Want to make sure cash this Saturday betting on UFC 135? One word of advice — you won’t get rich betting on Jon Jones. According to the latest gambling lines, Jones is a 5-1 favorite or greater against Quinton Jackson on all the major betting websites. BetUS and Sportsbook.ag have him at 6-1, and Bodog is crazy enough to set the line at an alarming 7-1.
When the odds were first released four months ago, Jones was around a 3-1 favorite, but the vast majority of wagers have poured in on the young light-heavyweight champion since then, inflating the line astronomically. It’s a classic economic bubble — unsteady, unprofitable, and worth staying away from. The good news is, if you think Rampage has a chance to get his belt back, now’s your time to jump; a $100 bet would return a profit of $350-$450, depending on where you lay your money.
To be honest, every single fight on UFC 135’s main card is a blowout, in terms of gambling lines. The closest match is Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi, and even there, Diaz is more than a 2-1 favorite — which might make Gomi the smartest ‘dog wager on the card. Check out the lines after the jump and let us know what you think.
Want to make sure cash this Saturday betting on UFC 135? One word of advice — you won’t get rich betting on Jon Jones. According to the latest gambling lines, Jones is a 5-1 favorite or greater against Quinton Jackson on all the major betting websites. BetUS and Sportsbook.ag have him at 6-1, and Bodog is crazy enough to set the line at an alarming 7-1.
When the odds were first released four months ago, Jones was around a 3-1 favorite, but the vast majority of wagers have poured in on the young light-heavyweight champion since then, inflating the line astronomically. It’s a classic economic bubble — unsteady, unprofitable, and worth staying away from. The good news is, if you think Rampage has a chance to get his belt back, now’s your time to jump; a $100 bet would return a profit of $350-$450, depending on where you lay your money.
To be honest, every single fight on UFC 135′s main card is a blowout, in terms of gambling lines. The closest match is Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi, and even there, Diaz is more than a 2-1 favorite — which might make Gomi the smartest ‘dog wager on the card. Check out the lines after the jump and let us know what you think.
Main Card
Jon Jones (-500) vs. Quinton Jackson (+450)
Nate Diaz (-234) vs. Takanori Gomi (+220)
Travis Browne (-340) vs. Rob Broughton (+310)
Josh Koscheck (-450) vs. Matt Hughes (+400)
Ben Rothwell (-300) vs. Mark Hunt (+286)
Preliminary Card
James Te Huna (-150) vs. Ricardo Romero (+142)
Tony Ferguson (-300) vs. Aaron Riley (+283)
Tim Boetsch (-150) vs. Nick Ring (+147)
Eddie Yagin (-105) vs. Junior Assuncao (even)
Takeya Mizugaki (-190) vs. Cole Escovedo (+185)
Filed under: UFCUFC President Dana White will be joined at the UFC 135 press conference by main event fighters Jon Jones and Rampage Jackson, and co-main event fighters Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck, in meeting the press in Denver on Wednesday. We’ll h…
UFC President Dana White will be joined at the UFC 135 press conference by main event fighters Jon Jones and Rampage Jackson, and co-main event fighters Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck, in meeting the press in Denver on Wednesday. We’ll have the live video right here at MMAFighting.com.
Jones and Jackson have engaged in a war of words leading up to their fight, including Jackson accusing Jones of sending a spy into his training camp. So this press conference should have some interesting comments from both main event fighters.
The UFC 135 pre-fight press conference begins at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday and the video is below.
Filed under: UFCWill Jon Jones successfully defend his light heavyweight title for the first time, or will Rampage Jackson get the belt back? Can Matt Hughes show he still has something left, or will Josh Koscheck send Hughes another step closer to ret…
Will Jon Jones successfully defend his light heavyweight title for the first time, or will Rampage Jackson get the belt back? Can Matt Hughes show he still has something left, or will Josh Koscheck send Hughes another step closer to retirement? Will the unbeaten Travis Browne take another step forward in the UFC heavyweight division?
