CollegeKingRex
CTG Regular
UFC 181 in Las Vegas marks the 300th night of fights in UFC history, and thankfully, it's a good one. Most UFC observers agree that this is one of the most highly-anticipated cards of the year. The Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas plays host to the 11-card event, which kicks off at 7 p.m. EST with six undercard fights. The pay-per-view portion of the night is set to begin shortly after 10, and two championships will be on the line.
The main event of the evening features welterweight champion Johny "Bigg Rigg" Hendricks against top contender Robbie Lawler. Hendricks lost (according to two judges, at least) a split decision to champion Georges St-Pierre last November before the champ took a sabbatical (he's still not back, and might not come back). Hendricks then beat Lawler by unanimous decision on March 15 in a fight that many believe was one of the best of the year to this point. Hendricks claimed the vacant welterweight belt, and has been on the shelf injured since.
Lawler has stayed active since the loss. He beat Jake Ellenberger by TKO at UFC 173 and then won a decision in the main event on UFC on FOX in late July over Matt Brown to earn this rematch. Amazingly enough, Lawler lost five times in eight outings while fighting in Strikeforce (a lesser promotion of mixed martial arts) from 2009-2012. Since coming back to UFC in February of last year, however, he's won five of six to emerge as the top contender.
I’ve never really fully been able to forgive Lawler for his Strikeforce efforts, and have largely leaned (if not bet) against him during these UFC bouts. Tonight will be no exception. Could he beat Bigg Rigg? Of course, but the price is cheap enough for me to take a stab on the champ.
The co-main event of the evening is another title fight, and this one will be for the UFC Lightweight Championship. Anthony Showtime Pettis has held the belt for 462 days, but because of injuries is making his first defense tonight against Gilbert Melendez. Pettis submitted Benson Henderson via armbar late in the first round in UFC 164 back on Aug. 31, 2013 to earn the belt. Since then, Pettis had knee surgery about a year ago and spent the summer filming The Ultimate Fighter 20 opposite Melendez leading up to this fight.
Melendez has fought for this title before; he lost a controversial decision to Henderson in the former champion's last defense before Benson was stopped by Pettis. He's 32 now and is a grinder who likes long fights; Pettis has spent less than seven minutes in the octagon in the last 38 months, three first-round stoppages.
Melendez is a gritty grinder who beat Henderson but was robbed. The longer the fight goes the better. He didn't look as good at the weigh in as the champ but the price, and possible ring rust, dictates a play on the dog here.
Like Browne a lot, but price out of my range for a lay.
Like Duffee a lot (more anti-Hamilton, fat slob), but price again too high for heavyweights.
I made Ferguson price right where it is, no real thoughts there.
Faber is as good as they come in non-title fights, and everyone loves him. He should win for sure but the price on Rivera is enough for me to take a stab. He’s got one-shot knockout power.
Gordon was a TUF 19 winner and certainly won’t be an easy out, but anyone who knows Samman’s story has to be rooting for him. He’s been sidelined since April of last year, with his girlfriend and stepdad passing away in the last 15 months, in addition to suffering a severe hamstring injury during training for an undercard fight in Orlando (Werdum/Browne) in April. He laughed at Gordon in the weigh in, and he can do it with knees or punches. He’s long and lean and worth a play at this price.
Lean Jones in the other heavyweight fight at the price, but this Anderson is also a TUF 19 winner and might be better than advertised. Pass.
Lean Evans-Smith in the chick fight (would definitely like to plug her) but the price has me a smidge leery. She looked fitter at the weigh-in, but she’s new to the UFC and an unknown. Pennington is 4-4 as a pro and 0-1 in the UFC; prolly why AES is laying 9-to-5 or worse, meh.
Pettis is off a long layoff but he looked absolutely great (as good as anyone) at the weigh-in, so I’ll pass even though I lean dog at the price.
White got knocked out earlier this year against Martins after knocking out Payan less than 90 seconds into his UFC debut in Orlando to win Performance of the Night honors on the Werdum/Browne card, but this Collard is no joke. He took a fight against top-15 contender Max Holloway on just eight days’ and was tooth and nail with the Hawaiian until he wore down a bit. Collard can wrestle and can box; he’s not elite at either but good enough and smart enough for being so young that I expect him to dictate the terms of this fight. Not sure how well White will respond to his first career loss, either. Though Collard is five years younger, he has eight more professional fights and has been boxing since age 11 and wrestling since age 6. I’ll take a shot here on the Utah native fighting close to home.
