The battle between MMA darling Conor McGregor and 40-year-old boxing icon Floyd Mayweather ended as many expected, with Conor succumbing to the grueling demands of boxing which requires much more stamina than standard MMA fights.
Still, Conor started out strong, and gave hope to the many bettors who bet the underdog. This probably made many in Vegas sportsbooks nervous as a McGregor win would have been a disaster, but reality set in the Floyd started to engage more with every round.
MMA betting odds excitement is set to resume on Saturday, February 4 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada with UFC 143 Diaz vs. Condit, which headlines a main card that totals five bouts.
The feature bout for UFC 143 has Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit for the Interim Welterweight Championship. Also on the Main Card MMA betting odds board will be a Heavyweight Bout between Roy Nelson and Fabricio Werdum, a Welterweight Bout between Josh Koscheck and Mike Pierce, a Bantamweight Bout between Renan Barao and Scott Jorgensen, and a Middleweight Bout between Ed Herman and Clifford Starks.
There are also a total of six Preliminary Card bouts that will be featured on FX Network. Dustin Poirier will face Max Halloway in a Featherweight bout, Matthew Riddle will face Jorge Lopez in a Welterweight bout, Alex Caceres will take on Edwin Figueroa in a Bantamweight bout, Matt Brown will face Chris Cope in a Welterweight Bout, Dan Stittgen will fight Stephen Thompson in a Welterweight fight and Rafael Natal will matchup with Michael Kuiper in a Middleweight fight.
Nick Diaz has one of the most diverse backgrounds in all of the UFC. In his first UFC bout since coming back to the circuit from Strikeforce he defeated BJ Penn in a unanimous decision last October 29 at UFC 137 in a bout that earned Fight of the Night honors. Diaz was the Strikeforce Welterweight Champion that vacated the belt in order to return to UFC. He left UFC after a Technical Knockout win over Gleison Tibau at UFC 65 on November 18, 2006. He has also had success fighting in the Dream and Elite XC circuits after beginning his career in the IFC Warriors in August of 2001. To further add to his strong and diverse background Diaz also has experience as a boxer. Diaz is about an 8-5 favorite in MMA betting odds to defeat Condit.
Carlos Condit fights out of Albuquerque, New Mexico and has been fighting in UFC since April of 2009. He is riding a four-bout winning streak and he is coming off a knockout win over Dong Hyun Kim on July 2, 2011. His last two bouts have earned him Knockout of the Night honors. Condit also has a diverse background that includes a WEC Welterweight Championship and Rumble of the Rock experience.
Every once in a while you see an MMA fight that really highlights of brutal nature of mixed martial arts. This fight between Aldo and Mendes had a devastating finish.
Jose Aldo stopped Chad Mendes with one devastating knee to the head with a second left in the first round Saturday night, defending his featherweight title in his homeland at UFC 142.
Aldo (21-1) spun and knocked the previously unbeaten Mendes senseless on his back with a perfectly timed right knee that caught Mendes (11-1) flush in the face.
Aldo then landed two punches to Mendes’ defenseless head before referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the bout before the bell.
Aldo then bolted from the octagon and sprinted into the HSBC Arena crowd, which raised him on its shoulders to cap the UFC’s second event in Brazil in six months after a 13-year absence.
Wow. A knee to the head. That’s just crazy!
This is one reason this sport has become so popular and has surpassed boxing. There are so many different strategies and styles. In the end though, one powerful shot can change everything.
The UFC is on a roll, and this is becoming very popular with all sorts of fans. UFC betting is getting more and more attention as well. More and more people are also having house parties to watch these fights. It may not rival the Super Bowl but it’s starting to rival other more traditional sports.
In the UFC’s anticipated debut on FOX, it didn’t take long for the inaugural fight to end.
Junior dos Santos won the UFC Heavyweight Championship in a little over a minute as he knocked out the champion, Cain Velasquez from the Honda Center in Anaheim.
Dos Santos came into the fight as the betting underdog, but a devastating right hand early in the first round caught the champion in the ear and sent him crashing.
It was definitely interesting to see this one end with a big punch.
UFC 137 from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada promises to be a card that attracts some of the largest MMA betting activity of the entire year. UFC 137 begins on Saturday, October 29 at 9 PM ET on Pay per View.
The main card will be highlighted by the welterweight matchup of long time MMA betting and fan favorite BJ Penn against Nick Diaz. Penn was a surprise entry for UFC 137 but said that UFC boss Dana White made him an offer that he couldn’t refuse.
There are four other bouts on the UFC 137 main card. In heavyweight action Cheick Kongo will take on Matt Mitrione and Mirko Filipovic will take on Roy Nelson. Scott Jorgensen will matchup with Jeff Curran in a Bantamweight showdown while Hatsu Hioki will take on George Roop in a featherweight match.
Spike TV will have a two-bout preliminary card as Dennis Silver will take on Donald Cerrone in a lightweight bout and from the featherweight ranks Tyson Griffin will meet Bart Palaszewski.
The 32 year old Penn is one of the superstars of the UFC circuit and a MMA betting legend. Penn has a career mark of 16-7 and has been in and out of UFC since 2001. He won the WFC welterweight championship in 2004 and later went on to win the UFC lightweight championship in 2008. In January of 2009 Penn had a shot to recapture the welterweight title but was defeated by another popular legend George St. Pierre. He lost the lightweight title to Frankie Edgar and the rematch that followed. He is coming off a win over Matt Hughes in November of 2010 and a draw against Jon Fitch last February 27. The first loss to Edgar was highly controversial and Penn has never been the same since.
Diaz is 28 years old and has a career professional record of 25-7. He is coming off a win from the Strikeforce circuit over Paul Dailey in a TKO. Diaz was in UFC 5 years ago but went on to the Strikeforce circuit where he became dominant as the champion of the Strikeforce welterweight division. He has won 10 bouts in a row and has not lost in 4 years.
In Diaz and Penn there is a matchup of the new versus the old and an outstanding contrast in style and reputation.