We’ll answer those questions and more as we predict the winners at UFC 135.
What: UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage
When: Saturday, the preliminary card starts at 6 p.m. ET, the Spike TV fights start at 8 and the pay-per-view starts at 9.
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver
Predictions on the five pay-per-view fights below.
Jon Jones vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson The UFC light heavyweight title has been a hot potato since Rampage took it from Chuck Liddell in 2007. Rampage defended it successfully only once before losing it to Forrest Griffin. Griffin lost his first title defense to Rashad Evans. Evans lost his first title defense to Lyoto Machida. Machida barely beat Shogun Rua in his first title defense before losing the belt to Shogun in a rematch. And Shogun lost his first title defense to Jones.
But many UFC fans think Jones will be the one who finally goes on a long run as light heavyweight champion, the way Liddell did before Rampage beat him. Jones has the whole package as a mixed martial artist, and he’s just 24 years old and still getting better. He could easily be the champion for years.
So does Rampage have a chance? I don’t think he has a very good one. At age 33, I don’t think Rampage is the same fighter he was in his 20s. He looks slower than the guy we saw beat Liddell twice, and he hasn’t shown much sign of his trademark punching power since knocking out Wanderlei Silva almost three years ago. I think Jones-Rampage looks a lot like Jones-Shogun, with Jones winning in dominant fashion. Pick: Jones
Matt Hughes vs. Josh Koscheck Both of these guys are coming off long layoffs, with Hughes returning for the first time since losing to B.J. Penn in November, and Koscheck returning for the first time since losing to Georges St. Pierre in December. The biggest question about this fight is how Hughes and Koscheck will recover from their long layoffs, and from their decisive losses the last time they stepped into the Octagon.
But what we do know is that Koscheck is four years younger than Hughes and closer to his fighting prime than Hughes, and I think that makes Koscheck more likely than Hughes to be ready to bounce back from his loss and be ready to go — even though Koscheck is the one who took this fight on short notice. Hughes is one of the all-time great UFC fighters, with an all-time record 18 wins inside the Octagon. But at this point in their careers, I think Koscheck is both a better wrestler and a better striker than Hughes, and I don’t see Hughes getting No. 19. Pick: Koscheck
Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton Browne is coming off a great knockout of Stefan Struve in May, which improved his record to 11-0-1. He’s a big, powerful heavyweight who hasn’t yet shown that he can be a complete mixed martial artist but has shown that he can hit really, really hard.
Broughton hits hard, too, and he has a better ground game than Browne. But I don’t see Broughton being able to take this fight to the ground, and if they stand and trade punches, that’s exactly what Browne wants. Look for Browne to knock Broughton out. Pick: Browne
Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi When Nate’s big brother Nick Diaz submitted Gomi in 2007, it was a major upset: Gomi was widely regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world at the time. But that was a long time ago, and no one should be surprised when Nate Diaz submits Gomi. A loss here will drop Gomi to 1-3 in the UFC and serve as another reminder that the Gomi of the Pride years is gone for good. Pick: Diaz
Ben Rothwell vs. Mark Hunt
Speaking of guys from the Pride days who don’t have it anymore, it’s kind of amazing that Hunt — who has a career record below .500 and has lost six of his last seven — is actually in the UFC at all. Hunt still has punching power, as Chris Tuchscherer found out the hard way at UFC 127, but if Rothwell is completely recovered from the torn ACL that has kept him out since June of 2010, he should beat Hunt easily. Pick: Rothwell
I gotta say, Jon Jones and Quinton Jackson‘s appearance last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live! wasn’t the tense shout-off that we were afraid it would be. The UFC 135 headliners needled each other at every opportunity, but it was a light-hearted affair for the most part. No, Dr. Phil didn’t try to smooth out their rivalry. Quite the opposite, as you’ll see in part two after the jump.
Jon’s best line: [to Dr. Phil] “You’re a doctor…what’s wrong with this man?”
