Author: Pat

Below are my detailed predictions for the Main Card and my Quick Picks for the Under card. 

UFC 112 Betting Odds

Main Card:

Anderson Silva over Demian Maia via first round T/KO.

• Silva vs. Maia Prediction Page

BJ Penn over Frankie Edgar via third round rear naked choke.

• Penn vs. Edgar Prediction Page

Matt Hughes  over Renzo Gracie via unanimous decision.

• Hughes vs. Gracie Prediction Page

Terry Etim over Rafael Dos Anjos via unanimous decision.

• Etim vs. Dos Anjos Prediction Page

Kendall Grove over Mark Munoz via second round triangle choke

• Grove vs. Munoz Prediction Page

UFC 111 Preliminary Card Quick Picks

Sportsbook.com Odds

• Phil Davisover Alexander Gustafsson via first round T/KO.
• John Gunderson over Paul Taylor via submission.
• Nick Osipczak over Rick Story via submission.
• Brad Blackburnover DaMarques Johnson via unanimous decision.
• Matt Veach over Paul Kelly via unanimous decision.
• Jon Madsen over Mostapha Al-Turk via unanimous decision.

If you want to add a little excitement to your fight night, you can bet on this fight at Sportsbook.com Odds. Or Betus.com Odds if you want to play some parlay bets.  They allow you to start with as little as $20, and you can bet on all of the fights for the night. Check out my review of Sportsbook here…

155 lbs: B.J. Penn vs. Frankie Edgar

Odds:  (-800 Penn / +500 Edgar )

The co-main event features the first of two title fights on the card, with Lightweight champion B.J. Penn defending his belt against dynamic challenger Frankie Edgar.  Edgar is a tough competitor with a very well-rounded skillset, but B.J Penn makes everyone he fights at 155 pounds look ridiculous, so it’s interesting to see if Edgar will fare any better than the others who attempted to take Penn’s belt.

Frankie “The Answer” Edgar is a very well rounded fighter with solid boxing, a good chin, and decent jiu-jitsu, but his best attribute is definitely his dominant wrestling.  A great takedown artist with awesome top control, Edgar is very good at grinding down his opponents and stifling their offense completely.  The only loss of his career came to Gray Maynard, who he couldn’t keep from out-wrestling him.  He proved against Sean Sherk, though, that he has what it takes to compete with the top fighters in the division.

B.J. Penn is easily one of the most dominant champions in the sport.  He has the best jiu-jitsu in the division, arguably the best striking in the division, and incredibly good takedown defense.  His boxing is really accurate and powerful and he has excellent hand speed as well.  He has lost a few fights at Welterweight, against former champions, but has fought as high as Heavyweight, where he lost a close decision to current UFC Light Heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida.

Frankie Edgar is good, but he’s not good enough to do anything to B.J. Penn.  The only hole Penn ever had in his game was a lack of cardio, but now that he has fixed that, he is pretty much unbeatable at 155 pounds.  Edgar will press for takedowns and succeed only in pushing Penn into the cage, will eat shots for a few rounds, and ultimately get dropped and choked out in the same fashion as Kenny Florian.

Fight Prediction:  BJ “The Prodigy” Penn via Third Round rear naked choke.

To add a little excitement on fight night, you can bet on this fight at Sportsbook.com Odds.  They allow you to start with as little as $20, and you can bet on all of the fights for the night. Check out my review of Sportsbook here…

170 lbs: Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie

Odds:  (-500 Hughes / +300 Gracie )

The third bout of the evening features two legendary figures in the sport, as skilled jiu-jitsu fighter Renzo Gracie, who is responsible for training some of the best fighters in Mixed Martial Arts, will look to avenge his relative Royce’s loss against UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes.  Hughes looked completely dominant against Royce, but Renzo is the much more competent and well-rounded Gracie, so this should actually be a pretty competitive fight.

Obviously, the Gracie family name is synonymous with jiu-jitsu, and Renzo is just as prolific a grappler as anyone who carries the name.  Unlike some of his more famous relatives, though, Renzo also has a fairly solid wrestling game and some decent boxing to complement his grappling game.  He is not a dominant wrestler like Hughes, nor is he a feared knockout artist, but he is nowhere near as one-dimensional as Royce, and he is not going to get steamrolled on the ground quite so easily.

