Opinion | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Strikeforce Fedor vs. Henderson: What Will a Win Do for Dan Henderson’s Legacy?

Chicago will be the home of the upcoming epic battle between two of the greatest MMA legends of all-time, Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson. As the current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, Henderson will be moving up in weight to fight the 230-pound Emelianenko in a fight that may well define his career as one of the most fearless fighters ever to compete.

With a 27-8 professional record, Henderson has seemingly done it all in the sport. While many fighters in the sport have padded their records by fighting lesser-skilled opponents, Henderson has made a habit of fighting the best competition that he possibly can.

As such, he has been rewarded by becoming one of the most decorated athletes in the history of the sport. Not only that, but he has done it by being elite in two weight classes! In fact, Henderson is the only fighter in MMA to have held two major championships simultaneously, when he held both the Pride 205-pound and 183-pound titles in 2007.

When Pride was purchased by Zuffa, Henderson was a consensus top pound-for-pound fighter and appeared to be the man who may have the best chance of supplanting UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Though he went on to lose both his title unification bouts against Silva and Rampage Jackson, Henderson did what some thought was impossible at the time by actually winning the first round on the judges’ scorecards in his fight with Silva.

He went on to win three straight fights for the UFC, including an absolutely crushing knockout over Michael Bisping in his final fight for the promotion, before departing for Strikeforce.

A tough fight against then-middleweight champion Jake Shields left Henderson fans feeling empty as their hero had fallen in three straight title fights.

But a move back to light heavyweight saw Henderson crush Renato “Babalu” Sobral to earn a shot at the Strikeforce 205-pound champion, Rafael Cavalcante in March. Hendo proved his greatness once again in that fight with “Feijao” when he won the title by knocking Cavalcante out in the third round.

Without a clear-cut top contender for his belt and as he gets closer to his 41st birthday, Henderson is now at the point in his career when he has the opportunity to start having some “dream” fights. The fight he will have against Fedor Emelianenko on July 30 will be just that.

This highly anticipated fight will be met with a tremendous amount of attention from the mixed martial arts community as two of the all-time greats will meet. But despite Fedor’s relatively small 230-pound frame, it will be Henderson who will be moving up in weight to fight the former Pride heavyweight champion.

Hendo is currently listed as a +180 underdog in the fight and there are many who believe that number is generous given the natural size disadvantage he will have as well as the six years of age he will be conceding. But Henderson is not going to give up just because the odds are stacked against him. He has been the underdog many times in his career and still come out with his hand raised in the end.

A victory over the former consensus No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world would certainly do wonders to continue solidifying Henderson as one of the pound-for-pound best of ever. Not only would he be able to say that he defeated another one of the greatest fighters of all-time, but he may very well end the career of the man who goes down as the best heavyweight mixed martial artist we have ever seen.

After an embarrassing, one-sided loss to Antonio “Big Foot” Silva earlier this year, Emelianenko spoke immediately about the possibility of that fight being his last. Though we now know that he will not retire yet, a third straight loss, especially to a fighter who he is larger than, would likely put “The Last Emperor’s” career to rest.

Quite frankly, this fight is win-win and must be a dream for Dan Henderson.

A loss will likely be written off as a loss to a fellow top fighter, and Henderson will still keep his Strikeforce light heavyweight title. But a win over Fedor could be the biggest moment in an already legendary career.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Strikeforce Overeem vs. Werdum: 3 Things I Learned in Dallas

When I entered the American Airlines Center on Saturday I proceeded through the entrance beaming with excitement and anticipation. After being up for 40 straight hours on Thursday and Friday, working and driving I had missed the weigh-in due to complet…

It was a steamy evening in the Lone Star state. After a high of 104 the temperature dropped to just below 80 degrees but inside the air was cool and electric with eager fight fans flooding in from every entrance. After three different people bailed on me I decided to do what any single man would do. I took a woman with me. Turns out she is a huge fight fan and yelled louder and more often than I did. After I had a cocktail, nachos and a pretzel I settled in for an evening of mixed martial arts.

As I watched the action unfold I learned a few things that I took with me. As I made the 700 mile trek back to central Tennessee I was alone and had a lot of time to think. I emerged from my journey thinking about three of the bouts from Saturday. After I took two weeks off from writing and another due to a glitch that literally would not allow me to publish for some reason I have returned to my world of mixed martial arts, my laptop and my thoughts.

