UFC 73: Stacked Preview/Odds

UFC 73 should be the UFC event of the year, with a superstar fight card including Tito Ortiz, Anderson Silva, and Sean Sherk.

On Saturday July 7th Arco Arena in Sacramento will host the "Stacked" event available on PPV. Some of the more notable of the 9 fights on the card are lightweight champion Sean "muscle shark" Sherk 35-2-1 vs Brazilian born Hermes Franka 19-5-0 as well as light heavyweights Tito "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Ortiz 16-5-0 vs Rashad "Sugar" Evans 15-o-0. The main event will be middleweight champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva 18-4-0 vs Nate "The Great" Marquardt 28-6-1.

Right now the books have the above mentioned fights available for early betting. The lightweight champion Sherk is an expected favorite at -230 (risk $230 to win $100) while Franca will bring a nice comeback of +180 (risk $100 to win $180). This should be a great fight between 2 proven fighters, however if it goes to the ground then expect Sherk to be the victor, hes too strong and stout to easily submit, Franca will have to win on his feet. If you like Sherk I would advise taking him right now, as the line will most likely move up as the wise guys come in and pound the number. If you like the Brazilian I would wait for a better price like +200 or so.

The bookmakers currently have Tito Ortiz posting as a slight favorite at -120 (risk $120 to win $100), while Rashad Evans is -110 (risk $110 to win $100) The truth is is that Ortiz has been getting beat up lately and facing Rashad Evans to start out your rise back to the top is no easy task. Evans is undefeated and has been beating people up lately. If you like Tito then take him right now!!! before the price gets driven up by the mass public making Tito the fan favorite, but if you believe that Evans will get the job done then wait for the + money and jump on him, these 2 fighters are very evenly matched so keep watching the lines as sooner or later there will be an imbalance and then you can take advantage of the value.

For the main event, middleweight champ Anderson Silva is a slight favorite at -165 (risk $165 to win $100) while the challenger Nate Marquardt is listed at +130 (risk $100 to win $130). At this point Silva looks like hes gonna wipe the floor with this guy, but Marquardt has a ton of experience and is no slouch. Right now the value is on Silva becuase it is considerably cheap for a favorite in a matchup like this, the line will most likely move up to -185 before its over.

I will post my picks for each fight early next week after the lines are settled and all the rhetoric is over. Whoever wants to can submit their picks against mine next week and if you beat me its worth a $25 free account!!! Simply comment on this blog whoever would like to participate and I will contact you indiviually.

*Note $25 free cash is subject to all bonus rollover requirements, which can be found in the bonus section of GamblersPalace.com home page.

