Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (+160)
Shogun is the current UFC Lightweight Champion and proved worthy of the title in both fights with Lyoto Machida as many remember he should have won that first fight against “The Dragon” at UFC 104. We know that Rua has the powerful leg kicks needed to take out Jon Jones. Plus, we gotta say, it’s not cool that Jon Jones has already been signing autographs as “Champion 2011″. We’ve all seen the movies and know where that’s going. The young hero always gets a little too cocky and has to be humbled again before his next great win. Plus at +155 and +160, you just can’t beat the value on Rua for this fight.
Jim Miller (-260)
The UFC Lightweight is on a 6 win hot streak with his last victory suffered by Charles Oliveira who was submitted by Miller’s kneebar in the first 2 minutes of the first round at UFC 124. Miller’s only loss in his UFC career was a Unanimous Decision to number 1 Lightweight title contender, Gray Maynard. Miller’s UFC 128 opponent is WEC veteran, Kamal Shalorus who has sound BJJ and catch wrestling skills and should give Miller a good match. But Miller has beaten good ground gamers before and Shalorus just may not be ready for Miller’s caliber in his UFC debut.
Mike Pyle (+145)
Pyle is always underestimated but after he beat John Hathaway as a +400 underdog at UFC 120, we vowed never to bet against him again. Pyle’s matchup against Ricardo Almeida looks pretty even for us as both fighters are most comfortable on the ground, but Pyle’s been working heavily with Xtreme Couture Boxing Coach, Gil Martinez and we’ve seen with Gray Maynard that Martinez is solidly improving the stand-up skills of his ground gamers.
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