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Mar 10, 2009 - 7:40:00 AM By Matt Pelkey, MMATorch Columnist Despite there not being a title on the line at UFC 96, here at the Torch we had two on the line, and both of them changed hands. Rich "Don't Call Me Bad Boy" Boles was the number one contender to both Brian Fuller's Prediction championship and Chris Gawn's Betting title. In one fell swoop, he became a double champion. In a war of attrition, he bested Fuller 6-4 to 5-5 and out-dueled Gawn with successful bets on Rampage and Shane Carwin to turn a slight profit against Gawn's slight loss. Congrats to our new double champion Rich Boles!
Despite some strong performances across the board in the prediction pool, it was the same story in both pools as Kubi narrowly best newcomer Stephen Legaree each time to become a double #1 contender. It even came down to tiebreakers in the prediction pool as both went 9-1, but Kubi named six rounds/methods correctly to Legaree's one. So at UFC 97, it will be Champion Rich Boles vs. Challenger Kubi for both the prediction and betting titles. Geez guys, let somebody else play. Pool results below:
PREDICTION POOL:
Kubi 9-1 (6 )
Stephen Legaree 9-1 (1)
Brent 8-2
Mule 7-3
Budraco 7-3
Nick Underwood 7-3
Scott Hart 7-3
Overkill 7-3
Tower 6-4
Gawn 6-4
Matt Pelkey 6-4
Nut 6-4
Gavin Byrne 5-5
Frank Hyden 4-6
BETTING POOL:
Kubi- $500 on Carwin for $1175
$400 on Brown for $840
$100 on Brilz for $220
Total Payout: $2235
Stephen Legaree- $400 on Rampage for $526.98
$300 on Carwin for $705
$300 on Hamill for $481.82
Total Payout: $1713.80
Scott Hart- $400 on Carwin for $940
$300 on Brown for $630
Total Payout: $1570
Nick Underwood- $100 on Rampage for $131.75
$300 on Maynard for $481.82
$200 on Brown for $420
$300 on McCrory for $385.71
Total Payout: $1419.28
Overkill- $300 on Hamill for $481.82
$300 on Brown for $630
$100 on Rampage for $131.75
Total Payout: $1243.57
Budraco- $400 on Hamill for $642.42
$200 on Carwin for $470
Total Payout: $1112.42
Tower- $400 on Brown for $840
Total Payout: $840
Brian Fuller- $300 on Nelson for $825
Total Payout: $825
Brent- $100 on Brown for $210
$100 on McCrory for $128.57
$100 on Vera for $117.24
$100 on Hamill for $160.61
$100 on Maynard for $160.61
Total Payout: $777.03
Nut- $100 on Grove for $157.14
Total Payout: $157.14
Mule- $0
Matt Pelkey- $0
Gavin Byrne- $0
PERFORMER OF THE NIGHT: This was a tough call, but I have to go with Rich Boles. His individual performances would've landed him in the middle of the pack in both pools, but he did what he needed to do and became the first person to win both titles in the same night in the Torch Contests v3.0. Honorable Mention goes to Kubi for having the top two performances of the evening and earning both #1 contender spots. Good job guys.
GOAT OF THE NIGHT: It would've been your's truly for the second time in a row if it wasn't for the total fall from grace of our former Prediction champ Gavin Byrne. Byrne was one of three to put up the goose egg in the betting contest, but it was his 5-5 record on predictions that put him over the top. My how the mighty have fallen.
Thanks to everyone who participated in the contests (we had several newbies this time around), and be sure to stay tuned to MMATorch.com for all your MMA needs.
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