Fighting | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Rousey vs. Tate: Why Is Ronda Rousey a 4-1 Favorite over Miesha Tate?

In many ways, Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey is the biggest women’s Mixed Martial Arts bout since Cristiane Santos faced Gina Carano in the first-ever women’s MMA fight to headline a major event.With a combination of good looks and great tale…

In many ways, Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey is the biggest women’s Mixed Martial Arts bout since Cristiane Santos faced Gina Carano in the first-ever women’s MMA fight to headline a major event.

With a combination of good looks and great talent, both Tate and Rousey have quickly catapulted to the forefront of MMA. Recently, oddsmakers have seen fit to place Rousey as a virtual four-to-one favorite over the defending champion. These people are stupid.

Check the odds for yourself here. Strikeforce: “Tate vs. Rousey” is currently scheduled for Saturday, March 3, 2012 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. In addition to the aforementioned Women’s Bantamweight Championship fight headlining the card, the event also boasts notable Strikeforce talent like Josh Thomson, Paul Daley, Ronaldo Souza and Scott Smith.

This will be Miesha Tate’s first defense of her belt after beating Marloes Coenen by submission in July of 2011. It was the first submission loss of the veteran Coenen’s career, and it extended Tate’s current win streak to six straight fights. Overall, Tate is 12-2 with a majority of her wins (eight of twelve) by stoppage, with a majority of those wins (five of eight) by submission.

Ronda Rousey, meanwhile, is well-known as the outspoken, always-controversial former Olympian that has earned a shot at the title after only four fights as a professional Mixed Martial Artist.

All four of those wins have been by armbar, all four of those wins have been in the first round, and even more impressive, all four of those wins have come within the first minute of action. Rousey even has two wins that were earned in under 30 seconds.

Let me get this out of the way right away: I’m not disrespecting Ronda Rousey. I love me a “badboy” fighter (regardless of gender), and Rousey is a breath of fresh air in a division that is filled with a huge amount of talent but not that many personalities.

Rousey is an incredibly scary woman to get in the cage with, and I’m honestly not surprised that she’s gotten a title shot this quickly. I even think she deserves one: History is on her side, as is marketability and the promotional force of Zuffa.

The situation is what it is: She’s very popular, very attractive, very marketable and most importantly, she’s a very good fighter. And whenever you have that perfect storm of ingredients in MMA, of course you can expect to be catapulted to the top.

But a four-to-one favorite over Miesha Tate? That’s just plain disrespectful to Tate and the skills she’s shown inside of the cage. Miesha Tate is more than worthy of the belt that’s currently wrapped around her waist.

As a pretty face, she’s very marketable as well, but she’s also got a huge amount of skill in wrestling and takedowns, her stand-up is constantly improving, and yes, she does have a submission game. Maybe it’s not as good as Rousey’s, but it’s good enough that she’s won more times by submission than anything else.

If you want my opinion, I’d have Tate the slight favorite. Tate has shown an ability to stay calm and collected under pressure, and she’s got a lot of experience in deep waters, having competed twice in one night and having fought to the fourth round when she won the belt.

I think Tate is going to take Rousey down and rearrange her face for five rounds. There’s a strong possibility that Rousey will grab something in those 25 minutes of getting grounded and pounded, but that’s why I have Tate as only the slight favorite.

But a four-to-one underdog? I just don’t see it. The bookmaker’s lack of faith in Miesha Tate both confuses and angers me. I think Tate is going to prove a lot of people wrong in this fight, and if you’re a betting man, you could make a decent chunk of change from that bet.

Oliver Saenz, also known as PdW2kX, is a freelance journalist, opinion columnist, hardcore MMA fan, and lifelong video game nerd. For more news, views, previews, and reviews on all things Mixed Martial Arts as well as video games, be sure to visit FightGamesBlog.net.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on FX 2: Forecasting Knockout, Submission and Fight of the Night

UFC on FX 2 is set to go down March 3, from Sydney, Australia (it airs March 2 in North America due to time difference).The event will be capped off by a welterweight showdown between perennial top contenders Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann.Beyond the…

UFC on FX 2 is set to go down March 3, from Sydney, Australia (it airs March 2 in North America due to time difference).

The event will be capped off by a welterweight showdown between perennial top contenders Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann.

Beyond the headliner, the show from the Land Down Under will feature the first round of the UFC Flyweight Champion Grad Prix, as well as an additional eight contests.

Here, we will examine which bouts are most likely to receive Fight of the Night honors, as well as which fighters have the best chance at bringing home the Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night bonuses.

Begin Slideshow

UFC on FX 2: 5 Reasons You Can’t Miss This Event

This weekend in Australia, the UFC comes to you live on FX from the Allphones Arena in Sydney. Although there is a complaint of this card lacking “star power,” there is sure to be some excitement.A number of prospects, fighters making their debuts and …

A number of prospects, fighters making their debuts and established veterans grace this card, making it one of the most underrated cards to be put on in a while.

