Light Heavyweight Championship bout:  Lyoto Machida vs.  Mauricio Rua

Odds:   (-185 Machida / +155 Rua )

The main event of the evening is a highly anticipated Light Heavyweight Title rematch between Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.  Shogun appeared to control the majority of their first fight, but lost a split decision that was met with boos by the fans and incredulity by almost everyone who saw it.  Still, Machida is a dangerous fighter and the first fight was not hugely decisive, so this is a very compelling matchup.

Machida, the champion, earned his crown with a mixture of deadly handspeed, nearly impenetrable defense, and incredible counter punching, not to mention a healthy dose of top-notch takedown defense.  A very complete fighter with no glaring holes in his skill set, Machida’s one weakness is that he is oftentimes wary of pressing the action in his fights, opting instead to backpedal and counterpunch, which got him into a lot of trouble last time he fought Shogun.  He can’t expect two gift decisions in a row, so if he wants to avoid spending the whole fight backing up and getting leg kicked and punched to the body he is going to have to actually move forward for once, something he is capable of doing for sure.

Shogun, who many felt won the first fight in clear fashion, is a very dangerous and well-rounded fighter in his own right.  A muay thai expert with good hands, good leg kicks, and deadly knees from the clinch, Shogun also has a very underrated ground game with excellent top control and vicious ground and pound.  His game plan last time was perfect, the only flaw was that the judges didn’t seem to be watching the same fight.  If he can press the action and make Machida pay for his lack of aggression again, he should become the new champion.

I think that this time, Shogun gets the win he deserved in their first meeting.  If Machida tries to play his evade and counterpunch game, Shogun already showed that he has an answer for it, and if Machida tries to press the action a bit more I think that plays into Shogun’s aggressive style and puts him at risk of getting caught up in the clinch and punished.  Machida is too wily to get finished, probably, but I expect a similar fight to their first one, only with a proper decision rendered at the end.

Prediction:  Mauricio “Shogun” Rua via unanimous decision.

• Bet on the UnderDog Rua @ +155 for the Win.  Get your bet in soon before the odds for Rua shrink.

To add a little excitement on fight night, you can bet on this fight at Sportsbook.com Odds.  They allow you to start with as little as $20, and you can bet on all of the fights for the night. Check out my review of Sportsbook here…

Welterweight bout:  Josh Koscheck vs.  Paul Daley

Odds:  (-240 Koscheck /+190 Daley )

In the semi-main event of the evening, dominant wrestler Josh Koscheck will take on heavy-handed British slugger Paul “Semtex” Daley.  In addition to the fact that the winner will likely find himself next in line for a shot at Georges St. Pierre’s Welterweight title, these two guys plain do not like each other, which adds an extra layer to this fight.

Josh Koscheck, arguably the most hated Ultimate Fighter cast member this side of Junie Browning, has developed into an extremely formidable fighter.  He has always had utterly dominant wrestling and top control, but he has actually developed into a pretty fearsome striker as well, something that has both advanced and hindered his career.  Obviously, improved standup is not a bad thing, but Koscheck has shown a tendency to abandon his base in favor of more exciting striking exchanges.  It is imperative that, against Daley, he doesn’t throw caution to the wind, because he will get utterly dismantled on his feet.

Daley, like his teammate Dan Hardy who recently recieved a shot at the Welterweight title, is an extremely dynamic striker with loads of technique and knockout power.  Also like Hardy, his takedown defense and ability to work off his back are very questionable.  There is no question that, in a standup fight, Daley will blast Koscheck into unconsciousness, but there is a lot of doubt as to whether or not Daley can stop a single one of Koscheck’s takedown attempts.

Basically, this fight depends on Koscheck’s gameplan.  If he is willing to go out and trade with Daley, he will get destroyed.  If he decides to work from top position and grind out a win with ground and pound, he will do so easily.  I think with the stakes so high, Koscheck will revert to his base, and easily control Daley en route to a unanimous decision.

Prediction:  Josh “KOs” Koscheck via unanimous decision.

To add a little excitement on fight night, you can bet on this fight at Sportsbook.com Odds.  They allow you to start with as little as $20, and you can bet on all of the fights for the night. Check out my review of Sportsbook here…

Heavyweight bout:  Kimbo Slice vs.  Matt Mitrione

Odds:  (-115 Slice /-115 Mitrione )

The second bout of the evening fits inexplicable fan favorite Kimbo Slice against his Ultimate Fighter housemate Matt Mitrione.  Slice, whose Youtube brawls made him the kind of star most real fighters dream of being, has a very limited skill set, but Mitrione’s style plays right into his one strength, which makes this a potentially exciting fight.

