UFC 123: By the Odds

Filed under: UFCIn at least one way, UFC 123 is already a disappointment. To me, anyway.

I would have thought that when you put Lyoto Machida – a fighter known for drinking his own urine – together with “Rampage” Jackson – a fighter known for his pla…

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In at least one way, UFC 123 is already a disappointment. To me, anyway.

I would have thought that when you put Lyoto Machida – a fighter known for drinking his own urine – together with “Rampage” Jackson – a fighter known for his played out bad breath jokes – we would have had comedy gold by now. I would have thought the combination of necessity and opportunity would help break some new ground in the field of bad breath jokes. Sort of like the polio vaccine, only much, much less helpful to society.

No such luck so far. Guess that means we’ll have to put our hopes in the fights themselves to entertain us. Let’s start with a look at how oddsmakers think Saturday night’s event will play out, along with some suggestions on where they might be wrong.

Lyoto Machida (-280) vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (+220)

Reminder: UFC 123 Weigh-ins Live Right Here at 4:00 pm ET

Just a reminder that we’ll be streaming the UFC 123 weigh-ins today live from the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Check out the main card preview videos while you wait and the UFC media player of the weigh-ins after the jump.
(Vide…

Just a reminder that we’ll be streaming the UFC 123 weigh-ins today live from the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Check out the main card preview videos while you wait and the UFC media player of the weigh-ins after the jump.

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC.com)

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC.com)

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Uh Oh…Quinton Jackson’s Coach Says He’s Trying to ‘Bring Back the Old Rampage’ for Machida Fight

(Rampage is banking on Gibson’s knowledge being greater than Steven Seagal’s.)
If you aren’t familiar with the general consensus at CagePotato.com that when a fighter whose career has been sagging claims to be bringing back an incarnation of his or he…

(Rampage is banking on Gibson’s knowledge being greater than Steven Seagal’s.)

If you aren’t familiar with the general consensus at CagePotato.com that when a fighter whose career has been sagging claims to be bringing back an incarnation of his or her former self, it’s usually bullshit and nine times out of 10 said fighter loses in dramatic fashion in their next fight.

Hopefully for Quinton Jackson’s sake there’s a loophole in the rule that says when a fighter’s trainer makes the comment, it doesn’t have the same repercussions or else he’s going to be in for a long (or short) night on Saturday night at UFC 123 against Lyoto Machida.

In an interview with MMA Fighting’s Mike Chiappetta Jackson’s new coach Lance Gibson says he is bringing back the old Rampage, only a new and improved version — so we’re not quite sure which one it is: the old one or the new improved one.

"I’m bringing back the old Rampage, but new and improved plus more," Gibson said. "The guy with takedowns, slams, punches, kicks. The man’s got vicious kicks and elbows, and nobody’s seen it yet because he had a manager and trainer who was just a boxer, and he got him in that state of mind. But now he’s ready to go."

"How did he do it?" you might ask. The answer is simple according to Gibson: he made training fun.

"The difference between last camp and this one is apples and oranges," Gibson told MMA Fighting. "His mentality, everything is superb. He’s having more fun, you notice he’s smiling more. He’s enjoying himself. He trained really hard for this fight and he’s excited to show it."

Translation: "We didn’t work him too hard and we didn’t push him during conditioning training, which he always says he has hated so don’t expect his cardio to be great for the fight."

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UFC 123 BETTING ODDS

Steve Cofield of Cagewriter.com and ESPN Radio is back to host MMAFix UFC 123 Betting Odds. Guest analysts, Damon Martin of MMAWeekly.com and Larry Pepe of ProMMARadio.com weigh-in on the 3 most talked about odds on the UFC 123 Main Card including:
AVERAGES:
Quinton Jackson: +200
Lyoto Machida: -260
Matt Hughes: +140
BJ Penn: -170
Tim Boetsch: +425
Phil Davis: […]

Steve Cofield of Cagewriter.com and ESPN Radio is back to host MMAFix UFC 123 Betting Odds. Guest analysts, Damon Martin of MMAWeekly.com and Larry Pepe of ProMMARadio.com weigh-in on the 3 most talked about odds on the UFC 123 Main Card including:

AVERAGES:

Quinton Jackson: +200
Lyoto Machida: -260

Matt Hughes: +140
BJ Penn: -170

Tim Boetsch: +425
Phil Davis: -600

Watch the full video for your best bets on UFC 123:

Watch UFC 123 Betting Odds: Rampage Vs. Machida on RawVegas.tv

For a full breakdown from all the major online sportsbooks, check out our Betting Odds Side Bar on our Home Page.