Quinton’s best line: [on Jon’s ears] “I thought you were the first black gremlin.”
I gotta say, Jon Jones and Quinton Jackson‘s appearance last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live! wasn’t the tense shout-off that we were afraid it would be. The UFC 135 headliners needled each other at every opportunity, but it was a light-hearted affair for the most part. No, Dr. Phil didn’t try to smooth out their rivalry. Quite the opposite, as you’ll see in part two after the jump.
Jon’s best line: [to Dr. Phil] “You’re a doctor…what’s wrong with this man?”
Quinton’s best line: [on Jon’s ears] “I thought you were the first black gremlin.”
Everyone who follows the UFC is excited about Saturday night’s Jon Jones-Rampage Jackson fight, but the UFC’s marketing efforts are mostly about attracting the many millions of Americans who have never heard of Jones…
Everyone who follows the UFC is excited about Saturday night’s Jon Jones-Rampage Jackson fight, but the UFC’s marketing efforts are mostly about attracting the many millions of Americans who have never heard of Jones or Jackson. That’s why the UFC gets so excited about putting fighters on shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live, and that’s why Jones and Jackson’s appearance on the Kimmel show Monday night was so effective.
Jones and Jackson sold their UFC 135 main event on a level that someone who’s never bought a pay-per-view could appreciate: Kimmel started their interview by asking them if they liked each other, Jones gave a one word answer (“no”) and it went from there.
There are a lot of easy-to-sell storylines on the Jones-Jackson fight, with Jones playing the role of the All-American nice guy and Jackson as the tough dude from the wrong side of the tracks. Whether that’s actually an accurate portrayal of those two is a separate question, but that’s an easy way to sell the fight to a new audience, and both fighters more or less conformed to those roles.
But at the same time, Jones is coming across as edgier than we’ve seen before in recent appearances, like Jackson is genuinely getting under his skin. And even though Jackson is the “bad guy” in this pairing, he has a natural feel for how to play an audience, and he showed off a good sense of humor on the Kimmel show.
Another angle the UFC likes to see played up is that Jones is the young upstart in MMA, while Jackson is the aging veteran who wants the belt back. Jackson was sure to mention that he plans on teaching the youngster a lesson.
“This kid ain’t really fought nobody and he’s already talking down to me,” Jackson said of Jones. “He’s a snot-nosed kid.”
Jones got off what I thought was the best line of the interview when he described his style and Jackson’s as “Spiderman vs. Frankenstein.” That sounds like some Hollywood studio executive’s idea for a wacky superhero movie, but it also sounds like something I’d like to watch. I have a feeling a lot of Kimmel viewers were thinking the same thing about Bones vs. Rampage.
(Editor’s note: Watch the second part of Kimmel interview below.)
The soft-spoken UFC light-heavyweight champion and tough-talkin’ former champ are fresh off their personal-attack-heavy segment during the Shields vs. Ellenberger broadcast. Even with the two separated through the miracles of satellite technology, it felt like a fight could break out at any moment. So what will happen when they’re sharing the same couch to promote UFC 135?
As UFC.com mentions, “It’s unknown at press time whether the third guest on the show, Dr. Phil, will be brought in to try and smooth things over between the two.” Oh man. Kimmel, if you don’t make that bit happen, then Jimmy Fallon has won the war.
(It’ll be like their confrontation on Saturday, except with more nervous laughter from the interviewer. Props: isanoria)
The soft-spoken UFC light-heavyweight champion and tough-talkin’ former champ are fresh off their personal-attack-heavy segment during the Shields vs. Ellenberger broadcast. Even with the two separated through the miracles of satellite technology, it felt like a fight could break out at any moment. So what will happen when they’re sharing the same couch to promote UFC 135?
As UFC.com mentions, “It’s unknown at press time whether the third guest on the show, Dr. Phil, will be brought in to try and smooth things over between the two.” Oh man. Kimmel, if you don’t make that bit happen, then Jimmy Fallon has won the war.
UFC
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