But Le figures to have a strong shot at coming out on top in this one as an elite kickboxer.

Le has won seven of his nine career fights, with each of those wins being a knockout. Wanderlei Silva was able to beat Le in a second round TKO, but Le certainly did not look overmatched there, fighting one of the best middleweights in the world. His kicks are a dangerous threat to any opponent, and fighting somebody who has not been in UFC in the last two years, he could catch Cote off guard, giving him a good chance at this upset.

Cote has won four consecutive bouts, but he lost his last three fights in UFC. Le dropped his only UFC bout but it was that strong showing versus Silva. Cote has shown he can win every which way in his career, but his two most recent wins have been knockouts. His punches have a chance to take Le down quickly, but only if he can remain patient and make sure he keeps the fight close enough so that the kicking part of his attack is less of a factor.

As far as what has taken place inside the Octagon, Silva has successfully defended his UFC Middleweight title a record-nine straight times since 2006, including a fifth-round submission win over Sonnen back at UFC 117 in a fight that many felt Sonnen was in line to win had it gone to a judge’s decision. That was the win in which Silva broke the record for most consecutive UFC victories with 12, and was awarded the World MMA Awards Fight of the Year. Sonnen has been pushing for a rematch ever since, and after Silva made easy work of both Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami with a pair of knockout wins, the challenger will finally get his best rematch.

The Online Sportsbook excitement and anticipation continues to build ahead of UFC 148, and regardless of the result the hype and buildup for this fight should ensure it will not let MMA fans down. Sonnen may have finally gotten to Silva in terms of getting him to break and speak out, but only time will tell whether or not his words will help him or come back to work against him when it is all said and done.

Wanderlei Silva (34-11-1) vs. Rich Franklin (28-6)

Sportsbook.ag Line: Franklin -155, Silva +125

Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin will headline the UFC 147 card in a 190 lb. catchweight bout on Saturday night in Brazil. Vitor Belfort had to step out with a broken hand, making room for Franklin.

Silva is the ultimate MMA veteran with 46 fights under his belt, and is coming off a strong TKO victory against Cung Le. Franklin, a former UFC middleweight champ, is coming off a loss to Forrest Griffin. These two fighters squared off in 2009 with Franklin earning a unanimous decision victory. In his prime, Silva used to be a reckless fighter who had a chin as tough as any, able to absorb hits as he would brawl and defeat his opponents. Since he has aged however, he has had to become more careful, something he has been figuring out. Franklin has not fought in over a year due to a shoulder injury, but before he was hurt, was a good wrestler who could work his kickboxing into any fight effectively. As of last year, Franklin was probably the stronger fighter, but it is tough to know how well he will be able to fight without having seen him battle for so long.

With 34 wins in his career, “The Axe Murderer” Silva has won every which way. But knockouts are his most common method of victory, with 24. He’s still an aggressive striker but he’s no longer as wild, as his technique and experience has developed in order to make up for his diminishing power. Still, three of his past four wins have been knockouts. He is still the loser of six of his past nine fights, showing he is not the fighter he once was. But at 35 years old, he is fighting somebody who is 37.

Without having fought in almost a year and a half (Feb. 5, 2011), it’s tough to know exactly how “Ace” Franklin will come out in this fight. He has never been the most aggressive fighter, but he has always been one of the sport’s toughest. If Silva wants to knock him out, he’s going to have to earn it. Like Silva, Franklin is an elite striker who is generally well-rounded. Fifteen of his career wins have been knockouts, while 10 have been submissions.

Fabricio Werdum (15-5-1) vs. Mike Russow (15-1)

Sportsbook.ag Line: Werdum -600, Russow +400

Fabricio Werdum and Mike Russow will square off in the lone heavyweight bout on UFC 147’s main card Saturday night in Brazil.

Russow enters this bout the winner of 11 in a row including his first four UFC promotion fights. Two of those UFC wins have been knockouts, including an incredible KO of Todd Duffee that really placed him on the map. Werdum has won four of his past five bouts, having fought all the best heavyweights in the world, a much tougher schedule than Russow. He made headlines with his submission of Fedor Emelianenko three fights ago (June 26, 2010), and in his return to UFC in his last bout, he defeated Roy Nelson in a unanimous decision. Werdum’s Jiu-Jitsu is top-notch and has a great chance for a submission in this fight. Both of these combatants have 15 career victories and have the same breakdown of four knockouts, eight submissions and three decisions. With the experience against the best in the world and wins against many of them, Werdum is understandably favored in this one. But his odds are too short, considering the chance Russow has to nail a KO blow or even outlast him for a decision win.