Here are five reasons you cannot miss this event, which promises fireworks.

Begin Slideshow

Is Johny Hendricks the Man to Beat GSP?

In short, Johny Hendricks is a good fighter and will beat Georges St. Pierre one day, even if it’s only in our dreams. But as long as he holds the UFC Welterweight title, Hendricks will not surpass the UFC’s Interim Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit …

Now, that’s not to say Carlos Condit will beat GSP the way many thought Nick Diaz would, but that is to bring out a deceased debate about Hendricks’ UFC 141 bout with Jon Fitch.

You will recall as well as I do that Fitch was the odds-on favorite to beat Hendricks, and that even some strong supporters of Hendricks found themselves picking Fitch to prevail because of Fitch’s history of taking good fighters down and neutralizing their strengths to the point of fans wondering if the supposed strengths were ever existent in Fitch’s opponent.

Hendricks was as strong an opponent as anyone Fitch had faced aside from GSP, but on paper, his UFC 141 bout with Jon Fitch played out similarly to the way in which Mike Pierce’s UFC 107 bout against Fitch played out, and thus, a similar result was expected.

That said, even a few Fitch supporters gave Hendricks a chance to beat Fitch, even if by knockout, but not even the biggest detractors of Jon Fitch could have found the quick 12-second knockout.

That knockout initially had people wondering “Did I really just see that?” But then the hype for UFC 141 died down and then some questioned if Hendricks could do it to Fitch again in a rematch.

The man who defeats GSP shouldn’t ever get a big win, even a quick one, and have it come under fire as a fluke, should he?

Maybe he shouldn’t, or it’s possible that there’s some good in people believing it was a fluke KO over Fitch.

After all, what if Hendricks can bring something to GSP that Condit will not be able to?

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on FX 2: Which Fighter Has the Most to Gain?

Three years ago, Ian McCall was fresh off a loss to an up-and-coming bantamweight by the name of Dominick Cruz. He was dropped from the WEC roster, and went off to find his own path on smaller shows against smaller opponents. Since that time, Cruz has …

Since that time, Cruz has taken UFC gold and a spot as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts. McCall hopes to do the same this weekend in Australia, where he competes in the opening round of the promotion’s inaugural flyweight tournament.

As a 125-pounder, McCall has become one of the best in the world. Casual fans aren’t familiar with his work, but he’s undefeated since 2010 and campaigned aggressively for a chance to fight in the UFC.

He now has that chance and stands to gain more than anyone on the UFC on FX 2 card as a result.

It could be argued that Yasuhiro Urushitani is in a similar position, an unknown commodity to the casual fan who now has a shot to become a UFC champion, but McCall is a guy that people are going to take to quickly.

He’s incredibly talented and exciting, and he has the type of personality that people will enjoy seeing in the octagon. Exposure is all that stood in the way of him becoming a superstar, and now he’s going to get that on the biggest stage in the sport.

He’s something everyone can get behind: an entertaining winner with a good personality. If he’s able to become the first flyweight champion in the history of the UFC, the promotion should be jumping for joy.

Looking at his competition in the flyweight tournament, it’s as bland as it is stiff. Demetrious Johnson is rugged, but no one is hanging on what he has to say in an interview.

Joseph Benavidez is a little better, but still doesn’t really stand out. As mentioned, Urushitani is basically in the same boat as McCall, with the exception that he has a language barrier to overcome as well.

One of those four guys is going to be the champion. Sure, there are guys like John Dodson and Louis Gaudinot who have some flair, and you’d have to think the UFC is eyeing Jussier da Silva to join the ranks pretty soon, but someone in this flyweight tournament is coming out with a title.

If McCall is that man, he will gain more than any of his adversaries.

Benavidez and Johnson are already established as bantamweights, and have become reasonably well-known between the UFC and WEC. Worst case scenario for Urushitani is that he loses goes back to Shooto as a footnote in North American MMA history.

But for the man they call Uncle Creepy, a man with a legion of loyal underground followers and all the tools to become a huge star, the sky is the limit. The gains are there to be made, UFC on FX 2 is his chance to make them.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on FX 2 Fight Card: Are UFC Fans Ready for a Flyweight Division?

Fans, even fans of a cutting-edge sport like mixed martial arts, are traditionalists at heart. There is comfort in the familiar. It’s part of the appeal of sports. Ball players we are watching today are playing essentially the same games they played in…

Sometimes, though, fans need to be pulled, kicking and screaming, into the future. Sometimes you need a three-point line, a forward pass, to eliminate holding. Sometimes, in short, change is necessary. The UFC recognizes that, and this Friday plans to dump us, unceremoniously, right out of our comfort zone.

Big galoots? We can handle that. Nothing excites your average MMA fan more than two giant behemoths throwing heavy leather. Finely tuned, ripped and shredded athletes? We’ve got that too. After all, Georges St. Pierre has been a constant presence in our lives for years.