Hughes, clearly, is one of the most revered and successful fighters in the history of the UFC.  A dominant wrestler and ground and pound fighter, Hughes’ slams and his relentless wrestling made him the longest-reigning Welterweight champion in UFC history.  He also has a largely unrecognized but still quite good submission game, and very good submission defense.

Renzo is a great fighter, but Hughes is just better.  Hughes earned a decision win against Renzo student Matt Serra in his last fight, and Serra is like a more dangerous version of Renzo.  I don’t think Hughes will completely overwhelm Renzo the way he did Royce, but he will score takedowns and pummel Renzo from top position en route to a unanimous decision victory.

Prediction:  Matt Hughes via unanimous decision victory.

To add a little excitement on fight night, you can bet on this fight at Sportsbook.com Odds.  They allow you to start with as little as $20, and you can bet on all of the fights for the night. Check out my review of Sportsbook here…

155 lbs: Terry Etim vs. Rafael dos Anjos

Odds: (-175 Etim / +145 Dos Anjos )

The second bout of the evening is a Lightweight contest pitting tough British submission fighter Terry Etim against well-rounded Brazilian Rafael dos Anjos.  Both are hungry, talented young fighters who are stuck in the middle of the crowded Lightweight pack, so a win here is really important for both fighters’ future.

dos Anjos, primarily a grappler, has a good submission game but is probably better at controlling fights on the ground than he is at finishing them.  Still, he is a very solid competitor who can hang with anyone on the ground and has some solid standup as well.

Etim, like dos Anjos, does his best work on the ground, but he is definitely a bit more proficient at finishing fights with submissions.  He also has more powerful, if not more technical, standup than dos Anjos does.

It is almost guaranteed that this fight will play out on the ground, and I think Etim is the better grappler.  He also has a slight edge in the standup, so he should control this one and earn the decision.

Prediction:  Terry Etim via unanimous decision.

To add a little excitement on fight night, you can bet on this fight at Sportsbook.com Odds.  They allow you to start with as little as $20, and you can bet on all of the fights for the night. Check out my review of Sportsbook here…

185 lbs: Kendall Grove vs. Mark Munoz

Odds: (+140 Grove / -170 Munoz )

The opening bout of the evening pits talented Hawaiian scrapper Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove against former NCAA National wrestling champion Mark Munoz.  Munoz is a physically imposing fighter with great wrestling and powerful standup, but Grove is a threat to finish with his dangerous Muay Thai and his top-notch jiu-jitsu, so this should be a highly competitive bout.

Munoz, a very skilled wrestler who made his way to the UFC through the WEC, has great takedowns, a solid top game, and really powerful standup.  He will have a huge advantage over Grove in the wrestling department, which he will need to use to full advantage if he wants to earn another victory.  The big question marks are how well he will be able to handle Grove’s sizable reach advantage and how well his largely untested submission defense will hold up

Grove, a tall and lanky fighter who uses his reach extremely well, has very good Muay Thai and excellent submissions from every position.  The holes in his game are that he does not have very good takedown defense and he has something of a suspect chin.  Unfortunately for Grove, Munoz has the ability to exploit both of those holes, so he is going to have his hands full in this one.

Stylistically, the edge goes to Munoz, who has knockout power and top-notch wrestling that can exploit Grove’s porous takedown defense.  Grove is a notoriously tough guy, though, and his long and rangy frame are very hard for some guys to deal with.  I think Grove’s submission attack is not only effective enough, but unorthodox enough, that Munoz is going to have trouble training for it in the gym, and that is going to come back to bite him come fight time.  I think Grove is a very attractive underdog pick just because he is always a threat to finish standing and on the ground and he possesses physical attributes and a style that are difficult to recreate.  Grove by submission.

Prediction:  Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove via second round triangle choke.

To add a little excitement on fight night, you can bet on this fight at Sportsbook.com Odds.  They allow you to start with as little as $20, and you can bet on all of the fights for the night. Check out my review of Sportsbook here…