Affliction Trilogy Gambling Preview

July 16, 2009 by Poolside Rants

Affliction Betting – Fedor favored to take down Barnett

MMA betting players will move from UFC to Affliction on August 1^st, as Affliction: Trilogy features a main event with the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter aiming to defend his crown.

Affliction Betting – Saturday, August 1, 9:00 PM ET

Fedor Emelianenko (30-1-1) is considered by some to be the best MMA fighter of all time, and certainly of the current era.Fedor has won 16 of his fights by submission, but don’t count out his power as he’s more than capable of winning via TKO. Six of his last seven fights have ended in the first round, with six coming by submission, but his last fight was a first-round knockout of Andrei Arlovski, a former UFC champion.

This was following a dominant performance against another former UFC heavyweight champ, Tim Sylvia, which last only 36 seconds as he battered Sylvia with a number of punches before landing a rear-naked choke.

Josh Barnett (24-5) held the UFC heavyweight title back in 2002 after he beat Randy Couture, but he was later stripped as he was found to be using anabolic steroids. Three of Barnett’s five pro losses have come against Mirko CroCop, who lost a decision to Fedor in August 2005. Barnett is also a submission specialist with knockout power, as 15 of his 24 wins have come by submission.

“The Babyfaced Assassin” has won four straight since losing to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira., but he’ll be a major Affliction betting underdog in this contest.

Betting services are backing Fedor at -500 to retain the WAMMA (World Alliance Mixed Martial Arts) belt that he won from Sylvia, but many MMA fans are already talking about a possible superfight between Fedor and UFC champion Brock Lesnar, who destroyed Frank Mir at UFC 100 to win the title. However, Fedor can’t afford to look past Barnett, who has proven himself to be one of the top heavyweights in the world.

Barnett has plenty of stamina as four of his last five fights have gone to the third round. Fedor can go the distance as well, but he’ll be looking to end it early.

This won’t be as easy as many people expect, but you should make Fedor Emelianenko one of your sports picks on August 1^st.