1. Is Chad Griggs the real deal?

The first thing that I could not get out of my head was the Valentijn Overeem and Chad Griggs matchup. After being tossed to the canvas, Overeem seemed to completely wilt under the punches of “The Gravedigger.”

I am not certain if Griggs will climb far up the ladder in the heavyweight division. He has strung together three straight wins, but like Alistair Overeem, people question the quality of his opponents. Griggs has put together three wins in a row in the Strikeforce cage but they were over a overly hyped Bobby Lashley, a relative unknown in Gian Villante and an inconsistent Valentijn Overeem.

As soon as Griggs started to ground-and-pound Overeem the Dutch fighter seemed to just quit. Griggs seems to be the genuine article but we will have to see him compete against better opponents before we declare him to be the real deal.

2. Brett Rogers needs time to develop

Brett Rogers has dropped three in a row after being dominated once again by a much more experienced veteran. Yes it is true that he has lost three straight bouts, but those losses were to Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett.

I really don’t think we can sit here and say that Rogers is spent, a bad fighter or has a terrible ground game. The fact of the matter is the man beat a spent Andrei Arlovski and has since been thrown to the wolves. He simply needs time to develop and I think that he needs to return to his roots.

He can always get another Strikeforce, Bellator or UFC contract. But, for now the man needs to strengthen his body, mind and fighting spirit. He should do something similar to what Rocky Balboa did in the third Rocky film. Rogers needs to disappear from the spotlight for 12-18 months. He needs to train his wrestling, add some submission defense and offense and develop as a martial artist.

At this point he is just a heavy handed fighter who needs to improve. Josh Barnett easily took him down and submitted him with very little effort. Brett should train hard on the holes in his game and fight in regional shows. In my opinion he should take a year or so fighting in regional shows and when the time is right he can step back into the spotlight.

I think he should fight as often as possible. He can rack up some victories and work on his game and then after he has improved he can come back, but if he stays in the big shows and does not improve he will end up getting frustrated and may even quit. He is fighting guys who have three times as much experience as him. I personally would like to see him fight maybe 10 times in small MMA shows and get that experience he lacks.

If he does those things and returns he will be a much better martial artist. At this point he is not a complete fighter and that will keep him from the top unless he grows from a striker to a true MMA fighter.

3. Alistair Overeem is better than we thought despite a lackluster bout.

The main event ended up being quite disappointing. I have been saying for over a year that Fabricio Werdum is overrated despite his huge wins over Antonio Silva and Fedor. Some sites even had him ranked above Junior dos Santos even though three years ago dos Santos knocked out Fabricio in less than 90 seconds. My argument has always been that Fedor made a horrible mistake in his fight with Werdum and got trapped in a submission.

Anyone who has followed MMA closely over the last few years knows that Alistair Overeem is a very different fighter than he was when he lost to Fabricio in Pride. Alistair has improved his speed and strength, added “40 pounds of whoop a–” to his frame and won the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix. Werdum has improved his standup quite a bit but to me is still very much the same fighter he was in 2006. Those improvements on the part of the Strikeforce heavyweight champion made all the difference.

The entire fight Alistair tried to move forward and make it exciting. Werdum repeatedly refused to do anything but flop on his back. The odd part was that Werdum seemed to be landing good combinations on the feet but his only gameplan seemed to be pulling Alistair into his guard. When that would happen Overeem would promptly stand back up. Werdum seemed to think he was in a jiu jitsu match and not a mixed martial arts bout.

Any time that Overeem would land a good punch Werdum would just drop to the ground. There was an article that I read today where someone tried to argue that Werdum won the fight due to landing more punches. That is absurd. I was there and I saw Werdum land but never hurt Overeem and then lay on the mat. Werdum was winded by the end of round one and he never hurt the champion.

He never hurt him in the fight and he was rocked at least three times that I saw. Fights need to be won on damage not silly statistics. Alistair landed less punches but they were hard power shots that caused Werdum to back up and then fall to the ground to avoid further damage. There is no way that anyone could score that fight in the favor of Fabricio Werdum.

