UFC 184 Preview
Byportsbook.ag
Event: UFC 184
Date: Saturday, Feb. 28th, 2015
TV/Time: (PPV, 10:00 p.m. ET)
Venue: Staples Center
City: Los Angeles, California
Women's Bantamweight Bout: Ronda Rousey (10-0) vs. Cat Zingano (9-0)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Rousey -900, Zingano +600
Two undefeated women face-off as Ronda Rousey looks to continue an amazing stretch and hold her title against Cat Zingano.
Rousey is certainly the most known female UFC fighter and for good reason as she has dominated her competition over her 10 fights, winning in the first round nine times with seven of those coming under a minute. She has earned tons of face-time due to her nearly flawless performances and Dana White has even joked that she’ll need to start fighting men if she pounds on Zingano in this one. Rousey has been dominant with her takedowns and it is likely that she be looking to get her opponent down early and often.
Zingano will attempt to change everything with a win here but it doesn’t look like a likely result with her bouts usually going into at least the second or third round. Three of the last four fights she’s been a part of have gone to the third round and she has taken out her opponents by a knockout in each of those matchups. She is a strong fighter, but has only been in the octagon four times in as many years and may be a little rusty against one of the elites in the sport. It would be a big surprise if this fight isn’t finished up early on with Rowdy Rousey keeping her title.
Rousey isn’t overly aggressive with her punches, landing 3.69 significant strikes per minute with 63% accuracy. She will allow her opposition to get in some hits as well, absorbing 2.33 per minute, as she looks for an opening to get them on the mat. Rousey does this early and often and is averaging a ridiculous 8.27 takedowns per 15 minutes, but she usually doesn’t get that far as seven of her 10 victories have come from a submission in the first round.
The armbar is her go-to move once she has her opponent reeling and she typically beats on them until she can get a nice hold on their forearm. She’s also been in the octagon plenty as she builds up her resume and has fought six times since the start of the 2012 year, so she should be warmed up and ready to go in this upcoming fight.
Zingano is an accurate fighter who can take punches until she needs to finish out the matchup. She lands 73% of the hits she goes for and typically aims for the head; which she did 49 times out of 60 significant strike attempts in her last bout against Amanda Nunes. In that fight she was also 3-for-3 in takedowns and ended it with a brutal barrage of punches and elbows in the third round.
She hasn’t shown the best defense, though, allowing 57% of strikes against her to land, but she has the innate ability to take them and move on where she wins later on as evidenced by her average fight going just over 12 minutes despite having just one go to decision. Zingano’s only hope is if she can get out of the first round against the talented Rousey, but even then she needs to avoid takedowns, which will be tough for a fighter who isn’t the quickest on her feet.
Sportsbook.ag Odds - Other UFC 184 Bouts
Featherweight Matchup
Masio Fullen -155
Alexanter Torres +125
Lightweight Matchup
James Krause -200
Valmir Lazaro +165
Heavyweight Matchup
Derrick Lewis -500
Ruan Potts +375
Welterweight Matchup
Tim Means -140
Dhiego Lima +110
Bantamweight Matchup
Norifumi Yamamoto -260
Roman Salazar +207
Middleweight Matchup
Mark Munoz -300
Roan Carneiro +235
Lightweight Matchup
Tony Ferguson -210
Gleison Tibau +170
Welterweight Matchup
Alan Jouban -425
Richard Walsh +325
Welterweight Matchup
Jake Ellenberger -230
Josh Koscheck +185
Womens Bantamweight Matchup
Holly Holm -800
Raquel Pennington +550
UFC 184 Odds and Picks
By: Hugh Citron
Sportingnews.com
LAS VEGAS-- UFC 184 comes to us Saturday night from Los Angeles, Calif., with a women’s bantamweight title fight between two undefeated fighters, champion "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey and challenger Cat Zingano. Rousey is a prohibitive -900 favorite, with Zingano getting odds of +600 as the underdog.
Rousey (10-0) has taken the MMA world by storm the last two years and has become the UFC's biggest star. Her last two fights were mere workouts, as she finished Sara McMann with knees in a little over a minute in February 2014 and knocked out Alexis Davis in just 16 seconds in July.
The only fighter to take Ronda past the first round has been Miesha Tate, in December 2013. Tate made it to the third round before getting caught by Rousey's famous arm bar. Until someone can keep a fight standing against Rousey, it's doubtful she'll have any trouble staying champ -- her ground game is just superior to any other women in the division.
Betting value on Rousey, though, has disappeared, and any wager on her now makes little sense.
Zingano was supposed to coach against Rousey on the Ultimate Fighter show, but a serious knee injury forced her to be replaced by Tate, who Ronda would go on to defeat.
In April 2013, before suffering the injury, Zingano defeated Tate in the third round, stopping her with knees and punches. Cat came back in September 2014 after being out of the octagon for nearly a year-and-a-half with an impressive third-round TKO over Amanda Nunes.
Zingano will try to keep this fight standing and try to use her power to keep Rousey at a distance. Once Rousey gets hold of an opponent, it’s only a matter of time until she's on her back -- her judo throws are amazing. And once on the ground, she's a master of getting that arm bar submission.
The Linemakers lean: Once again, underdogs are the way to go in UFC fights, as we saw last Sunday, when dogs won all the televised bouts. Zingano clearly seems like Ronda's toughest opponent to date, so taking a shot at odds of +600 or higher by fight night seems worth while. The lean here is toward a value play on Zingano to derail the Ronda Rousey freight train.
Undercard
Another women’s bantamweight fight on the undercard features the highly-anticipated UFC debut of Holly Holm, who takes on Raquel Pennington.
Holm (7-0), a highly-decorated boxing champion, is also a -900 favorite. Pennington, who is getting 6-to-1 odds as the underdog, has a modest 5-4 record while battling with some of the better fighters in the division.
The Linemakers lean: The number here is way too high for someone as unproven as Holm. Take a shot with Pennington as the sizable underdog to pull the upset.
Also on the undercard is a welterweight fight between two veterans who could really use a win: Jake Ellenberger and Josh Koscheck. Ellenberger is about a -220 favorite with Koscheck getting around +180 as the underdog.
Both fighters are currently on three-fight losing streaks and need a win to stay relevant in the stacked 170-pound division.
The Linemakers lean: This fight looks even on paper, so taking plus-money makes sense. Look for Josh Koscheck to get back to his winning ways and pull a mild upset over Jake Ellenberger.