This Sunday, the UFC will hold its fifth card on Versus, of which many of the bouts will have significant ramifications for the lightweight and welterweight divisions in particular. As Dan Hardy looks to rebound from three consecutive losses after…
This Sunday, the UFC will hold its fifth card on Versus, of which many of the bouts will have significant ramifications for the lightweight and welterweight divisions in particular.
As Dan Hardy looks to rebound from three consecutive losses after already receiving what looks to be his last hall pass, he will take on the always entertaining Chris Lytle.
Meanwhile, in the lightweight division, Jim Miller will look to solidify his bid for No. 1 contender status against former WEC Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson.
Elsewhere, the young up-and-coming Charles Oliveira will take on Donald Cerrone in a bout a little lower down the lightweight ladder as Cerrone will hope to insert himself amongst the divisions elite. For his part, Oliveira will be looking to add the veteran’s name to his list of wins.
After June’s Versus event, fans may not expect to see quite as much drama, but they can expect some very important results to come from the night’s bouts.
Here are four things to watch for in the UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle card.
There will be a much clearer picture at the top of the lightweight divison after Jim Miller and Ben Henderson settle some things on Sunday night n UFC Live on Versus 5.
These two exciting fighters are set to lock it up for the number one contender spot…
There will be a much clearer picture at the top of the lightweight divison after Jim Miller and Ben Henderson settle some things on Sunday night n UFC Live on Versus 5.
These two exciting fighters are set to lock it up for the number one contender spot in the division, and both have taken quite different paths to get here. Miller has scratched and clawed his way up almost exclusively in the UFC promotion, while Henderson made a smooth climb up in another promotion to helicopter in to the UFC with a solid name for himself.
These will be a very close fight to predict, but here is my head to toe breakdown.
What does Jim Miller have to do to get noticed? He’s currently riding a seven-fight win streak that includes wins over a former TUF winner and one of the most hyped prospects in the division, he’s finished his last two fights in highly impressive fashi…
What does Jim Miller have to do to get noticed?
He’s currently riding a seven-fight win streak that includes wins over a former TUF winner and one of the most hyped prospects in the division, he’s finished his last two fights in highly impressive fashion, and he’s sporting a 20-2 record with his only losses coming at the hands of the current champion and No. 1 contender.
Yet, somehow his fight with former WEC champion Ben Henderson has been subjected to co-main event status behind a fight between two guys coming off losses who are nowhere near title contention. Huh?
Not taking away anything from Dan Hardy and Chris Lytle, as they are both tremendously entertaining and will almost certainly provide us with a memorable fight on Sunday, but it makes no sense to have a potential No. 1 contender get second billing on a free TV card.
If Miller was a boring fighter, a case could be made to stick him behind some well known names, but he has done nothing but improve all aspects of his game as of late and his last couple fights have been highly entertaining.
If the UFC wants to build up contenders and marketable fighters in the lighter weight classes, this would seem like the perfect opportunity to do so. The fight is on free TV, there are plenty of other marketable names on the card (including Hardy and former TUF winner Amir Sadollah), and throwing a guaranteed slug-fest like Hardy-Lytle on before the main event would entice viewers to remain tuned in.
It seems like the UFC has dropped the ball with Miller so far, but if he wins this weekend, he deserves his shot at redemption against whoever comes out of the UFC 136 title fight.
He is a completely different fighter than the guy who lost to Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, and a win over a former WEC champion would add a huge amount of credibility to an already good resume.
Jim Miller has proven he belongs inside the Octagon with the best in the division. If he wins on Sunday, let’s hope he steals Joe Rogan’s microphone and demands a title shot from Dana White and Joe Silva.