MMAfighting.com had Overeem ranked as the No. 3 heavyweight after the win. So, clearly the win still skyrocketed his stock even though it was a lackluster affair. The fact of the matter is that Overeem tried to make it a fight and Werdum repeatedly refused. At one point Werdum was laying on his back begging Alistair to come into his guard.

If he wanted him in his damn guard he should have taken him down. No one is going to just jump into the ground game with a former grappling world champion. Werdum looked awful in this fight.

In the end the “Demolition Man” proved that he was the better man and that he is in the top five in the world. Alistair Overeem is an elite heavyweight mixed martial artist. Many of us knew it already but now he will less detractors. Yes, the fight was pretty awful but Overeem was the only one who showed up to fight.

Either way he won and now he will face Antonio Silva later this year. That fight will be much better because Silva won’t be flopping on his ass every five seconds. Silva will be there to fight. I lost some respect for Werdum on Saturday and I only hope he returns is impressive fashion.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Strikeforce: Did Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Cost Fabricio Werdum a Victory?

After two rather entertaining bouts, headliners Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum failed to impress in the main event of Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum.After KJ Noons and Jorge Masvidal slugged it out for three rounds and Josh Barnett strangled Bre…

After two rather entertaining bouts, headliners Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum failed to impress in the main event of Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum.

After KJ Noons and Jorge Masvidal slugged it out for three rounds and Josh Barnett strangled Brett Rogers, Overeem and Werdum stepped in the cage for a fight that many believed would produce the eventual winner of the Heavyweight Grand Prix.

The winner would also solidify their position among the heavyweight greats. Unfortunately, neither put on a dominant or very memorable performance.

Fabricio Werdum spent the majority of the night flopping onto his back and literally begging Alistair Overeem to throw caution to the wind and jump in his guard. While it is difficult to blame Overeem for the lackluster fight, he didn’t fair very well on the feet either.

Werdum was known, for the majority of his career, as a pure grappler with awful striking. While his striking has evolved, he still identifies with his Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and relies on it to heavily. Although he was never in any danger against Overeem, his constant attempts to pull guard made it appear as though he was completely out of his depth on the feet, even though he wasn’t.

Werdum, according to CompuStrike, actually landed more strikes throughout the bout—69 compared to Overeem’s 48. He landed solid shots and had Overeem backpedaling several times throughout the fight. Even if his striking isn’t superior to Overeem’s, he should have utilized it more effectively throughout the bout.

Simply put, a professional mixed martial artist can’t spend three rounds falling down and expect to win a bout. Fabricio Werdum is an extremely well rounded fighter, but he seems fixated on pushing for submissions, instead of waiting for the proper opportunity to arise. While no believed Werdum had much of a chance in this fight, it is possible that he could have won a decision if he didn’t spend so much time failing to get the takedown.

Werdum’s stand-up isn’t as awful as it used to be and he should have more confidence in it. He should at least be more comfortable using it to close the distance before attempting a takedown or trying to pull guard.

Just about every fighter that Fabricio Werdum will face from now on in his career will try to keep the fight standing, so he’ll either have to get much more comfortable with his striking or develop more effective methods of bringing the fight into his realm.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Jon Fitch and Company: When Ground-and-Pound is More Grind-and-Paw

They got fight, though no finish since when-was-the-last?So, what to make of Jon Fitch and his kind, which includes the notorious gentleman whose last fight was against the Anderson Silva himself? (And whose battles with the court, the sanctioning bodi…

They got fight, though no finish since when-was-the-last?

So, what to make of Jon Fitch and his kind, which includes the notorious gentleman whose last fight was against the Anderson Silva himself? (And whose battles with the court, the sanctioning bodies and the fans’ perception rage till now?)

Yes, they fight as if MMA is a game of basketball: dribble from the start till the final buzzer sounds and “satisfy” themselves by ending the game with more points than their opponents. (Yup, “satisfy” is enclosed in quotation marks.)

If their way of fighting and collecting wins is some kind of epidemic, here’s a brief, theoretical epidemiology:

They were accomplished wrestlers who, at the start of their cross-over into MMA, wished that the power in their takedowns would translate somehow into their striking.

They earnestly hoped for a high percentage in knocking down or out their opponents, akin to that of their takedowns.

They knew that accomplishing this, among other athletic objectives, would make them complete and more dangerous fighters. (For one, why wish for anything less when starting an MMA career?)