Two 125-pound scamps scurrying around the cage like two hyped up squirrels? Two competitors with a combined weight well under the UFC heavyweight limit?

That’s something different indeed. But the long promised flyweight division is finally making its UFC debut on FX this Friday. Are fight fans ready for a flyweight class?

“Just turn on your television and give it a chance,” Demetrius Johnson told Bleacher Report. “It’s like me telling someone they need to watch Dragon Ball Z and then telling me ‘Nah, nah, I’d rather watch Pokemon.’ Because Pokemon is more famous. Dude, just give us a chance…I’m pretty sure you won’t be disappointed…we don’t get tired, we don’t stop moving, we have submissions, and it’s always a great fight. Do you want to see two elephants fight? Or to see two jaguars fight?”

Johnson, who made it all the way to a title shot despite being dwarfed by opponents at bantamweight, is one of four men vying to become the first UFC flyweight champion. Later in the evening, Joe Benavidez will face Yasuhiro Urushitani, immediately after Johnson fights Ian McCall. The two winners will meet later in the year to crown the first champion.

McCall is the great unknown. Unlike Johnson and Benavidez, he didn’t pursue the big time, preferring to compete at 125 pounds, even if that meant doing so at the regional level. The ceiling is highest for McCall, at least in terms of star potential.

He has the real potential to fill the hipster niche Luke Cummo, Amir Sadollah, and Cody MacKenzie have pioneered with varying degrees of success. He’s charming and disarmingly funny. Best of all? McCall comes prepackaged with a great nickname (“Uncle Creepy”) and a great gimmick-a silent film villian’s curly cue mustache that he calls “a title belt for my face.”

“The first flyweight fight ever. Like you say, that’s something for the record books and for trivia questions,” McCall told Bleacher Report. “We have the chance to kind of etch our names into forever.”

Despite being the newcomer to the international scene, McCall certainly doesn’t lack confidence. When I sent out a call for questions, one came back from a fan that I thought could be interesting: “Ask McCall and Benavidez how it feels to know Brock Lesnar could pick up and curl either of them.” McCall didn’t hesitate to take that question head on.

“Brock Lesnar could probably bench press a house. He’s also boring and a douchebag,” Uncle Creepy said. “I was at Whole Foods the other day, I’m actually at Whole Foods two or three hours a day, and this guy comes up to me and says ‘I just don’t find the lightweights that exciting. I want to see someone get knocked out.’ We kind of talked and I understood his point of view. He’s not someone who watches this sport all the time. He’s just kind of a casual fan. The purists, the people who really enjoy this fight for what it is. They’re going to enjoy it more obviously.”

The truth is, the UFC is still struggling to sell the featherweight and bantamweight classes to fight fans. It’s been just over a year since the first featherweight fight in UFC history. Bantamweights followed shortly after.

As headliners, the two divisions have yet to set the world on fire. Over time, that could change. After all, smaller fighters dominate boxing and can pack them into arenas and make millions of pay per view. Joe Benavidez, the favorite in this four-man tournament, believes it is just a matter of time.

“All this stuff happens with time,” Benavidez said in an exclusive interview. “Look at the UFC when it first started. Not everyone respected it like they do now as a sport. And those guys were big. People are used to seeing the 205 pounders and heavyweights because they’ve been around for awhile. This (the flyweight division) is new stuff. I think the more fans see it, the more they will respect it. There’s no way you can watch one of our fights and not respect it….when it’s all over, they’ll probably end up favoring the smaller weight classes. Because the fights are so much more exciting and technical.”

Benavidez, a long time training partner of former featherweight champion Urijah Faber at Team Alpha Male, has lost only twice in his career-both times to bantamweight kingpin Dominick Cruz. Despite being, arguably, the second best fighter in the weight class, Benavidez had reached a ceiling of sorts. He’d lost to Cruz and wouldn’t fight his friend Faber. Changing weight classes opens up a new horizon for Benavidez, who has thought long and hard about what a UFC title would mean.

“To be crowned the first flyweight champion. To be a UFC champion? That’s a dream come true,” Benavidez said, echoing the other fighters in the tournament. “That’s been my goal since the very beginning. I have a picture of the UFC belt on my mantle. Just a photograph until I do get a real one. I look at it everyday. That’s the dream.

“That belt is going to be the first of its kind. Talk about a legacy,” Benavidez continued. I could practically see his eyes light up despite the continents between us. “That’s a legacy all in itself. The first flyweight champion. That’s something I’ll always be able to look back on. Set out on the road for all the other flyweights to come. That would be huge.”

Four little giants. Tiny titans. On the road to history. Check out the UFC on FX2, airing Friday at 9 PM EST, to watch the flyweight journey begin. Jonathan Snowden is the author of Total MMA: Inside Ultimate Fighting and The MMA Encyclopedia. He’s a regular contributor to Bleacher Report.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com