Full betting lines for this Sunday’s UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle event have been released, which means it’s time to steal some money from your old lady’s purse and tell her you’re going for a walk. And if you follow our gambling advice very carefully, you’ll be able to return the cash before she notices and earn some extra cigarette-money in the process. (Ed. note: You’ll probably lose everything like usual. Are things ever going to change with you, Jim?) Check out the juiciest lines, via bestfightodds.com:
Main Card (Versus, 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT)
Chris Lytle (-107) vs. Dan Hardy (even)
Jim Miller (-145) vs. Ben Henderson (+145)
Charles Oliveira (-130) vs. Donald Cerrone (+130)
Amir Sadollah (-310) vs. Duane Ludwig (+273)
Preliminary Card (Facebook.com, 5:45 p.m. ET / 2:45 p.m. PT)
C.B. Dollaway (-250) vs. Jared Hamman (+222)
Joseph Benavidez (-231) vs. Eddie Wineland (+225)
Kyle Noke (-144) vs. Ed Herman (+145)
Karlos Vemola (-210) vs. Ronny Markes (+201)
Jimy Hettes (-350) vs. Alex Caceres (+313)
Cole Miller (-387) vs. T.J. O’Brien (+335)
Danny Castillo (-118) vs. Jacob Volkmann (+107)
Edwin Figueroa (-300) vs. Jason Reinhardt (+288)
Let’s get that money…
Full betting lines for this Sunday’s UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle event have been released, which means it’s time to steal some money from your old lady’s purse and tell her you’re going for a walk. And if you follow our gambling advice very carefully, you’ll be able to return the cash before she notices and earn some extra cigarette-money in the process. (Ed. note: You’ll probably lose everything like usual. Are things ever going to change with you, Jim?) Check out the juiciest lines, via bestfightodds.com:
Main Card (Versus, 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT)
Chris Lytle (-107) vs. Dan Hardy (even)
Jim Miller (-145) vs. Ben Henderson (+145)
Charles Oliveira (-130) vs. Donald Cerrone (+130)
Amir Sadollah (-310) vs. Duane Ludwig (+273)
Preliminary Card (Facebook.com, 5:45 p.m. ET / 2:45 p.m. PT)
C.B. Dollaway (-250) vs. Jared Hamman (+222)
Joseph Benavidez (-231) vs. Eddie Wineland (+225)
Kyle Noke (-144) vs. Ed Herman (+145)
Karlos Vemola (-210) vs. Ronny Markes (+201)
Jimy Hettes (-350) vs. Alex Caceres (+313)
Cole Miller (-387) vs. T.J. O’Brien (+335)
Danny Castillo (-118) vs. Jacob Volkmann (+107)
Edwin Figueroa (-300) vs. Jason Reinhardt (+288)
Let’s get that money…
The Main Event: Chris Lytle definitely deserves to be a slight favorite here; he’s dangerous from more positions than Dan Hardy, and supernaturally impervious to knockouts and submissions. I think the line would be wider if Lytle wasn’t coming off a lackluster performance against Brian Ebersole in February, but as we all know, the dude was nursing injuries and shouldn’t have taken the fight in the first place. Dan Hardy allegedly holds the striking advantage — but I’m not entirely convinced of that either. Straight money on Lights Out is a wise choice.
The Co-Main: There’s part of me that thinks Jim Miller is being disrespected (as usual) by only being a -145 favorite against Bendo. Henderson is incredibly talented and capable of brilliant performances, but this is Miller’s time. His last two stoppage wins against Charles Oliveira and Kamal Shalorus have demonstrated that his skills are developing with every fight. I see the Jersey Boy taking this one by decision and hitting lucky #8. Miller’s a safe bet.
The Good ‘Dog: I expected the Oliveira vs. Cerrone line to be closer to even. The rangy, experienced, well-rounded Cowboy is a legitimate test for the young Brazilian phenom, and his +130 line is attractive.
The New Guys: Never heard of Jimy Hettes, huh? Well after Sunday night, you’ll know him as “the guy who just knocked Bruce Leroy out of the UFC.” Hettes is a grappling savant who has tapped all eight of his opponents in regional east coast promotions. Despite his TUF 12 credentials, Caceres isn’t really a step up in competition; please don’t bet on him just because you’ve heard of him. As for the card’s other late-replacement newbie, Ronny Markes is a 23-year-old Brazilian prospect who scored a decision win over Paulo Filho in April — not that beating Paulo Filho means much anymore. Vemola is the favorite here because he kicked the dogshit out of Seth Petruzelli in his last fight, while Markes is something of an unknown quantity. My gut is telling me to stay away from this one altogether.
Official CagePotato Parlay: Lytle + Miller + Benavidez + Hettes + Figueroa. $20 returns $131.05 profit.
Filed under: UFCThe UFC is back on Versus Sunday night with a five-fight televised card that will answer some big questions: Can Dan Hardy snap his losing streak and save his job in the UFC? Can Jim Miller prove that he’s worthy of a lightweight title …
The UFC is back on Versus Sunday night with a five-fight televised card that will answer some big questions: Can Dan Hardy snap his losing streak and save his job in the UFC? Can Jim Miller prove that he’s worthy of a lightweight title shot? Can Charles Oliveira get back on track and show that he’s one of the sport’s most promising young fighters? We’ll weigh in with some answers below.
