Fight for the Troops 2
By Brian Edwards
The Ultimate Fighting Championship will make its third appearance on a military base Saturday when it comes to Fort Hood in Texas for “Fight for the Troops 2” on Spike television. The main event was originally going to feature lightweight contender Kenny Florian against Evan Dunham, but Florian had to pull out after sustaining a knee injury in training.
Dunham will now face Melvin Guillard as a minus-235 favorite. Guillard, who was originally going to take on Yves Edwards in a preliminary bout, is plus-195 on the comeback (risk $100 to win $195).
Dunham (11-1 career MMA record, 4-1 in the UFC) is in bounce-back mode for the first time after losing a split decision to Sean Sherk at UFC 119 in Indianapolis. The hotly-contested scrap earned both men Fight of the Night honors. Dunham’s most impressive victory came at UFC 115 when he defeated Tyson Griffin via split decision.
Guillard (26-8, 8-4) is looking for his fourth straight win in this lightweight bout. He’s won five of his last six fights in the Octagon with the lone loss coming to Nate Diaz.
Guillard has great speed and knockout power. He is a 27-year-old from New Orleans who participated in Season 2 of The Ultimate Fighter.
The card also features a pair of interesting heavyweight matches. Matt Mitrione, who is a former NFL player that was on TUF 10, is an expensive favorite against Tim Hague. As of Tuesday morning, most betting shops had Mitrione as a minus-250 ‘chalk.’ Hague is available for a plus-210 payout (risk $100 to win $210).
I’m excited to see how much Mitrione has improved since his last outing, a unanimous-decision win over Joey Beltran at UFC 119. Mitrione is now 3-0 with wins over Beltran, Kimbo Slice and Marcus Jones.
Mitrione is a raw talent who has a questionable ground game, but his heavy hands and wild-man streak make him a threat. From his time on TUF 10, fans know that he has no fear. That fact and knockout power were the difference in wins over Slice and Jones.
Hauge (12-4, 1-3) is back in the UFC for a third time after posting two knockout victories in fights with minor-league promotions in Canada. Prior to those wins, Hague lost three in a row in the UFC. His only win in the Octagon came at UFC 98 over Pat Barry.
Barry (5-2, 2-2) bounced back from his loss to Hauge with an explosive second-round KO win over Antoni Hardonk at UFC 104. However, the kickboxer who, like Guillard, is from the Crescent City, couldn’t close the deal in his last outing.
Barry was all over Mirko Cro Cop in the first two rounds of their showdown at UFC 115. He appeared to tire in the third round, though, and fell victim to a guillotine choke from Cro Cop with just 30 seconds remaining.
Nevertheless, Barry is a minus-220 favorite Saturday against Beltran, who is plus-180 on the comeback.
Beltran (12-4, 2-1) beat Rolles Gracie in his Octagon debut back at UFC 109. As previously noted, he’s beaten Hauge and lost to Mitrione since then.
Octagon Nuggets
The next event following “Fight for the Troops 2” is UFC 126 in Las Vegas at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Feb. 5. This card has three can’t-miss fights, including Vitor Belfort versus Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva for the middleweight title. As of Tuesday, BoDog had Silva listed as a minus-270 favorite with Belfort marked as the plus-210 underdog. Jon ‘Bones’ Jones is a minus-325 'chalk' vs. Ryan ‘Darth’ Bader (+250) and Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin is minus-170 against Forrest Griffin (+140).
UFC 127 will be held at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 27. The main event will pit Jon Fitch (-175) against B.J. Penn (+145) in a welterweight showdown. Also, Michael Bisping (-500) will face Jorge Rivera (+300) in the middleweight division.
UFC Fight Night 24 is slated for Key Arena in Seattle on March 26. The main event is a light heavyweight matchup between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Tito Ortiz. 'Little Nog' is a minus-250 ‘chalk’ against the 'Huntington Beach Bad Boy,' who is plus-190 at BoDog.
BoDog has also posted numbers for a pair of fights at yet-to-be-determined venues. Dana White announced last week that heavyweights Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos will square off in June, probably at UFC 131 in Vancouver. Dos Santos is a minus-130 favorite with Lesnar at even-money. Also, Frankie ‘The Answer’ Edgar is a minus-125 favorite for his rematch with Gray ‘The Bully’ Maynard (-105) for the lightweight belt.
Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua will return from knee surgery to defend his light heavyweight title against Rashad Evans at UFC 128 in Newark. BoDog has Rua as the minus-180 ‘chalk’ with Evans available at plus-150.
UFC 129 at Rogers Centre in Toronto will be highlighted by Georges ‘Rush’ St. Pierre taking on Jake Shields for the welterweight belt. GSP is a minus-600 favorite against Shields (+400). Also, Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida (-365) will look to avoid a third straight loss when he collides with Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture, who is a plus-285 underdog.
Edgar-Maynard III is probably going to be the main event for UFC 130 in Las Vegas on Memorial Day weekend. That card will also have Rampage Jackson against Thiago Silva and Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson.
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