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Penn - Pulver Fight Results

Penn had obsessed about grabbing a rematch with Pulver after losing to the then-UFC lightweight champion in 2002 and finally, after half a decade of clamoring for a shot at redemption, his dream came true. The 28-year-old from Hilo, Hawaii left no doubt as to who the better man was tonight, punishing Pulver from the start before choking out his bitter rival 3:12 into the second round inside the spectacular Pearl concert hall in the Palms Hotel. But Penn didn't just score a submission -- he tried his best to torture "Little Evil" before making the 32-year-old Miletich fighter tapout from a rear-naked choke. Penn easily scored takedowns in the first round and was able to systematically break Pulver's will. Penn landed stinging elbows and punches while in Pulver's guard and if that wasn't bad enough for Pulver, the "Prodigy" was able to achieve full mount almost at will. Penn looked like the hungrier and more skilled fighter, even though Pulver gave it his all. There were a few times during the skirmish where it appeared as though Penn (11-4-1) could have ended the fight early and gone for either an armbar or rear-naked choke, but he seemed content to keep a slower pace in an effort to administer a more potent beating. "He didn't go for the easy submission," Pulver stated immediately following his disappointing loss. "He tried to beat the hell out of me. I respect him more and more every minute. B.J.'s a savage; he's very good." It wasn't as if Pulver, whose record fell to 21-8-1, just stood around and took a beating because he enjoyed it. Pulver tried to make a fight out of it as well. He landed some crisp punches in the first and second rounds and delivered a few solid knees to Penn's ribs while in the clinch. But B.J. withstood the strikes and, whenever he wanted, either slammed Pulver down hard or just sucked him onto the canvas with single-leg takedowns. Every time Pulver was down he found a world of trouble -- armbars, triangles, omoplatas and a rear-naked chokes. Pulver masterfully escaped each attempt save for the final choke, a submission that was strung together perfectly. Pulver knew it was coming and defended Penn's arms and hands. Penn quickly maneuvered his left leg to the front of Pulver's body and trapped the Bettendorf, Iowa-based fighter's left arm so he was unable to defend the imminent choke. From there Penn sunk in the submission and forced Pulver to tap. The first UFC 155-pound champion had planned on retiring from active competition following his last fight -- a shocking knockout loss to undercard fighter and TUF 5 cast member Joe Lauzon -- but after receiving the offer to fight Penn a second time and following six grueling weeks as a coach on the reality television series, Pulver had a change of heart. Even with the loss tonight, Pulver was adamant that he's sticking around and will continue to grow as a fighter. "This is almost our way of saying goodbye," Pulver said of himself and Penn. "I'm going down to 145; I think he wants to go back up to 170. So we just put a stamp on a phenomenal weight class that I hope you guys love, enjoy, and will always embrace in the UFC: 155." Penn made himself unavailable for comments moments after the triumph over Pulver, his rival-turned-future training partner. Instead, Penn shouted into the microphone for everybody to visit his personal Web site -- bjpenn.com -- which ironically crashed due to a likely surge in traffic.

Pulver vs Penn 2: Picks and Odds

On Saturday night in Las Vegas, BJ "The Prodigy" Penn will look to avenge his UFC 35 loss against Jens "little evil" Pulver in the Ultimate Fighter 5 finale.

It has been a long time coming for Penn who thought his UFC career might be over with the devastating loss to underdog Jens Pulver. Since then Penn has made a comeback and padded his record with loads of experience beating current welterweight champ Matt Serra and disposing quite handily the Gracie brothers Renzo and Rodrigo. This time around Penn says hes more focused and better prepared for the striker style of Pulver. *Note live lines are subject to constant change. Penn is favored at -490(risk $490 to win $100) B.J. is an excellent grappler and strong. Hes lost alot of weight to make the 155 requirement, I think this will only make him more agile on the ground and he has definitely got the motivation to avenge his loss, he should be favored, but I would wait until later in the week to get a price at the books as it will come down dramatically as is the pattern lately with MMA lines. Jens Pulver is currently +340(risk $100 to win $340). I believe this is incredible value on a fighter that has already beaten his opponent once!!! Add to the fact that Pulver is a vicious striker with 13 of his 21 wins coming by way of knock out. Pulver is coming off a loss from UFC 63 by the hand of Joe Lauzon and a flurry of punches in the 1st minute of round 1. So he will have plenty of motivation to rebound from an embarrasing loss. Right now all the value is on Jens Pulver.....Get him while hes hot folks because that price won't last long. Who do you like?

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UFC 72: Victory Odds and Picks

UFC 72: Victory is to be held Saturday June, 16th in Belfast, Ireland. *Note all lines subject to continous change.

The Fight card will be headlined with a middleweight bout between former champ Rich “Ace” Franklin vs Yushin Okami. This will definantly be an intresting fight since both fighters have very similar standup fighting styles and are both comfortable on the ground should the fight go in that direction. Franklin 23-2-0 is favored at -210 (risk $210 to win $100) simply because he is the ex-champ and is probably a little bit better striker, which has been proven to be advantagous in a sport where one punch can end the fight. Okami +160(risk $100 to win $160) is fairly new to the UFC and was imported in from the Pride Fighting League that UFC recently aquired. With a record of 21-3-0 he is no stranger to MMA and is currently on a 6 fight win streak that includes most recently Mike Swick who Okami just destroyed. Hes a standup fighter with excellent grappling skills and should give Franklin all he can handle. I like Okami simply because of the value of the line and his ability to matchup well with Franklin.

