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The grudge match of...well, of the first half of 2010 is upon us. UFC 114 takes place this Saturday live from Las Vegas and is headlined by the long-awaited Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. "Sugar" Rashad Evans bout. Unfortunately, that's kinda where the marquee match-ups end, but that really has no effect on us here at the Torch. There are still eleven bouts on the card, and there's still predicting and betting to be done, and titles to be won.
It's a special contest this time, in fact, as your's truly tries to reclaim my rightful property: the prediction title. Standing in my way is current double champ Kubi. With his attention divided between defending two belts at once, I like not only my chances, but also the chances of #1 contender to the betting crown, Shaun Godric Louis. Good luck to both of us, and to the rest of the field trying to earn their title shot at UFC 115. Onto the card!
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.
Rashad Evans (-125) vs. Quinton Jackson (-105)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (-675) vs. Jason Brilz (+475)
Michael Bisping (-170) vs. Dan Miller (+140)
Todd Duffee (-325) vs. Mike Russow (+250)
Diego Sanchez (-210) vs. John Hathaway (+170)
Dong Hyun Kim (+115) vs. Amir Sadollah (-145)
Efrain Escudero (-500) vs. Dan Lauzon (+325)
Melvin Guillard (-295) vs. Waylon Lowe (+235)
Luis Cane (-500) vs. Cyril Diabate (+325)
Joe Brammer (+145) vs. Aaron Riley (-175)
Jesse Forbes (-125) vs. Ryan Jensen (-105)
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 Brilz and he won, you would make back the hundred you bet, plus $475 for a total payout
of $575.
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 $675 on Nogueira and he won, you'd make back the $675, plus a $100 profit, for a total payout of $775.
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.
I'm setting a deadline of 6 p.m. (EST) Saturday to get all of your picks in. The betting lines are courtesy of Bodog.
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!
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. Good luck!
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Diaz has a granite chin, possesses perhaps the best recovery in the sport, his pace and conditioning are second to none and he sets records with the volume of his punches almost every time he steps into the cage. Nick Diaz is simply designed to fight the way he fights, and not many other fighters are...
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