Werdum’s usual weakness is against a fighter who can be strong on his feet, which does not describe Russow. “Vai Cavalo” Werdum has shown time and time again that his ground game is as good as anybody’s in the world. At 6-foot-4, he also holds three inches over Russow. Depending on how this fight plays out, that could turn out to be a relatively important advantage.

Russow is 35, one year older than his opponent, and has shown he can surprise with a knockout, but always looks for the submission. A former Division I wrestler, he can take down the best of them, and may be forced in trying to do that against a fellow ground aficionado in Werdum. This is a tough matchup for him against another ground fighter, but he certainly has a chance for a submission, knockout or even a decision win.

Clay Guida and Gray Maynard will look to position themselves among the elite in the lightweight division as they headline the UFC on FX 4 card.

Both of these fighters enter this bout looking to rebound from a loss with Maynard falling via TKO to Frankie Edgar in his last bout, and Guida losing to Ben Henderson in a decision. Maynard’s attack strategy is based in wrestling, so he will be looking to take down Guida, but at the same time Maynard will be setting it up with a strong striking attack that may dominate the early parts of this fight. Guida is well prepared to handle that sort of ground-and-pound attack with strong wrestling skills to counteract his foe and flexibility that is among the best in this weight class. He will be extremely hard to take down and bully on the ground, making this fight an extra challenge for Maynard. Because they are both such strong wrestlers, takedowns could be a difficult avenue to win this fight, but grappling is realistic, especially for Guida who has won 15 of his 29 career fights via submission and is also more suited to prevail if this fight goes the distance.

Maynard’s loss to Edgar in October was for the UFC lightweight championship and came nine months after the two fought to a draw in January. Back in 2008, Maynard beat Edgar for his fifth career win. Indeed, Maynard established himself as belonging with the division’s best in that fight, though a loss here could certainly damage himself within the class. Maynard may have a chance at knocking Guida out in this fight if he can get his striking going early, otherwise his best chance is to prolong this battle and win via decision.

Before Guida’s defeat at the hands of Ben Henderson last Novemeber, he had won four fights in a row, most recently with a decision over Anthony Pettis and a submission of Takanori Gomi. At 5-foot-7, he cedes an inch to Maynard in this fight but that shouldn’t be a huge deal especially as they both will attempt to take each other down from the opening bell. Should that be the style of this fight, Guida should have the advantage as the player more capable of turning those circumstances into a submission victory.

Sam Stout (18-7-1) vs. Spencer Fisher (25-8)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Stout -340, Fisher +260

In the second lightweight bout on UFC on FX 4’s main card, Sam Stout and Spencer Fisher will come to blows, rekindling an old rivalry.

Stout and Fisher are both coming off losses, with Fisher dropping two in a row. The first one of those was a unanimous decision to Ross Pearson, while in the most recent one last August, he was TKO’ed by Thiago Tavares. Stout is coming off a decision loss to Tavares. These two lightweights have fought twice before, with Stout winning a split decision in 2006 and Stout taking a unanimous decision in 2007. Fisher usually struggles most against opponents who can grapple well, and Stout does not fall into that category. Still, Stout is a phenomenal striker who at 28 years old is still in his prime and should be able to dictate the pace of this fight with his hands and feet. At 36, Fisher has lost four of his past five UFC bouts and will not be able to keep up with his former rival.

Before his lost to Tavares, “Hands of Stone” Stout had won two fights in a row over Yves Edwards and Paul Taylor. And there were encouraging signs late in that fight against Tavares, he just got off to a rough start in that bout. He’s won by knockout nine times in his career, but doesn’t need to win that way; he can easily out-strike his opponents for an entire fight and win via decision. This bout looks like it may go that way, with his Muay Thai skills wearing Fisher out.

