Strikeforce Emelianenko vs Werdum takes place Saturday, June 26th, live on Showtime at 10:00 PM EST.
Fedor Emelianenko vs Fabricio Werdum
Currently the odds show Fedor as a -800 favorite and Werdum as a +500 underdog.
Fedor’s record is 31-1 and his one loss is controversial. Fedor is arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the world and is ranked as the number one fighter in the world today.
We saw what Dos Santos did to Werdum. Fedor has similar big punching power and Werdum’s chin is suspect. Could Werdum possess the skills to defeat Fedor? He does. In Fedor’s fight with Nogueira he basically dominated. Nog has shown to be a much tougher fighter in terms of ability to take damage then Werdum has. So its a mild comparison, but the best comparison due to very highly regarded heavyweight jiu-jitsu ability and above average stand up strikers.
My final on this match is that Fedor’s power is too much for Werdum and his ability to avoid getting into submissions really reduces Werdum’s advantage like he did against his fight against Nog.
Bodog has Fedor at -800 and Werdum at +500
If you want to bet Fedor, Intertops has Fedor at -667 and Werdum at +450
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos vs Jan Finney
Cyborg has a record of (9-1) in her fights and is a major favorite against Jan Finney who has a record of (8-7). The odds for this fight have Cyborg favored at -2500 and Finney a big underdog at +1200.
This is worth avoiding, but Cyborg will win. She is just too good and there is maybe 1 other fighter out there who even stands a chance of putting up a good fight.
Cung Le vs Scott Smith
Cung Le recently fought Scott Smith and was soundly winning the fight before he was caught with one punch from Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith that put Le on queer street. The odds for this fight have Cung Le who has a record of (6-1) with the lone loss to Smith at -400. Scott Smith who has a record of (17-6), a win over Cung Le already is the underdog at +260.
Cung Le was literally man handling Scott Smith in their fight with all kinds of kicks and punches including spinning backfists and spinning kicks. It was when Cung due to being out of shape and ring rust that he was hit with one left hook that wobbled Le, then Smith hit Le with another left that put him on the canvas. Then Smith followed with punches on the ground and Big John McCarthy stopped the fight.
In this fight Cung Le will have better conditioning and thus will be able to last for that last 2-3 minutes in the 3rd round.
Intertops has Cung Le at -333 and Scott Smith at +250
Josh Thomson vs Pat Healy
(16-3) -500 (23-15) +360
This is a really intriguing matchup as Pat Healy is a real dog of a fighter with a record of 23-15. Fighters tend to have problems with Healy’s wrestling and top control and just the constant pressure he puts on people. My personal opinion of Healy is that he is an extremely underrated fighter who has lost at key moments that have caused setbacks in terms of becoming a more popular fighter. Thompson is the better striker and is good at getting up from the ground, but due to injuries a year or so ago, is conditioning has suffered or appear to have suffered. Healy on the other hand is hungry and with being a severe underdog, I have no problems at all taking Pat Healy here on the winning side. Could Josh Thomson win via decision? Sure. Can he win via TKO? I don’t think so.
I’m taking Pat Healy here. Intertops has Healy at +300