...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By Matt Pelkey, MMATorch Columnist Well UFC 85 has come and gone, and I know everyone is waiting on pins and needles to find out the results of the contests. In our first upset filled UFC event of the year (six of the eleven underdogs were victorious), Scott Hart managed a 6-5 record that was just good enough to unseat defending champion Brian Fuller, who posted a record of 5-6. Neither man was particularly impressive, but Hart kept battling and eked it out. Therefore, your champion...AAANNDDDD NEEWWWWWWWW MMATORCH PREDICTION CHAMPION...SCOTT "THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH" HART!!! Congrats to Hart, but don't let success go to your head. It's one thing to win the title, but its a whole other level of competition trying to defend it.
As far as the rest of the field goes, it was a sorry, sorry showing for us novices. It came down to a three-way tie between Rich Boles, Chris Gawn, and myself at 5-6. That's right. The next challenger for the title went sub-.500. Yikes. So we went to the tiebreakers (or the scorecards since we're talking MMA here). I came in last here with a paltry one method/round predicted correctly. It was close between Gawn and Boles, but in the end Rich Boles will be taking on new champ Scott Hart as he out-pointed Chris Gawn 5-4. Congrats Mr. Boles, and good luck on your title shot! And a special note to Mr. Gawn. See...you don't suck. You were one more method/round correctly predicted away from challenging for the belt (and thus making my prediction correct, but whatever). Chin up my man. The comeback trail didn't stop here.
On the betting side of things, we had some much better performances. In our title fight, however, the good performances did not reside. Both champion Micky Wan and challenger Brian Fuller ended the night with net losses, but Fuller's $200 bet on Thiago Alves proved to be the difference. Here's the breakdown of their successful bets:
Fuller
$200 on Alves (+170) for $540
$100 on Verdum (+145) for $245
Total payout/profit: $785/($215)
Wan
$100 on Verdum (+145) for $245
$200 on Kampmann (-250) for $280
Total payout/profit: $525/($475)
So your winner...AND NEW MMATORCH CHAMPION...BRIAN FULLER. So for Mr. Fuller, its certainly a case of one door closing, but another opening, as he lost his Prediction title at UFC, but claimed the Betting championship. Congrats!
The rest of the field is where we had some more profitable performances. Here's a breakdown of the ones who made money.
Brian Murphy
$900 on Alves (+170) for $2430
$50 on Swick (-125) for $90
$50 on Kampmann (-250) for $70
Total payout/profit: $2590/$1590
Marcio Laurenco
$150 on Verdum (+145) for $367.50
$250 on Swick (-125) for $450
$500 on Alves (+170) for $1350
$100 on Leites (+140) for $240
Total payout/profit: $2407.50/$1407.50
Scott Hart
$500 on Alves (+170) for $1350
$300 on Cane (+115) for $645
Total payout/profit: $1995/$995
So there you have it folks. Brian Murphy's bold and unusual $900 bet on Thiago Alves nearly won it for him alone. As it is, he's the new #1 contender for Brian Fuller's Betting Championship. I didn't fair so well in my bets, so we won't get into that. Rest assured, though, that UFC 86 is a new dawn and a new day, and I'll be back in top for for that.
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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