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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