Mitrione, who appeared on Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter alongside Slice, showed a lot of toughness on the show, but not a whole lot of skill or conditioning.  He clearly has a solid chin and very heavy hands, but his cardio is laughably bad, and unless he has made huge improvements in that department he is going to be walking into punches with his hands down by the second round, if this fight even goes that far.  It doesn’t appear that Mitrione has much of a ground game, but he is probably a better wrestler than Slice is, not to mention larger and physically stronger.

Kimbo Slice probably doesn’t need an introduction thanks to his Youtube superstardom and the massive ratings he pulled in on The Ultimate Fighter.  Unfortunately for anyone buying this pay per view, Slice’s in-ring abilites are nowhere near commensurate with his level of exposure.  An extremely one-dimensional puncher who doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of punching power, Slice’s ground game basically consists of trying to outmuscle the other guy, something that is not going to worker against the larger Mitrione.

To put it simply, this is a crappy fight.  Neither guy has any business being in the UFC, but Kimbo’s name recognition ensures he will stay and Mitrione is a bad enough fighter that he might feasibly lose to Kimbo, although I don’t see it happening.  Chances are this will be an ugly slugfest, but I think Mitrione has enough power to put Slice away in the first.

Prediction:  Matt Mitrione via first round T/KO.

To add a little excitement on fight night, you can bet on this fight at Sportsbook.com Odds.  They allow you to start with as little as $20, and you can bet on all of the fights for the night. Check out my review of Sportsbook here…

Lightweight bout:  Sam Stout vs.  Jeremy Stephens

Odds:  (-220 Stout /+180 Stephens )

The third bout of the evening is a Lightweight matchup between two powerful strikers in Jeremy Stephens and Sam Stout.  Both men have powerful hands and good technique on the feet, and neither has ever been finished with strikes, so this should be an exciting and competitive contest.

Jeremy “Lil’ Heathen” Stephens is a tough brawler who has been a mainstay in the middle of UFC’s Lightweight pack for a while now.  His ground game and wrestling are not very good at all, but he is heavy-handed and has a great chin, which have allowed him to carve out a niche for himself.

Stout, like Stephens, does his best work on the feet.  An iron-chinned slugger with great punching power and a fairly subpar ground game, Stout is not the most versatile fighter but he is very dangerous on his feet and hard to finish.

Both of these fighters have great standup, and both are notoriously hard to finish.  It is unlikely that either guy gets knocked out, so this come down to who can control the exchanges and dictate the pace of the fight.  I give the slight edge to Stout in this one, and he should take home a narrow decision.

Prediction:  Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout via decision.

To add a little excitement on fight night, you can bet on this fight at Sportsbook.com Odds.  They allow you to start with as little as $20, and you can bet on all of the fights for the night. Check out my review of Sportsbook here…

Middleweight bout:  Patrick Cote vs.  Alan Belcher

Odds:  (-105 Cote /-125 Belcher )

In the opening bout of the evening, two tough Middleweights will collide as Patrick Cote makes his return to the Octagon after a layoff of over one year against Alan “The Talent” Belcher.  Cote has been out of action since suffering an injury against Anderson Silva, so it will be interesting whether to see if he is back in top condition and how much the layoff will affect his performance.

Alan Belcher is a very tough fighter with heavy hands and underrated submission game.  He is not a top level grappler, but he is a wily competitor who has been known to capitalize on mistakes by locking opponents up in submissions, especially guillotine chokes.  In a lot of ways Belcher is very similar to Cote, in that neither of them is truly top-level at any one aspect of the fight game, but both are very tough and well-rounded and don’t have any huge glaring holes, either.

Cote’s return is surrounded by a lot of question marks.  For one thing, he has been out of action for well over a year, which is going to have an effect on anyone no matter who they are.  For another, he was out with a bad knee injury, and the amount of time he took off leaves questions about just how serious that injury was and how well it has healed.  One thing you can count on is that Cote will make this a tough fight, because he is notoriously hard-headed and has a surplus of heart.  Like Belcher, Cote is very well rounded but not a master at any one thing, but his determination and pure toughness make him one of the toughest fighters to put away at 185 pounds.