However, after years of training and fighting, they soon realized that nature has only given them so much potential in the striking department.

Turns out it’s true, sadly, that all the hours—and even years—spent in the gym will never, ever give them the fists of a dos Santos in the standup or of a Carwin on the ground. Or even the legs of a Cro Cop or knees of an Axe Murderer.

Maybe they learned the proper striking form and techniques, but the KO power remains a different and rare animal.

So now they fight the best way they can: start with preliminary exchanges in the standup to set up a takedown, then wrestle down their opponents and try to grapple them to submission or ground-and-pound to a decision win (and, just maybe, a stoppage).

The often subtle and sneaky positioning on the ground, to make an opening for a submission hold, may be the least perceivable and appreciated by casual fans.

On the other hand, the ground-and-pound, assuming the top fighter creates enough space and leverage, is more spectator-friendly; it’s easier to see if the fighter throws power bombs or pillow punches. (But let’s also remember that there are fighters like The Spider who are lethal strikers as well on their back, and can effectively neutralize the top fighter’s ground-and-pound and more.)

On the ground, Jon Fitch and his bunch have faced opponents who were effective in defending against their submissions and/or were resistant or evasive to their punches and elbow strikes.

But does it mean that this breed of warriors has lost the intent to finish fights?

Do we have to second-guess and conclude that they no longer look for that lucky strike or series of strikes to gift themselves and us fans with that much sought-after finish? What if it’s against a glass-jawed opponent?

After all, not looking to end an MMA fight as soon as possible is synonymous to masochism.

In MMA fighting, the idiomatic expression “(to) risk life and limb” is fully and portentously realized every time a fighter steps into the octagon. And the longer the fight, the longer a fighter’s exposure to life- and limb-threatening injuries.

The chances of suffering internal hemorrhages due to strikes, and becoming comatose or paralyzed for life, even for the most religious lay-and-pray practitioners, are real.

The shortest fight, in the winning fighter’s favor, is his best preventive measure against such tragic misfortunes.

Aside from their courage, shouldn’t we at least appreciate the other more impressive facets of their game and skill-set?

After all, these are elite fighters who already have so much more to offer than your average MMA warrior.

Their determination to win and impose their will and tactics over their opponents, finish or no finish, must also be deserving of our admiration.

And due credit, too, should go to the resilience and abilities of their opponents, who are more often than not on the losing end of the judges’ score cards.

Again, let’s make a conscious, cognitive attempt to separate a fighter’s intent to finish (largely guesswork on anybody else’s part) and the result of his fight.

There’s a difference between willfully executing a lay-and-pray to avoid standup striking or stall into a decision win, and getting dragged into it, largely due to fatigue or the opponent’s stifling defense.

Also, isn’t the grinding exertion of one’s mental and physical faculties for 15 to 25 minutes to eke out a win, dominant or otherwise, an exemplary display of the virtues of manual labor?

It takes broadmindedness to give a proper valuation of fighters of different sizes, styles and abilities—and to rightfully acknowledge their respective places in this sport.

Otherwise, if we think they’re not worth our patronage, then, let’s call for their retirement or boycott their fights. And let’s walk the talk.

In doing so, perhaps we could compel the top MMA promotions to contract only certified finishers, from amateur and professional MMA and other combat sports, for our instantaneous gratification and ultimate viewing pleasure.

But heck, you just don’t grow Rickson Gracies, Mike Tysons and Alexander Karelins overnight, or even in a lifetime.

So please, when it starts raining fighters with the KO power and octagon savvy of Anderson Silva, the wrestling prowess and athleticism of Georges St-Pierre, the aggressiveness of Wanderlei Silva, the ground-and-pound of Mark Munoz, the grappling of Demian Maia and the relentless endurance of Frankie Edgar, give me a call.

And Jon Jones remains a rare, albeit BIG, drop in the MMA pond.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Live: Is Nate Marquardt Dropping to Welterweight out of Desperation?

It was announced a few months ago that long-time middleweight contender Nate “The Great” Marquardt would be dropping down to the welterweight division.On June 18th, at UFC on Versus 4, Nate will be making his long-awaited welterweight debut against ris…

It was announced a few months ago that long-time middleweight contender Nate “The Great” Marquardt would be dropping down to the welterweight division.