The plays: Hendricks -200 medium 2u
Melendez +240 small to med 1.5u
Rivera +525 small 1u
Samman +130 medium 2u
Collard -105 medium 2u
GL!
:shake:
The main event of the evening features welterweight champion Johny "Bigg Rigg" Hendricks against top contender Robbie Lawler. Hendricks lost (according to two judges, at least) a split decision to champion Georges St-Pierre last November before the champ took a sabbatical (he's still not back, and might not come back). Hendricks then beat Lawler by unanimous decision on March 15 in a fight that many believe was one of the best of the year to this point. Hendricks claimed the vacant welterweight belt, and has been on the shelf injured since.
Lawler has stayed active since the loss. He beat Jake Ellenberger by TKO at UFC 173 and then won a decision in the main event on UFC on FOX in late July over Matt Brown to earn this rematch. Amazingly enough, Lawler lost five times in eight outings while fighting in Strikeforce (a lesser promotion of mixed martial arts) from 2009-2012. Since coming back to UFC in February of last year, however, he's won five of six to emerge as the top contender.
I’ve never really fully been able to forgive Lawler for his Strikeforce efforts, and have largely leaned (if not bet) against him during these UFC bouts. Tonight will be no exception. Could he beat Bigg Rigg? Of course, but the price is cheap enough for me to take a stab on the champ.
The co-main event of the evening is another title fight, and this one will be for the UFC Lightweight Championship. Anthony Showtime Pettis has held the belt for 462 days, but because of injuries is making his first defense tonight against Gilbert Melendez. Pettis submitted Benson Henderson via armbar late in the first round in UFC 164 back on Aug. 31, 2013 to earn the belt. Since then, Pettis had knee surgery about a year ago and spent the summer filming The Ultimate Fighter 20 opposite Melendez leading up to this fight.
Melendez has fought for this title before; he lost a controversial decision to Henderson in the former champion's last defense before Benson was stopped by Pettis. He's 32 now and is a grinder who likes long fights; Pettis has spent less than seven minutes in the octagon in the last 38 months, three first-round stoppages.
Melendez is a gritty grinder who beat Henderson but was robbed. The longer the fight goes the better. He didn't look as good at the weigh in as the champ but the price, and possible ring rust, dictates a play on the dog here.
Like Browne a lot, but price out of my range for a lay.
Like Duffee a lot (more anti-Hamilton, fat slob), but price again too high for heavyweights.
I made Ferguson price right where it is, no real thoughts there.
Faber is as good as they come in non-title fights, and everyone loves him. He should win for sure but the price on Rivera is enough for me to take a stab. He’s got one-shot knockout power.
Gordon was a TUF 19 winner and certainly won’t be an easy out, but anyone who knows Samman’s story has to be rooting for him. He’s been sidelined since April of last year, with his girlfriend and stepdad passing away in the last 15 months, in addition to suffering a severe hamstring injury during training for an undercard fight in Orlando (Werdum/Browne) in April. He laughed at Gordon in the weigh in, and he can do it with knees or punches. He’s long and lean and worth a play at this price.
Lean Jones in the other heavyweight fight at the price, but this Anderson is also a TUF 19 winner and might be better than advertised. Pass.
Lean Evans-Smith in the chick fight (would definitely like to plug her) but the price has me a smidge leery. She looked fitter at the weigh-in, but she’s new to the UFC and an unknown. Pennington is 4-4 as a pro and 0-1 in the UFC; prolly why AES is laying 9-to-5 or worse, meh.
Pettis is off a long layoff but he looked absolutely great (as good as anyone) at the weigh-in, so I’ll pass even though I lean dog at the price.
White got knocked out earlier this year against Martins after knocking out Payan less than 90 seconds into his UFC debut in Orlando to win Performance of the Night honors on the Werdum/Browne card, but this Collard is no joke. He took a fight against top-15 contender Max Holloway on just eight days’ and was tooth and nail with the Hawaiian until he wore down a bit. Collard can wrestle and can box; he’s not elite at either but good enough and smart enough for being so young that I expect him to dictate the terms of this fight. Not sure how well White will respond to his first career loss, either. Though Collard is five years younger, he has eight more professional fights and has been boxing since age 11 and wrestling since age 6. I’ll take a shot here on the Utah native fighting close to home.
The plays: Hendricks -200 medium 2u
Melendez +240 small to med 1.5u
Rivera +525 small 1u
Samman +130 medium 2u
Collard -105 medium 2u
GL!
:shake:
