FACEBOOK TWITTER RSS APP PODCAST Upcoming Events UFC 100 Prediction and Betting Contests! (UPDATED)

Jul 1, 2009 - 11:29:46 AM
By Matt Pelkey, MMATorch Columnist
*Update* The lines for the first three fights of the show have finally come out and were added down below. Like the rest, they came from sportsbook.com. Now all of you waiting for those lines can send me your picks!


All of us are guilty from time to time of improperly using hyperbole. This isn't one of them. On July 11th, the UFC will put on the biggest show in MMA history with their 100th numbered event. Two huge title fights will cap off the evening, but even before that we'll be treated to another near pay-per-view quality main event in Henderson vs. Bisping, not to mention the UFC debut of Yoshihiro Akiyama, a fight between UFC legend Mark Coleman and the guy that was this close to being in Forrest Griffin's shoes in Stephan Bonnar, and a showcase fight for the future of the light-heavyweight division in Jon "Bones" Jones. Good stuff indeed.

But we'll be waging our own battles here at MMATorch. Newly crowned prediction champ (and Torch editor) Jamie "The Boss" Penick will put his (imaginary) belt on the line against none other than your humble host, me, Matt Pelkey. If that's not a battle for the ages, I don't know what is (ok, so neither of us have performed particularly well in the contests over the last year or so, but let me have my moment, k?).

On the betting side, Scott "The Fountain of Youth" Hart managed to keep his betting title despite losing all $1000 at UFC 99, and he moves on to UFC 100 to battle Adam "I'm Not Quite Ready to call him 'Savant', but its getting close" Fabbro. Good luck to everyone challenging for a belt, or trying to keep their grubby paws on their current title! All is not lost for the rest, though. That's why we have the pool. For anyone new to the site or unfamiliar with the contests, everyone not involved in one of the two title matches gets thrown into a pool. The best performer in the prediction and betting pool (its two DIFFERENT contests for anyone confused by that) will be named the #1 contender for the next show, in this case UFC 101. Got it? So that's what the Torch has lined up for the big show, but what about the UFC?

PREDICTION CONTEST:

I'm pretty sure everyone knows how this works by now, but just in case...Basically you pick the winners of each fight, including method (e.g. KO, submission, decision) and round. The winner is the one who picks the most fights correctly. Ties will be broken by who had the most number of rounds and methods correctly predicted. In case anyone is wondering, only rounds and methods in fights where you predicted the correct winner count. So here's the line-up. Good luck to all!


Frank Mir (+175) vs. Brock Lesnar (-215)

Georges St. Pierre (-290) vs. Thiago Alves (+230)

Jon Fitch (-365) vs. Paulo Thiago (+285)

Dan Henderson (-225) vs. Michael Bisping (+185)

Yoshihiro Akiyama (-340) vs. Alan Belcher (+260)

Mark Coleman (+250) vs. Stephan Bonnar (-325)

Mac Danzig (+160) vs. Jim Miller (-200)

Jon Jones (-500) vs. Jake O'Brien (+300)

Dong-Hyun Kim (-325) vs. T.J. Grant (+250)

C.B. Dollaway (-220) vs. Tom Lawlor (+180)

Matt Grice (-115) vs. Shannon Gugerty (-115)


BETTING CONTEST:

As you can see, there's a number attached to each fighter. That number represents how much money you can make off each fighter. The way it works is, if a fighter has a positive number he's an underdog. The positive number means if you were to bet $100 dollars on him, you would make the amount of the positive number. For example, if you were to bet $100 on Mir and he won, you would make back the hundred you bet, plus $175 for a total payout of $275.

If the fighter has a negative number, that number represents how much you would have to bet to make $100 on the fighter. For example, if you bet $215 on Lesnar and he won, you'd make back the $215, plus a $100 profit, for a total payout of $315.

Each contestant has $1000 in theoretical money. You can bet it on as many fighters as you'd like, but you have to bet on at least three. The most you can bet on a single fighter is $500, and bets have to be in multiples of $100.

Obviously the three fights at the bottom don't have lines on them. There weren't any available at the time, but there should be as we get closer to the show. I'll update this as soon as I see lines for those fights, so if you plan on betting on them, hold your entry til I get all the lines up. If not, feel free to send me your picks as soon as you want.

I'm setting a deadline of 3p.m. (EST) next Saturday the 11th to get all your picks in.

Note: In the event that one of the #1 contenders fails to show for their title shot, the champ will defend against the next best performer from the previous contest. You've been warned, so bring your A game everybody! The betting lines are courtesy of Sportsbook.com.

As always you can submit your picks one of three ways: by emailing me at matt6buckeye@hotmail.com, posting them on the message boards, or by leaving them in the comments section right down there. Again, good luck!

ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.