What: UFC Live on Versus 5: Hardy vs. Lytle
When: Sunday, the Facebook fights begin at 5:45 PM ET and the Versus fights start at 9.
Where: Milwaukee
Predictions on the four televised fights and the top two Facebook fights below.
Dan Hardy vs. Chris Lytle Hardly anything has gone right for Hardy in the nearly two years since he beat Mike Swick to earn a shot at the welterweight title. He was completely outclassed by Georges St. Pierre, knocked out by Carlos Condit and then controlled for 15 minutes by Anthony Johnson. Now Hardy says he’s shaking up his training and getting back into form, and he better be, if he wants to keep his spot on the UFC roster: Fighters rarely keep their jobs if they lose four in a row.
The good news for Hardy is that Lytle is liable to play right into his strengths and turn it into a slugfest. The 36-year-old Lytle is always exciting, but he has looked like he’s slowing down in his last couple fights, and Hardy should be able to out-slug him and win what should be an entertaining fight. Pick: Hardy
Jim Miller vs. Ben Henderson Although Hardy vs. Lytle is officially the main event, Miller vs. Henderson is the best fight on the card. Miller has a great resume: He’s 20-2, and the losses are to the two best lightweights in the world, Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. If he wins this one, you have to think he’s next in line for a shot at the winner of the upcoming Edgar-Maynard fight.
But Henderson, the former WEC lightweight champion, is an opponent who could give Miller some problems. Henderson isn’t as good on the ground as Miller, but he’s savvy enough to avoid getting tapped and maybe even put Miller in some trouble on the ground. And Henderson is a good enough striker that if he’s willing to take some chances and let his hands go, he could put Miller in some trouble on his feet.
However, that’s looking at the best-case scenario for Henderson if things go right. More likely, Miller takes Henderson down repeatedly, controls him on the ground, and grinds out a decision for his eighth consecutive win — the third-longest active winning streak in the UFC, behind only Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre. Pick: Miller
Charles Oliveira vs. Donald Cerrone A year ago, Oliveira burst onto the scene in his UFC debut, forcing Darren Elkins to tap to an armbar and winning the Submission of the Night award. At the time, he was 20 years old and 13-0 in his MMA career, and things were looking great. But 2011 hasn’t been as kind to Oliveira: He suffered the first loss of his career, against Jim Miller, and then had his victory over Nik Lentz turned into a no-contest because he used an illegal knee strike.
Now Oliveira gets another tough draw in Donald Cerrone, who’s riding high on a four-fight winning streak. These are two of the best jiu jitsu practitioners in the lightweight division, and I expect 15 minutes of fast-paced action on the ground. Cerrone winning wouldn’t surprise me, but I think Oliveira’s relentless style will be impressive enough to the judges for him to earn the decision. Pick: Oliveira
Amir Sadollah vs. Duane Ludwig Sadollah was extremely inexperienced when he won Season 7 of The Ultimate Fighter, and as a result the UFC has brought him on carefully, picking just the right opponents. Ludwig is another example of that: A name fans know because he’s been around for years, but not a fighter who at this stage in his career is just barely fighting at a UFC level. Sadollah should be able to beat Ludwig comfortably. Pick: Sadollah
C.B. Dollaway vs. Jared Hamman Dollaway is the guy Sadollah beat to win The Ultimate Fighter, and he, like Sadollah, has progressed in fits and starts. Mark Munoz made short work of Dollaway in his last fight, knocking him out in less than a minute, and that could mean trouble for Dollaway, as Hamman has knockout power, too. But I think Dollaway’s superior wrestling will rule the day, and he’ll win a decision. Pick: Dollaway
Joseph Benavidez vs. Eddie Wineland
This fight really ought to be on the Versus card instead of Sadollah vs. Ludwig, but you can think of it as a nice reward for the hard-core fans who seek out the Facebook preliminaries. Wineland was the WEC’s first bantamweight champion, and he put up a good fight against Urijah Faber in his UFC debut in March. Benavidez, however, should be able to frustrate Wineland by coming at him at unusual angles and win a decision. Pick: Benavidez
Filed under: UFCThere’s nothing like a free Sunday night fight card from the UFC to take your mind off the impending doom of Monday morning and the current lack of good TV dramas on HBO.