Another featured fight will be light heavyweights Forrest Griffin vs Hector “Sick Dog” Ramirez. (Lines on this bout are not available yet, but should be up within a day or so.) Forrest Griffin 13-4-0 is a relative star in the UFC, but recent losses to Keith Jardine in UFC 66(TKO punches) and Tito Ortiz in UFC 59(split decision) have left him a fading star and another loss could be devastating for his career. This along with the fact that hes Irish and fighting in Ireland makes him the fan favorite automatically and gives him a little boost in confidence. Forrest is a grappler and is very comfortable on the ground as 6 of his wins have come by way of submission, this could be a key factor in the outcome because forrest is slightly bigger than his oppnent and has more experience. As for Hector Ramirez 6-2-1, this will be only his second appearance in the UFC having lost his first bout to James Irvin in UFC 65(TKO). Ramirez is a wrestler by trade, but has been known to throw devastating punches and has the power to deliver the “one hitter quitter” as 4 of his KO’s have come way of standup striking. I think this one will be a toss up, Griffin has shown weakness in his previous losses and Ramirez really has nothing to lose, my pick will depend on the line, Griffin will be favored and this might present enough value on Ramirez to make it worth it.

The third fight on the main card will be a middleweight fight between Rory “Outburst” Singer and Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald. First of all, I would like to state that these 2 guys could possibly have the worst nicknames in MMA!!! Personally if somebody called me “Outburst” I would probably punch them in the nose….anyways Rory Singer 12-7-0 has been in the UFC for about a year now, hes a wrestler with 7 wins coming by way of submission, which tells me that he like the ground, however 3 of his losses came by way of submission as well so he is not dominate in any specific style, he mainly relys on his strength to overpower opponents in whichever position he might find himself. Jason MacDonald 19-8-0 is another wrestler/standup striker, he has 16 wins by way of submission, which tells me that he is very technical and probably prefers the ground since 3 of his losses have come from KO/TKO and 3 by way of decision, I think he prefers the ground where he can slow down the rythem of the fight and take more control. If MacDonald can get Singer on the ground then I gotta think its over for Singer. Whatever the outcome look for a slow and technical bout, with MacDonald winning.

The last bout on the main card will be lightweights Clay “The Carpenter” Guida and Tyson Griffin. First of all lightweight fighter only weigh 155, these guys are small, as in stout and short with Guida coming in at 5′7″ and Griffin at 5′6″. I think we will see a standup striking bout and someone will get knocked out!!! Now my previous statement might sound foolish when I tell you that Guida 21-4-0 is a wrestler with 11 wins coming by way of submission, but the truth is, is that he really hasn’t fought anyone and many of his fights have gone to decisions, which tell me that he doesn’t know how to finish a fighter off, he draws it out on the ground and looks to the judges to win it for him, this strategy will not work against an opponent like Griffin who is comfortable standing up as well as on the ground, but Griffin will not be looking to get into a tickle match with Guida on the ground, hes going to be standing up and striking while defending against Guida’s take down attempts, Griffin looks stronger as well and if he catches Guida with a hook, it will be over. Griffin by KO 1st round!!!

*NOTE UFC 72 is in Belfast, Ireland and will be shown at 3:00pm est. on PPV so get your bets in the night before if you plan on partying Friday night or you might miss it.
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UFC 72: Victory Preview

UFC 72 will be held in Belfast, Ireland on Saturday, June 16th. The event is headlined by the middleweight matchup between former 185-pound champion Rich Franklin and highly regarded Japanese contender Yushin Okami. Some other notable fights will be light heavyweights Forrest Griffin squaring off against Hector Ramirez as well as Middleweights Rory Singer and Jason MacDonald. Right now Franklin is favored -210 with a comeback of +160 on Okami. I will be updating this blog with picks and odds as the week continues. Check back for more and feel free to leave your comments as I will answer them.