“The King” Fisher of old might have a chance in this fight, but he just doesn’t look like that fighter anymore. At 5-foot-7 he also cedes two inches to Stout, something that could be important in this fight that will take place largely standing up. He might pack a slightly larger punch than Stout, but he shouldn’t be able to land close to the number that Stout will in this bout.

The most recent name to come up in online betting rumors for taking a fight with Jones is Junior Dos Santos, the reigning UFC Heavyweight champion. Dos Santos successfully defended his belt at UFC 146 against Frank Mir, and when asked whether or not he would be willing to fight Jones at the heavyweight level, told reporters directly that he would welcome the challenge. With a potential rematch against Cain Valasquez next on the bill for Dos Santos, it seems clear that he is facing a similar problem to Jones, with a lack of elite talent in the division. Alistair Overeem was suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs, and even though he has built a reputation as one of the top heavyweights in the sport, that now comes in to question given the recent per head revelations. It is clear that perhaps the best route may be to pin the two champions against one another in a super pay per view, something that UFC President Dana White has to consider.

While there was rumors about former UFC champion Brock Lesnar giving up the fishing games and making a return to the octagon, it doesn’t appear as though that will happen. Lesnar had the ability to sell out buildings and was a huge draw for pay per view ratings, but with all that he has been through in the past couple of years, there is no reason for him to risk another fight in the octagon. That leaves Jones as the rising star in the UFC, and with no real No. 1 contender to fight him in his division. If Jones and Dos Santos were to agree to a catchweight fight, it would at the very least cause a substantial buzz worthy of convincing fans to buy in to the event, even if Jones continues his domination. The UFC is in an important transition where the sport is as popular as it has ever been and it now has to find ways to maintain that interest, and Dos Santos vs. Jones could be the next big thing.

We’ll begin with the lesser matches on the main card. Joe Lauzon finds himself as a huge +300 underdog against Melvin Guillard. However, we’re not ones to count out J-Lau as a contender in this fight. He does have some impressive fights in his career, including posting wins over Jason Reinhardt, Jeremy Stephens, and Gabe Ruediger. Of course, the loss to George Sotiropoulous was the loss that really had him reeling, but a win over Curt Warburton brought him back towards the top of the mountain in the lightweight division. Don’t be shocked if Lauzon pulls off the upset over the veteran, Guillard, though the latter does have a very impressive 29-8-2 mark and hasn’t been beaten since September 2009.

In the featherweight division, we’re watching to see if Nam Phan can get back on the horse after back to back losses. In fact, Phan has lost seven out of 11 fights dating back to December 2006, and his team here with the UFC hasn’t been stellar to say the least. Leonard Garcia, his foe on Saturday, beat Phan at The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck just 10 months ago via split decision, and we just don’t see any reason why that won’t be the worst case scenario for Garcia again in this one. We’re definitely puzzled as to why Garcia is a +200 underdog.

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One big favorite that we do like on the card this weekend is Chael Sonnen, who is -260 against Brian Stann. Stann is 11-3, and he has won three straight fights, but this is a humongous step up in competition going against Sonnen. The middleweight vet lost out to Anderson Silva via submission at UFC 117 back in August 2010, and he hasn’t fought since that point. This is a nice, easy fight to get back on the radar in the UFC world, and we expect to see Sonnen dominate it.

What makes this UFC particularly rare is that there will be not just one, but two championship bouts on tap. In the featherweight division, Jose Aldo defends his belt against Kenny Florian, while in the middleweight division, Frankie Edgar defends against Gray Maynard.

Aldo is just too tough to top. He has beaten the best that there is in his division, both at the WEC level and the UFC level, and there is no doubt that he is a deserving huge -320 favorite. Florian is only just now fighting in the featherweight division, having already gotten knocked out of the lightweight division (by Maynard, no less!), but he is going to realize that this drop in class isn’t going to change his status. This fight should be one sided in favor of the Brazilian.

On New Year’s Day, Maynard and Edgar fought to a draw in a UFC that was perhaps inappropriately entitled, “Resolution.” There is still no “resolution” for these two, but they’ll be back in the octagon together for the second time this year. This match is just a fantastic one, as Edgar has been a great champion. He is 13-1-1 in his career and has two wins over BJ Penn of late as well. However the only two blemishes of his career have come against Maynard. The only draw on Maynard’s career record though, came in this fight against Edgar. The third time is the charm though, for Edgar, as we tend to think in a match that will come right now to the last few strikes of the third round, that he’ll find a way to prevail. However, tread lightly at -120, as this match really could ultimately go either way.

