Fight Night Results and UFC 103 Picks
<!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:”Courier New”; panose-1:2 7 3 9 2 2 5 2 4 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Wingdings; panose-1:5 2 1 2 1 8 4 8 7 8; mso-font-charset:2; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 65536 0 -2147483648 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph {margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:0cm; margin-left:36.0pt; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:0cm; margin-left:36.0pt; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:0cm; margin-left:36.0pt; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:0cm; margin-left:36.0pt; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} @page Section1 {size:595.0pt 842.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} /* List Definitions */ @list l0 {mso-list-id:1050376808; mso-list-type:hybrid; mso-list-template-ids:-244414300 263357050 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;} @list l0:level1 {mso-level-start-at:10; mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-18.0pt; font-family:Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} ol {margin-bottom:0cm;} ul {margin-bottom:0cm;} –>
It’s been a busy week for the UFC, with Fight Night on Wednesday now over and UFC 103 set to play out on Saturday, 19 September.
The results of the Fight Night were:
· Nate Diaz beat Melvin Guillard at 2:13 of the second round with a guillotine choke
· Gray Maynard beat Roger Huerta in a split decision using his superior wrestling skills
· Carlos Condit beat Jake Ellenberger in a split decision, despite getting knocked down three times in the first round
· Nate Quarry beat Tim Credeur in a unanimous decision, in a close contest
· Brian Stann beat Steve Cantwell in a unanimous decision
· Mike Pyle beat Chris Wilson at 2:15 of the third round with a guillotine choke
· C.B. Dolloway beat Jay Silva in a unanimous decision
· Jeremy Stephens beat Justin Buchholz at 3:23 of the first round with a cut
· Mike Pierce beat Brock Larson in a unanimous decision
· Ryan Jensen beat Steve Steinbeiss at 3:56 of the first round with a guillotine choke
Decisions and guillotine chokes. It’s really surprising that so many guillotine chokes ended fights. I mean, they’re great when you have an opportunity to use them, but how often does someone give up an opportunity to sink in an effective guillotine choke? Odd.
UFC 103 doesn’t have the kind of fights that would draw in a massive casual audience, but there are some pretty interesting match ups. What follows are a few of my picks for the main card, along with some reasoning.
In the headline event, Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort, BetUS has it -150 Franklin and +120 Belfort. I think Belfort would need longer odds than that to be worth supporting in this fight, and even though it would be better if Franklin’s odds were longer, he’s the fighter to support in this bout. While many have discounted him after his losses to Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson, it’s unfair to judge him on those performances alone.
Junior dos Santos vs. Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic is Santos -135 and Cro Cop +105 at BetUS. It’s very frustrating when the lesser-known fighter is the favorite, because the well-known underdog’s odds will tend to be shortened by his fans. I think that’s happened here, and I’d avoid betting on this fight at all. I just can’t see a worthwhile risk in this bout. Cro Cop has a good enough chance of winning, despite dos Santos seeming to have him outmatched in every area. You’d think this would suggest a bet on dos Santos is worthwhile, but Cro Cop just has so much more experience. I think Cro Cop will win, but I don’t think it’s a sure enough thing to bet on him at such short underdog odds.
Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg is -400 Koscheck and +300 Trigg at BetUS. I’d bet on Trigg, as his odds are clearly much longer than they should be. That isn’t to say that I think Trigg has the best chance of winning. I just think that his chances are better than the odds suggest, and that there’s opportunity for a massive upset.
That’s all I have to say for now. I’ll talk about the results of the fights next week, and maybe even a bit about TUF 10.