Rampage Jackson on Lyoto Machida: ‘When He Does Get Hit, He Goes Down’

Filed under: UFC, NewsDETROIT — Rampage Jackson has repeatedly stated his belief that he is a fighter, and Lyoto Machida is a mixed martial artist, and that there is a significant difference. The former has a willingness to take risks and endanger him…

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DETROIT — Rampage Jackson has repeatedly stated his belief that he is a fighter, and Lyoto Machida is a mixed martial artist, and that there is a significant difference. The former has a willingness to take risks and endanger himself in an attempt to finish the fight; the latter is more prone to take the safe route to victory.

But Jackson said there’s a price to pay for what he belives is Machida’s reluctance to engage: he doesn’t know how to take a hit. Jackson said it’s a fact that became obvious to him while watching Machida’s most recent fights.

“I watched that fight with Shogun,” he said. “No disrespect to Machida, but he was punching at the same time. They punched at the same time, and me being a fighter, I could tell that that wasn’t a really strong punch that dropped him. It comes with a price, not getting hit. So that tells me that if he’s not getting hit in fights, he damn sure ain’t getting hit in sparring.

Ben vs. ReX: UFC 123 Edition

("I’m actually preparing for my next movie role right now. It’s called ‘This Muhfucka Breff Stank: The Machida Story’." Props: twitter.com/danawhite)
With Bellator on hiatus, Friday mornings have gotten a little lonely around here. So I dec…

Quinton Rampage Jackson Lyoto Machida UFC 123
("I’m actually preparing for my next movie role right now. It’s called ‘This Muhfucka Breff Stank: The Machida Story’." Props: twitter.com/danawhite)

With Bellator on hiatus, Friday mornings have gotten a little lonely around here. So I decided to reach out to Doug "ReX13" Richardson and see if he felt like reviving a classic feature on CagePotato, and engaging in some spirited debate on a few UFC 123-related topics that we didn’t get to cover in last week’s podcast. Will this be the beginning of a new era, or the raping of an old legacy? Read on and decide for yourself. And don’t forget to come back tomorrow night for our liveblog of Rampage vs. Machida!

Between Rampage, Machida, Hughes, and Penn, who would most deserve a title shot after a win on Saturday?

BG: Matt Hughes by a country mile. Hughes has already built up three-straight wins in his division — which sets him apart from the other headliners on the card who are all coming off of losses — and a win in his rubber match against Penn might generate interest in the revival of another big-money rivalry from the past: Hughes vs. GSP. (Yes, Georges would need to get past Josh Koscheck at UFC 124, but who are we kidding here?)

No matter who holds the 170-pound strap at the end of next month, it’s clear that the UFC’s welterweight division is short on exciting title challengers, while the light-heavyweight division almost has too many of them. Once the Mauricio Rua vs. Rashad Evans title scrap finally goes down, the winner of Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader could legitimately be slotted in for a shot ahead of Jackson or Machida. Meanwhile, a Hall of Famer like Matt Hughes making another unlikely title run would be a lot more compelling than Jon Fitch or Jake Shields getting their dutiful turns at bat. In fact, Fitch and Shields should have to fight each other to establish the UFC’s Alpha Blanket before either of them get a whiff of championship gold.

RX: Wow, really? Country Breakfast was the first guy I eliminated. His last win over a guy under thirty years old was five years ago, and he hasn‘t shown any interest in actually fighting top 5 fighters at 170. Both Hughes and Penn are looking to win this fight so internet assholes like ourselves don’t start saying they’re washed-up bums.

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