Author: MMA Betting

UFC Lightweight Title Fight:  Anthony Pettis vs. Rafael Dos Anjos

Odds:  ( -450 Pettis / +325 Dos Anjos )

Betting Pick:  Pettis

Bet on this fight at Bovada

Lets get right to it. UFC 185 from Dallas, Texas is going to be one of the most stacked cards in UFC history. Right now though, we’re going to talk about the main event; Pettis vs. Dos Anjos. This fight has been in the works for a few months now and its finally here. You have possibly the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world with Anthony Pettis squaring off against what looks like an unstoppable up-and-comer in dos Anjos. Pettis for a title-fight is doing quite a quick turnaround after defending his title in mid-December of 2014, and Dos Anjos has three impressive wins in just the last nine months. The world is ready, now lets break this fight down.

Rafael dos Anjos #1 Contender 23-7

Dos Anjos has the skills to make this match one of the best of the year. Though this isn’t football, defense could be the key to this fight for dos Anjos. Obviously, defense cant win this championship but it cant sure give him the advantage he needs to wear down Pettis and strike. Dos Anjos can avoid takedowns and typically significant strike much more efficiently than Pettis and is going to need to use this skill to his advantage from the get go. Dos Anjos also has greater takedown abilities. His wrestling skills give him options with singles and doubles that many fighters just will never acquire. Lets also just speak to the athletic ability of dos Anjos. I hate to call people freaks but the athleticism of dos Anjos is nothing short of freakiest. His ability to switch fighting styles and move around the octagon with what looks like next to no energy is not a skill you can train for. Lastly, dos Anjos is quite possibly the greatest kicker the UFC has ever seen. He’ll wear down areas of your body until you give him the respect he deserves and then will pick another spot on your body to abuse. My advice for dos Anjos would to utilize his kicking skills and keep Pettis at a distance. Shoot the double when he sees it and wear him down on the mat. The overhand striking skills of Pettis are not something even the most veteran fighter would ever want to deal with. Dos Anjos has a better chance to win this fight than I believe Melendez ever did.

Anthony Pettis Champion 18-2

Theres not much to say about Pettis that hasn’t already been said. I personally believe he might be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. His skills are to that of say Jon Jones and I feel like his athleticism is superior. Pettis is going to want to keep this fight in the middle of the octagon for most of the fight. He understands the ground and pound skills of dos Anjos and I feel like he doesn’t want anything to do with those wrestling skills either. Even if Pettis were to find himself on the ground, his ability to find a submission is second to only a few. I’m interested to see the striking skills of Pettis up adjacent the defensive skills in which dos Anjos possesses. For some reason I feel like Pettis won’t be too intimidated and will keep to his game-plan and keep this fight on his feet and try to finish him quicker than Mendez. My advice for Pettis is to keep close to dos Anjos. Don’t let the kicking ability of dos Anjos control the fight and overall positioning. Pettis has better striking ability than dos Anjos has defense, Pettis needs to confuse dos Anjos with string combinations and random shots. Pettis has the edge to win this fight but it isn’t as overwhelming as he’s used to.

I’ve gone back and forth on this for about a day now. As first I thought that Pettis was just too strong for dos Anjos to handle, but after watching extensive dos Anjos film, thats just not true. There will be no overpowering by either fighter and I don’t believe that we’ll see one fighter completely control the fight from start to finish. Then I thought that we haven’t seen to many upsets in the past year and the wrestling skills of dos Anjos could possibly control the overall outcome of the fight. I’ve decided to stick with my gut. Vegas had Pettis sitting around (-400) and having grown up there, I always tell people who gamble there’s a reason this massive structures keep going up, its because they’re really good at what they do. Pettis will win this fight but it won’t come easy.

Prediction:  Anthony Pettis by third round T/KO

Event:  UFC 185  – Pettis vs. Dos Anjos

Date:  Saturday, March 14, 2015

Venue:  American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas

Broadcast:  Live on PPV, FX, and UFC Fight Pass

Odds: UFC 185 Odds

Main Card:

155 lbs: UFC Lightweight Title Fight:  Anthony Pettis vs. Rafael dos Anjos
115 lbs: Women’s Strawweight Title Fight:  Carla Esparza vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
170 lbs: Matt Brown vs.  Johny Hendricks
265 lbs: Roy Nelson vs. Alistair Overeem
125 lbs: Henry Cejudo vs. Chris Cariaso

Preliminary Card:

155 lbs: Ross Pearson vs. Sam Stout
185 lbs: Roger Narvaez vs. Elias Theodorou
185 lbs: Daron Cruickshank vs. Beneil Dariush
265 lbs: Jared Rosholt vs. Josh Copeland
125 lbs: Sergio Pettis vs. Ryan Benoit
155 lbs: Jake Lindsey vs. Joseph Duffy
135 lbs: Larissa Pacheco vs. Germaine de Randamie