As we settle in to enjoy another event on Versus, which necessa…
There’s nothing like a free Sunday night fight card from the UFC to take your mind off the impending doom of Monday morning and the current lack of good TV dramas on HBO.
As we settle in to enjoy another event on Versus, which necessarily includes a confused few minutes of searching for Versus on the cable TV dial, let’s look at how oddsmakers see the action going down in Milwaukee.
In his role as the guy you fight when you want to throw them bungalows and forget about the existence of takedowns altogether, Lytle has been pretty dependable. That’s good news for Hardy, who, after three straight losses, needs a win so bad he can feel it in his mohawk. We know Hardy can be outwrestled, but we also know Lytle isn’t likely to take that route. He’ll stand there and fling blows for as long as Hardy wants, regardless of whether it’s a good idea or not. We know Lytle is a skilled striker. What we have to wonder at this point is if he can stand up to Hardy’s power. The 36-year-old vet started to look his age a little bit in his last fight. He’s been eyeing retirement and a potential political run recently, while Hardy has no choice but to win. Kind of makes you think that the Brit might want/need this more. My pick: Hardy. Based on past experience, Lytle will probably let him off the hook by ignoring the glaring weakness in his takedown defense. From there, youth and speed rule the day.
We’re still figuring out just how well the top WEC lightweights stack up against the UFC regulars, but Henderson’s decision win over Mark Bocek was enough to tell us that he deserves to be taken seriously. However, there’s a big difference between edging out Bocek and hanging with Miller, who’s as underappreciated as any fighter in the UFC right now. The last time he lost a fight was to current top contender Gray Maynard, and that was in 2009. Since then he’s won seven straight, against quality opponents, and he’s finished more than half of them. Henderson is a decent striker with good grappling, but it’s hard to see where he holds significant advantages over Miller. This seems like Miller’s time to shine, and oddsmakers know it. My pick: Miller. At -175 (meaning you’d need to wager $175 to win $100), you’re better off saving it for a parlay pick. Just don’t count on Henderson to be your underdog savior.
There’s a lot to like about Oliveira, even though, after his blatantly illegal knee on Nik Lentz, his understanding of the unified rules of MMA may not be one of them. But while he looked impressive right up to that point, just as he did against Efrain Escudero last September, he’s facing a different kind of opponent in Cerrone. “Cowboy” is just straight-up mean. He took a disturbing amount of joy in leg-kicking Vagner Rocha until he could no longer stand, and when forced to use it, he’s also got a pretty good submissions game. Oliveira had a strong start to his UFC career, but we have to face the fact that he’s seeing a big jump up in competition lately, especially with Miller and now Cerrone, and we don’t know for sure yet whether he’s ready for it. My pick: Cerrone. It’s going to be a close one, and quite possibly the best fight on this card, but I think his experience and crowd/judge-pleasing style will make the difference.
This is one where oddsmakers seem to have zeroed in on the right guy, but are perhaps a little overly optimistic. On paper, Sadollah should beat Ludwig. But when you’re looking at an experienced kickboxer like “Bang” going up against a still pretty inexperienced fighter like Sadollah, I’m not sure I’d have the faith to go all the way to 3-1 on it. Yes, Sadollah looked impressive against DaMarques Johnson (who took the fight on very short notice) in March. And yes, his weakness is his wrestling, where Ludwig isn’t likely to take it. But any time you’re trading kicks and punches with a guy who has as many kickboxing bouts as Ludwig does, there’s always a chance for things to go wrong. My pick: Sadollah, though I could never get on board with these odds. In fact, Ludwig might even be worth small action if you’re sick of playing the lottery, where you so rarely get a decent fight for your money.
Quick picks:
– Jim Hettes (-400) over Alex Caceras (+300). I know, you loved him as Bruce Leeroy on TUF, but Hettes appears to have the submission game that Caceras lacks, so don’t get suckered in here.
– Jacob Volkmann (+105) over Danny Castillo (-135). Volkmann is not terribly fun to watch, and his trash talk on Obama comes off like an ill-conceived Mr. Bean sketch, but he’s got this.
The ‘For Entertainment Purposes Only’ Parlay: Hardy + Miller + Cerrone + Volkmann
What does Jim Miller have to do to get noticed?
The 
There’s nothing like a free Sunday night fight card from the