UFC Betting – Bisping to Impress for Home Crowd?
BetUS Sportsbook bettors who wager on mixed martial arts will look overseas for UFC 89, which takes place at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England on October 18. Keith Jardine and Brandon Vera will hook up in a light heavyweight fight on that card, but what we’re going to focus on today is the middleweight bout between Michael “The Count” Bisping, fighting in front of his countrymen, against Chris “The Crippler” Leben.
BetUS MMA Betting Odds – UFC – Middleweights
October 18 — Birmingham, UK
MICHAEL BISPING -220
CHRIS LEBEN +175
For betting purposes, let’s look at the contestants:
BISPING (16-1, 11 KO’s), the -220 favorite in the BetUS UFC betting odds, lives in Manchester, but he is originally from Cyprus. The roots of his training are in jiu-jitsu and Bisping has been involved with mixed martial arts in one form or another since 1994. He was also a professional kickboxing champion in Britain and studied karate extensively. So he has a well-varied background that is ideal for this business. After abandoning all that for a while, he began to cast his eye on campaigning full-time as a professional mixed martial artist and turned pro in April of 2004 with a win over Steve Mathews. Within three fights, he was the Cage Rage light heavyweight champ and continued to move up the ladder, staying undefeated through his first ten fights, then entering the UFC in June 2006 with a win over Josh Haynes. Bisping went 14-0 when he won a decision over Matt Hamill at UFC 75, but suffered his first loss at UFC 78 when he dropped a split decision to Rashad Evans, who was last seen knocking out Chuck Liddell. Bisping, who then moved from light heavyweight down to middleweight, has had two fights since, scoring TKO wins over Charles McCarthy and Jason Day.
LEBEN (18-4, 10 KO’s), the +175 underdog at BetUS, is a fiery personality who has been given to fits of emotion. He began fighting as a pro back in 2002 and competed for a number of different promotional organizations. But he first came to the attention of audiences when he fought Jason Thacker in the first Ultimate Fighter finale in 2005, scoring a first-round TKO. He tallied a notable victory in his next bout, as he won a decision over Patrick Cote, and won three more fights, all on “Ultimate Fight Night,” before being taken out by a knee within a minute against Anderson Silva in June 2006. Losses to Jason McDonald and Kalib Starnes followed not long after. He’s won his last two fights, against Terry Martin and Alessio Sakara. He was also supposed to fight Bisping at UFC 85, but his arrest from an alleged DUI kept him in jail and out of that bout.
Leben is as tough as nails when he isn’t widely outclassed. Well, in this bout he isn’t in as deep as he was against Anderson Silva, but he isn’t in the same category as Bisping, who may turn out to be much more formidable at the middleweight level than he was at 205 pounds.
Both these fighters have pretty good knockout records, but the matchup may be bad for Leben. First of all, he is the type who likes to strike, and in that department Bisping is going to have the advantage over him. On top of that, Bisping, with his vast kickboxing skills, can add another dimension to that arsenal, using his legs to keep Leben at bay and off-balance. And in terms of the ground game, Bisping has all that is necessary to submit Leben. He simply has a much better all-around array of skills.
I was reading one writer who wrote that Leben had no shot whatsoever but that -220 what “not a great price” on Bisping. Quick tip – when the opponent has “no shot whatsoever,” having to lay only -220 is a gift from above. We’ll accept that gift, with Bisping as the -220 favorite in the BetUS UFC betting odds.
