With my bets for UFC 202 I spent £50 and came back with £37. So, not a great start. However, because I am a glutton for punishment, I shall presevere with some more bets for UFC 203 and see if I can fare any better.
My bets for 202 seemed to let me down as I tried to be a bit too specific. I tried to pick the round to end and a McGregor win, and foolishly bet on Cody Garbrant not being a title contender which came back to bite me in the ass. I shall be keeping things a little simpler this time in the hope I can eek out a little profit.
I will say that my viewing experience changed dramatically as I had put some money on. I did find it more exciting, and at one point started shouting at the TV, which for the reserved person that I am made quite a change.
Bet 1: Nick Lentz beats Michael McBride
To be honest I don’t know a lot about Michael McBride, a cursory glance at his record and he sits at a very respectable 8 wins and 1 loss with all 8 wins coming through submission, mainly through chokes. However I do know a fair bit about Nick Lentz and even though he may not have the most exciting style he should have more than enough to grind out the win.
Bet 2: Uriah Faber beats Jimmy Rivera
There are few certainties in life. We live, we die and Uriah Faber wins in non title fights at Bantamweight. He may have lost to Domonick Cruz and looked flat footed and predictable, he may have lost to Frankie Edgar at Featherweight, but he should still have enough to get through a tough bout against Jimmie Rivera. The Puerto Rican-American is a tough contender no doubt, and he will be out to steal some of Faber’s limelight, but if your last two wins were decision victories over Pedro Munhoz and Iuri Alcantara you will have to forgive me going with the predictable favourite.
Bet 3: Fabricio Werdum to beat Travis Browne
If you watched UFC 200 then you will have seen Cain Velasquez blow through Travis Browne like he wasn’t there. If you watched UFC on Fox 11 then you will have seen Fabricio Werdum pick apart Travis Browne like he was the biggest bully in the playground, picking on the ginger kid with glasses. For these two reasons I simply cannot pick against Werdum and neither should you.
Bet 4: Mickey Gall to beat C.M. Punk
For the record, I admire C.M. Punk. He has had a monumental amount of trash talked about him in the lead up to the fight, when it was actually the UFC themselves that made the decision. I admire the way he has dedicated himself to the sport, he found an excellent camp to train with and I think he could potentially win a few fights in the UFC. However Mickey Gall looks like a pretty damn good fighter in his own right and I see him overwhelming Punk early and often and getting the early stoppage. There is to be no fairy-tale story here for Mr Brooks.
Bet 5: Alistair Overeem to defeat Stipie Miocic
The UFC has been very nice to Miocic in my opinion. I’m not convinced he warranted his title shot to begin with and he is very lucky to have a ‘home’ fight card in Ohio. I think Werdum was a fool to go rushing in, trying to appease the rabid Brazilian crowd as he ran into a punch that sent him into dreamland and cost him possibly the title of best mma heavyweight ever.
Overreem is a scary striker, he has lost his arrogance that saw him get beat by lesser foes such as Browne, Bigfoot Siva and Ben Rothwell. He is on a four fight win streak, and even though he still has a jaw that can’t be trusted, I still favour him over the far less technically gifted Croatian-American.
There is no money fight here so I would suggest to those that like to bet, perhaps go for an accumulator. For example, if you put £10 on the names I mentioned then you would get £101.95 back. Would love to know what you guys may be betting on so tweet me and let me know.
As ever I will be back next PPV to share my highs, and more likely my lows!
CHECK OUT MY PREVIOUS COLUMN HERE: KING: If he chooses to, Carlos Condit can walk away from his MMA career on his own terms and be proud, but how about this fight first…
(Christopher King of Arundel, England is a new MMATorch contributor. He got hooked on MMA after watching UFC 114 featuring “Rampage” Jackson vs. Rashad Evans and from there, he says, “I spent a ridiculous amount of money and time watching every event from UFC 1 up to the present so I could understand the history of the sport, the fighters, the weight divisions and everything else in between. It was the style of fighting that drew me in, in order to see what martial art was the most effective, and from there, the fighters themselves, their story, their training and the sacrifices that they go through.” Follow him on Twitter – @ChristofKing)
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