On June 18th, at UFC on Versus 4, Nate will be making his long-awaited welterweight debut against rising contender Rick Story.

The fight is a great matchup for Marquardt. Story is a very game opponent, but he doesn’t possess the well-rounded skill set that Nate does. Assuming the weight cut doesn’t hurt him too much, Nate has a very good chance of winning this fight.

The question is: After fighting for more than ten years at middleweight, why is Nate Marquardt moving to the welterweight division now?

Some have speculated that the move may have been made out of desperation, and I can’t help but agree, to a certain extent.

Nate is 32, which isn’t ancient by any means, but he probably only has three or four relevant years left in the sport.

Marquardt has accomplished much in his storied MMA career, but one thing has alluded him: a UFC championship.

Capturing a UFC belt is something Nate would like to accomplish before he retires and, realistically, he would have little chance of doing it at middleweight.

Marquardt has fought for the middleweight title before, against current champion Anderson Silva, and come up short. It’s always difficult to market title shot rematches when the champion has already handily beat the challenger. Given that Nate is a lackluster 2-2 in his last four fights at middleweight, a rematch with Anderson Silva would be particularly difficult to market.

Nate knows all these things, and he also knows that the UFC has little interest in making title fights that will be difficult to market.

So, the move to welterweight is a calculated one for Nate.

Georges St-Pierre has been sitting atop the welterweight division for quite some time now and the UFC is having a really tough time finding him viable opponents.

This presents Marquardt with a very interesting opportunity. Fans are already familiar with him as a top five contender at middleweight and he will naturally be viewed as more dangerous contender at welterweight, due to his increased size advantage.

With the shortage of contenders in the division and Nate being a marketable opponent, a win over Story would leave Marquardt no more than two fights away from a title shot.

Desperation might be a bit to extreme a term to describe the motivation behind Marquardt’s move to 170 lbs, but the sentiment is right. Nate knows his time left in this sport is limited and that his best chance for a title shot lies in the welterweight division.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

MMA in New York: Does It Matter to the UFC or Anyone Outside New York Anymore?

It has recently been reported that MMA has failed to obtain legalization in New York for the third straight year. Once again (or thrice again) the bill stalled out in the Ways and Means Committee, where it will unceremoniously fade away until the whole…

But does New York even matter in the grand scheme of things anymore?

The sport of mixed martial arts—specifically the UFC—is growing leaps and bounds and not just within the United States. The UFC (under Zuffa ownership) has visited Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Germany and will eventually be visiting Brazil and Sweden.

When the market for MMA in the United States has already been won and now the world is up for grabs, how can New York be all that important?

Many will answer by saying that Madison Square Garden is a legendary venue and the sport is being done a disservice by not being allowed to hold events there.

While MSG is one the most famous places in sports, it doesn’t mean that it always will be. What is meant by this is that by not having mixed martial arts for at least another year, the New York state government is making it very easy for MMA to simply pass New York by.

Think of all the legendary moments that have happened in MMA and think of all the highly anticipated matchups and events that will happen over the next year. New York has missed and will miss all of them.

Thus, by the time MMA is legalized in New York, which may not even be in 2012 with the way the state runs things, (I know since I live there) the sport will be so popular that holding an event at Madison Square Garden really won’t mean a whole lot.

Of course, this isn’t to say that the UFC won’t hold shows there once it’s legal to. It’s just that there will be bigger, newer things on the horizon by then.

It is unfortunate that the “powers that be” in New York have decided to doom the state’s MMA fans, and through no fault of their own! The grassroots movement in the state, such as the Coalition to Legalize MMA in New York lead by American Sambo expert Stephen Koepfer were strong, and the MMA fans in the state were dedicated to bringing the sport to New York…but it was all for not.

Nevertheless, when the sport is made legal it will be a tremendous boon to the local MMA scene. Promotions such as Lou Neglia’s Ring of Combat (a staple of east coast—specifically NY/NJ—MMA for those who don’t know) will finally be able to hold shows in New York and other promotions will likely rise up and in doing so, make finding fights for aspiring Long Island and New York fighters easier.

But will New York matter in the overall MMA scene when the sport is finally made legal there? Even if the answer is yes it won’t matter as much as it would have if it was made legal on the first try; each year that passes without MMA in New York makes the state less relevant to the big picture as the UFC extends its reach overseas.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com