MMA Betting and UFC Wagering - This Week in MMA

[Shame About Ray]

Avast ye mateys, prepare to be boarded by delicious MMA betting and sports wagering news. You can't really eat it nor can it technically 'board you' in conventional pirate fashion, but I'll do my best to make it go down smooth and easy. Let's jump right in, shall we?



The Nate Marquardt vs Thales Leites fight from UFC 85 proved once again that anything can and will happen on a regular basis in MMA. Despite Marquardt dominating the entire fight, he lost the fight on the judges' scorecards due to point deductions - one point for grabbing the fence, and another for an elbow to the back of the head. The second foul - the elbow to the back of the head - was determined by most expert armchair experts to be "total freaking bullshit" and sparked much debate in the UFC betting community.

Referee Herb Dean addressed the debate and confirmed that any blows behind a 'phantom earphones' area is considered a shot to the back of the head. Apparently this is a 'verbal' rule established by the California and Nevada state athletic commissions that overrules a previous 'mohawk' analogy that used to be in place.

Affliction's Fedor Emelianenko vs Tim Sylvia fight on July 19th is now a 5 round bout for the 'undisputed world heavyweight championship', care of a 'sanctioning body' called WAMMA - the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts. If you're familiar with boxing, you know all about stupid sanctioning bodies and their stupid belts. If you don't follow boxing, let me explain: sanctioning bodies are stupid, and so are their belts. On the plus side, the extra rounds should skew the edge further away from Sylvia, who will now have to last 2 more rounds if he plans on dragging this fight out to a decision like he tends to do.

But you might not actually end up watching that fight play out, because the UFC is countering the Affliction show with a free event on Spike TV the same night. Featuring the debuts of Anderson Silva and Brandon Vera at light heavyweight (no they're not fighting each other unfortunately), it looks like the UFC is pulling out the stops and stuffing the card with star power to try and bury the competition. Regardless of which event you end up watching, BetUS Sportsbook will have sports betting odds on all the fights.

The Ultimate Fighter 7 finale is this weekend and it's surprisingly short on Ultimate Fighter talent. Along with the UFC tightening up its existing roster, they are no longer holding open the door to TUF alumni simply because they were on the show. So instead we get a lot of fights which are much more interesting, like a battle of the losers in Evan Tanner (-185) vs Kendall Grove (+145). Grove has been knocked out in his last two UFC outings and Tanner's first fight in over two years ended with a KO as well. It's 'ring rust' versus 'glass jaw' in a fight that could easily go either way.

Also on the card is Diego Sanchez (-500) vs Luigi Fioravanti (+350). While many people are betting on Sanchez to steamroll through Fioravanti, it's worth noting that he lasted three rounds with heavy handed Chris Leben and has never been knocked out before. Sanchez on the other hand is trying to work his way back up into title contention after two decision losses to Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch. While I wouldn't put a heavy play on the fight, I think the edge is worth considering on Fioravanti pulling the upset off.

While the UFC is backpeddling on a 'major announcement' they talked about a few weeks back, they did manage to score a few big deals in the form of merchandising and partnerships. Buy crap with your UFC visa card. Swill booze from your UFC shot glasses. And play out upcoming fights with UFC action figures complete with a little octagon. I dunno if this will help you predict the outcome of fights any better, but it should be fun regardless.

Last but not least, the UFC is headed to Atlanta on September 6th, and they've re-booked the Chuck Liddell vs Rashad Evans fight that was originally slated to occur at UFC 85. While it's not exactly the most exciting matchup in the universe, I expect the UFC betting odds to play out in a way that could make the fight very profitable for many of us sports betting enthusiasts.

And that's it for this week in MMA. Come join us next week for more shocking and earth shattering news - because knowing is half the battle!

Click here to visit BetUS - Your source for UFC betting lines, UFC odds, MMA betting, fight articles and free picks.