This Week in MMA – September 11th
Welcome to another week of MMA news. Summer vacation is officially over for everyone and it’s events out the butt from here until forever – hurricane cancellations notwithstanding. This week’s WEC event was scratched on account of Hurricane Ike, proving that Mother Nature is a bitch and we need to kill her before she kills us and our MMA betting opportunities.
In a bit of serious and sad news, former UFC middleweight champ Evan Tanner died of exposure in the California desert over the weekend. Evan is well known for doing lots of wacky and dangerous things, and this time a miscalculation led to his demise. Evan’s contribution to humanity extended far beyond the octagon and he left behind many fans with fond memories.
If you were looking forward to October’s Affliction card, you were one of the few. The event was postponed, and while the company line claims they’ve got rainbows and sugar candies in store, the word insiders used to describe ticket sales for Affliction’s second event was ‘abysmal’. There were also claims from Affliction VP Tom Atencio claiming that the UFC was making life very difficult for them – what a surprise, huh? More news on this should be forthcoming and I’ll keep you in the loop.
Ken Shamrock (+275) is talking the talk regarding his upcoming October 4th fight against Kimbo Slice (-450) but many are wondering about his physical ability to walk the walk. Ken isn’t getting any younger and has developed a reputation for being flash KO’d. Now news has come out that Shamrock’s father has suffered a heart attack and is in the hospital.
This week’s WEC show has been moved forward to November 5th, marking the third time that the rematch between Paulo Filho (-180) vs Chael Sonnen (+135) has been delayed. Originally the two fought in December of 2007, with an immediate rematch set up shortly thereafter. But a stint in rehab and treatment for depression kept Filho out of action until now, and of course the aforementioned hurricane situation. One fight that Filho promises you’ll never see though is him against Anderson Silva. Many consider the two to be the best middleweights in the world, but the two are close friends and Paulo has declared they will never meet in the cage.
If there’s one thing we should learn from last week’s Chuck Liddell vs Rashad Evans fight, it’s that best laid plans always go to ruin. Chuck was slated to face Forrest Griffin in December for the light heavyweight strap, so of course Rashad had to go and knock him out. Now there’s another fighter – Leonard Garcia (+145) – who’s been promised a shot at Urijah Faber should he beat his next opponent. Unfortunately his opponent is no pushover … it’s Jens Pulver (-185).
As I mentioned, there are more MMA wagering events coming up than you can shake a stick at and BetUS Sportsbook has all the odds you need. I noticed a pretty funny line that I thought I’d bring to your attention: Josh Thomson (-1200) is facing Ashe Bowman (+700) at Strikeforce’s second Playboy mansion show. Before you put some sports betting money down on this line keep in mind that Josh Thomson is the current Strikeforces lightweight champ, not James Thompson the guy with a giant ear who fought Kimbo Slice.
And that’s it for this week in MMA. May your bets be smooth and silky and your edges fruitful. Catch you next time.