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The main event is B.J. Penn (-300) against Frankie Edgar for the lightweight championship. Penn lost the belt as a huge favorite to Edgar last April in the United Arab Emirates.

It was a unanimous decision at 50-45, 48-47 and 49-46. Penn’s camp said he wasn’t feeling good, which sounds like a pretty bad excuse. However, the oddsmakers believe he should be the solid favorite once again with these odds.

Edgar has a speed advantage and will try to ‘stick and move’ as much as possible. Penn has the better power by far.

The 31-year-old Penn is 15-6-1 in his career and has bounced back from losses against much tougher opponents like Georges St-Pierre. The 28-year-old Edgar is a New Jersey native and is 12-1. The overall competition that he’s faced is much lower than Penn.

Randy Couture (-600) against James Toney is another fight everyone is talking about. Couture has accomplished everything in his MMA career, but is clearly on the downside at 47-years-old. He’ll be fighting former boxing champion James Toney. This is his first foray into MMA and it’s a tough one.

The Kenny Florian (-155) and Gray Maynard bout will determine the No. 1 contender for the lightweight championship. Florian lost to Penn for the lightweight title back in August. Maynard is undefeated at 9-0 and is the only fighter to beat Edgar.

UFC 118 Odds

Frankie Edgar (+240) vs. B.J. Penn
James Toney (+400) vs. Randy Couture
Gray Maynard (+125) vs. Kenny Florian
Marcus Davis (+160) vs. Nate Diaz
Mario Miranda (+190) vs. Damien Maia
Nik Lentz (-110) vs. Andre Winner
Greg Soto (+110) vs. Nick Osipczak
Gabe Ruediger (+300) vs. Joe Lauzon
John Salter (+240) vs. Dan Miller
Amilcar Alves (+200) vs. Mike Pierce

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The main event is Anderson Silva (-500) against Chael Sonnen for the middleweight championship. Silva has held the title since beating Rich Franklin in 2006 and is considered by many the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.

Silva has defended his title six times and has won his last 12 fights overall. However, his utter dominance and lack of trash talking has made him less of a draw than warranted.

The American Sonnen has decided to spice things up by doing enough trash talking for both of them. He’s a former collegiate wrestling champion and 3-1 since coming back to the UFC. His three last fights, wins over Nate Marquardt, Yushin Okami and Dan Miller, have gone the distance.

Jon Fitch (-125) and Thiago Alves (-105) have very even odds for their welterweight fight. They’re also two of the highest ranked welterweights in the sport. This is a rematch of a 2006 fight won by Fitch, but that has little bearing on what will happen on Saturday.

Matt Hughes is another welterweight. He’s on the downside of his career at 36, and is the +125 underdog to Ricardo Almeida (-155).

Finally, heavyweight fights always draw interest and the Junior dos Santos (-325) vs. Roy Nelson (+250) battle is no different. Santos is just outside the top-5 heavyweights in most MMA rankings and the winner should get an upcoming title fight.

UFC 117 Odds

Anderson Silva (26-4) -500 vs. Chael Sonnen (24-10-1) +300
Ricardo Almeida (12-3) -155 vs. Matt Hughes (44-7) +125
Jon Fitch (22-3) -125 vs. Thiago Alves (16-6) -105
Junior dos Santos (11-1) -325 vs. Roy Nelson (15-4) +250
Clay Guida (26-11) -130 vs. Rafael dos Anjos (14-4) Even
Thiago Silva (14-2) vs. Tim Boetsch (11-3)
Ben Saunders (8-2-2) -260 vs. Dennis Hallman (41-13-2) +200
Dustin Hazelett (14-5) -120 vs. Rick Story (10-3) -110
Johny Hendricks (8-0) -525 vs. Charlie Brenneman (12-1) +325
Phil Davis (6-0) -800 vs. Rodney Wallace (9-2) +500
Stefan Struve (19-4) -185 vs. Christian Morecraft (6-0) +155

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