Despite Cote’s long layoff, I think this is his fight to win.  He has superior wrestling which is going to go a long way toward helping him control this fight, both from the clinch and from top position.  I expect both guys to bruise each other up a good bit, but Cote should be able to do enough to earn the unanimous decision and get a win in his return to action.

Prediction:  Patrick “The Predator” Cote via unanimous decision.

To add a little excitement on fight night, you can bet on this fight at Sportsbook.com Odds.  They allow you to start with as little as $20, and you can bet on all of the fights for the night. Check out my review of Sportsbook here…

Current Odds for UFC 114 – Live on Saturday May 29, 2010 The MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada will host UFC 114.  The Main Event puts Quinton ”Rampage” Jackson (30-7) against “Sugar” Rashad Evans (14-1-1).  This fight was originally supposed to go down back at UFC 107 last December.  It may have lost some spark the two originally managed to put together as trash talking coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 10. But I guess better late than never. We can finally now enjoy their hands do the talking instead of their big mouths,  as they say talk is cheap.  Rampage is riding a two fight win streak against Wanderlei Silva and most recently Keith Jardine via unanimous decision.  While Rashad won his last bout via decision over Thiago Silva.  Lets hope Rampage comes in ready to fight and in shape, since he took some time off to film the new A-Team movie.  This should be a very entertaining main event and I don’t see this fight going the distance. 

Check out our UFC 114 Information page and Fight Predictions.

Rampage Jackson vs. Rashad Evans

Sportsbook.com Odds

• Jackson   (-115)
• Evans        (-115)

Jason Brilz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Sportsbook.com Odds

• Brilz             (+500)
• Nogueira   (-800)

Michael Bisping vs. Dan Miller

Sportsbook.com Odds

• Bisping   (-180)
• Miller      (+150)

Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow

Sportsbook.com Odds

• Duffee        (-325)
• Russow      (+250)

Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway

Sportsbook.com Odds

• Sanchez         (-200)
• Hathaway     (+160)

Amir Sadollah vs. Dong Hyun Kim

Sportsbook.com Odds

• Sadollah       (-115)
• Hyun Kim    (-115)

Efrain Escudero vs. Dan Lauzon

Sportsbook.com Odds

• Escudero  (-600)
• Lauzon      (+400)

Melvin Guillard vs. Waylon Lowe

Sportsbook.com Odds

• Guillard  (-325)
• Lowe       (+250)

Luiz Cane vs. Cyrille Diabate

Sportsbook.com Odds

• Cane          (-500)
• Diabate    (+300)

Aaron Riley vs. Joe Brammer

Sportsbook.com Odds

• Riley             (-200)
• Brammer    (+160)

Jesse Forbes vs. Ryan Jensen

Sportsbook.com Odds

• Forbes   (+105)
• Jensen   (-135)

For the Co-Main event  Michael Bisping (18-3) will square off with Dan Miller (11-3-1).  With Griffin getting hurt Jason Brilz (18-2-1) will now step in the octagon to take on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (18-3).  Also Diego Sanchez (21-3) will go back to Welterweight after his Lightweight title fight loss to BJ Penn at UFC 107 to take on undefeated English fighter John Hathaway (12-0).

Here are the current UFC 114 odds along with fight predictions.  And if you want to add a little excitement to your UFC 114 fight night, you can bet on this fight at Sportsbook.com.

Event:  UFC 115 – Liddell vs. Franklin

Date:  Saturday, June 12, 2010

Venue: General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia

Broadcast:  Live on PPV

UFC 115 Odds

Main Card:

• Chuck Liddell (21-7) vs. Rich Franklin (26-5-0-1)  (Main Event)
• Mirko Cro Cop (26-7-2-1) vs. Pat Barry (5-1)
• Paulo Thiago (13-1) vs. Martin Kampmann (16-3)
• Carlos Condit (24-5) vs. Rory MacDonald (10-0)
• Tyson Griffin (14-2) vs. Evan Dunham (10-0)

Preliminary Card:

• Mac Danzig (19-7-1) vs. Matt Wiman(11-5)
• Ben Rothwell (30-7) vs. Gilbert Yvel (36-14-1-1)
• James Wilks (6-3) vs. Peter Sobotta (8-2)
• Ricardo Funch (7-1) vs. Claude Patrick (11-1)
• Mike Pyle (19-7) vs. Jesse Lennox (11-2)

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