include(“NBA/includes/base_url.php”); ?> include(“CBB/includes/base_url.php”); ?>
MMA Betting Odds – Affliciton: Day of Reckoning ]]> include($base_url . “/includes/header.htm”); ?>
| Affliction: Day of Reckoning Affliction: Day of Reckoning MMA Honda Center, Anaheim, California January 24, 2009 (PPV 9:00 EST) Fedor Emelianenko, arguably the most enigmatic and possibly the best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA, makes his return on tonight’s Affliction card as he defends his WAMMA Heavyweight Championship Belt against Andrei “The Pittbull” Arlovski. Fedor is a -400 favorite in the fight while Arlovski is +300 on the take back. Fedor (29-1-1) finds himself in the unusual position of coming into this fight off a loss. “The Last Emperor” was defeated by 23-year old Bulgarian Blogoi Ivanov in the World Sambo championships on November 16th. Sambo is an acronym for a Russian self-defense disciple that does not involve weapons and combines judo with traditional forms of wrestling. Emelianenko is generally regarded as unbeaten in the MMA as his only “official” loss was a medical stoppage on cuts that resulted from an illegal elbow in a fight Tsuyoshi Kohsaka back in 2000. Fedor returned the favor beating Kohsaka by medical stoppage in the first round of a fight in April of 2005. Arlovski is Fedor’s most skilled opponent in quite a while. Arlovski is a former UFC champion riding a five fight win streak and will have a four inch and 30 pound weight advantage. Arlovski will be banking on his stand up game to spring the upset. He’s been working with boxing trainer Freddie Roach who orchestrated Manny Pacqui ao’s upset of Oscar De La Hoya. While Arlovski may have in fact improved his boxing skills, there has always been a question of The Pittbull’s focus and dedication. Arlovski didn’t look sharp in his last fight against Roy Nelson and he’s already signed a contact with Golden Boy Productions meaning this could signal a switch from the octagon to the squared circle. In the end, Arlovski is no match when the fight goes to the mat ….. and it will. Fedor dispatched 6’8” Tim Sylvia (who gave Arlovski his last two losses in 2006) in just 36 seconds his last time out. It may take a couple of minutes to figure out a way to get Arlovski off his feet but when he does, the end will come quickly. My official call is Fedor by submission inside of 3:00 minutes. The first Affliction card was dominated (all won) by the favorites and that could be the case again tonight. Nice undercard. My prediction’s with bullet analysis. Heavyweights: Josh Barnett (-600) over Gilbert Yvel (+400): Barnett is a crafty veteran and next up for Fedor if things go to plan. Barnett is a slick technician while the intrigue here is Yvel, a tattooed wild man that had trouble getting licensed for past transgressions of the rules. Barnett by submission early. Middleweights: Vitor Belfort +115 over Matt Lindland (-135): IMO, this is the best chance for a dog to break through and as you can see from the price, this is a virtual toss up anyway. Lindland is a bad style matchup for Belfort as Lindland prefers to take it to the mat, Belfort prefers to slug it out. Belfort has looked very good lately and reports have him razor sharp. Maybe tonight he lives up to early moniker of “The Phenom”. Light Heavyweights: Renato “Babalu” Sobral (-160) over Thierry Sokoudjou (+135): This may be the best value on the card. Babalu has been in with everyone (including Fedor, Liddell, etc) and has done just fine. Sokoudjou burst on the scene off two flash knockouts in Pride and then promptly went 1-3 in UFC and being terminated from his contract. Sokoudjou gasses quickly and then it’s bye bye for the African Assassin. Check out Kiril Sidelnikov in his fight with Paul Buentello. Sidelnikov is training partner of Fedor hence the nickname, “Baby Fedor”. Sidelnikov is just 20 and in tough here but it will be interesting to watch and put in the memory bank for future bouts. |
include($base_url . “/includes/footer.htm”); ?>
