UFC Fight Night 60
By Sportsbook.ag
Event: UFC Fight Night 60
Date: Saturday, February 14, 2015
TV/Time: (Fox Sports 1, 10:00 p.m. ET)
Venue: 1st Bank Center
City: Broomfield, Colorado
Welterweight Bout: Benson Henderson (21-5) vs. Brandon Thatch (11-1)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Henderson +100, Thatch -130
Benson Henderson moves up a weight-class and fights on short notice for the injured Stephen Thompson this Valentine’s day against Brandon Thatcher in the main event at UFC 60.
The 31-year-old Benson Henderson is coming off the first two-match losing streak of his career when a controversial unanimous decision gave Donald Cerrone the victory after three rounds on January 18th. His three losses in the last five matches will have him ready to go on short notice in this one, but the last time he fought with such little rest was in 2007 and he lost in just 46 seconds by submission (Anaconda Choke) against Rocky Johnson.
Brandon Thatch will bring the heat against any of his opponents and he has won eight of his 11 bouts by way of knockout. He typically gets things done quickly with his average match lasting just four minutes and 11 seconds and he has gone past the first round just once; a loss to Brandon Magana in a decision back in 2008. The extra rest that Thatch has had should give him a leg up on Henderson, but the freakish athletic ability of the southpaw still gives him an edge in his ability to keep up his quickness and speed. Look for Thatch to expel a ton of energy early, and if he is unable to get an early knockout, fall behind as Henderson dances circles around him.
“Smooth” Henderson has some advantages in this one with his experience and quickness, but his small frame could take a beating if he allows the short rest to get to him. He has the tremendous ability of avoiding hard hits, taking just 1.64 strikes per minute as he usually attempts to get in a few key hits and eventually just outlast his opponent. Of his 21 career victories, Henderson has just 2 TKOs while getting most of his wins by either submission (9) or decision (10).
Early on in his career, Henderson was a different fighter, winning each of his first six victories by either submissions or TKO but still has the ability to get to his opponent in many different ways with quick strikes (2.88 per min.) and 2.46 takedowns per 15 minutes while giving Thatch a much different opponent than he had in his first two UFC matches.
When Brandon “Rukus” Thatch wins a fight, he doesn’t fool around, and in his first two UFC matches he has knocked out his opponent in an average of less than two minutes as he lands 8.17 strikes per minute in that time. Overall in his MMA career, Thatch has been aggressive, never going longer than the first round with his victories as he attacks early on with plenty of knees to the body and head of his opponents.
His 10-match winning streak will certainly be put to the test in this one, though; as Henderson is the former lightweight champion and can often use the aggressiveness of others to gain an edge as he lets them get tired out. Thatch will not win this fight if it goes longer than five minutes, so he will need to sneak in some hard hits early to have any sort of chance.
Other UFC Fight Night 60 Bouts - Odds per Sportsbook.ag
Lightweight Matchup:
James Moontasri -250
Cody Pfister +200
Flyweight Matchup:
Zach Makovsky -105
Tim Elliott -125
Featherweight Matchup:
Chas Skelly -225
Jim Alers +180
Lightweight Matchup:
Efrain Escudero -105
Rodrigo de Lima -125
Featherweight Matchup:
Nik Lentz -450
Levan Makashvili +325
Flyweight Matchup:
Ray Borg -700
Chris Kelades +500
Lightweight Matchup:
Michel Prazeres +120
Kevin Lee -150
Middleweight Matchup:
Dan Kelly +140
Patrick Walsh -170
Welterweight Matchup:
Neil Magny -550
Kiichi Kunimoto +400
Featherweight Matchup:
Max Holloway -450
Cole Miller +325
UFC Fight Night Odds and Picks
By: Hugh Citron
Sportingnews.com
UFC Fight Night comes to us Saturday night (prelims 8 p.m. ET, main event 10 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1) from Broomfield, Colo., with up-and-coming welterweight Brandon Thatch facing former UFC lightweight champion Benson "Smooth" Henderson. Thatch opened as a -150 favorite, with Henderson getting +120 odds on the takeback. Early money has been in Henderson's favor. Thatch was bet down to just a small favorite at most sports books, with some shops moving the fight to a pick 'em.
Thatch (11-1) has been on quite a roll. He has stopped his last 10 opponents in the first round. He is 2-0 in the UFC, with a KO and TKO over Paulo Thiago (November 2013) and Justin Edwards (August 2013), respectively. Before that, Thatch earned his wins in much smaller promotions. Don't hold that against him; every fighter has to get noticed before making it to the highest level of MMA, the UFC.
Thatch was supposed to fight Jordan Mein in August of 2014, but an injury to his toe forced him to pull out. When he steps in the octagon Saturday night, it will mark his first time in over a year. This could be a bit of a problem facing an opponent as skilled as Henderson.
Smooth (21-5) won the lightweight championship back in 2012 with a unanimous decision over Frankie Edgar. A few months later, Henderson again got a decision over Edgar in the rematch. Henderson lost his title in 2013 to current champion, Anthony Pettis.
This will also mark the first time Benson, who jumps from the 155- to 170-pound division, has fought as a welterweight. Henderson lost a unanimous decision to Donald Cerrone just last month, but many MMA experts had Benson winning.
Henderson was scheduled to face Jorge Masvidal this April, but when called by the UFC, he jumped at the chance to move up a weight class and take this fight on short notice. Don't put too much into Henderson moving up in weight because his speed should be a real advantage. Benson has always been one of the heaviest lightweights, usually weighing well over 170 lbs on fight night. Look for Henderson to put that speed to good use in this fight with Thatch.
The Linemakers lean: I agree with the early money on this fight the opening number was a poor one, and the wrong fighter was favored. Henderson will make his welterweight debut a winning one, defeating Brandon Thatch in the main event.
Undercard
On the undercard, highly-touted Max Holloway takes on veteran Cole Miller in a featherweight bout. Holloway is -400 favorite, with Miller getting +300 odds as the underdog.
Holloway has been pretty reliable against lesser competition, but has struggled to get wins over top fighters. Miller also has failed to get a signature win over a top opponent, but is always tough against equal competition.
This fight is closer than the odds indicate. Take Cole Miller as the underdog to upset Max Holloway on the undercard.
Henderson moving up to WW has indeed payed up. But what I am looking forward to see is him fight next is someone from the division who hasn't taken a break from MMA. Not necessarily from the top 10 but some veteran welterweight dude who has been in the octagon with no breaks. That I think would be a true testing ground for Benson. Thatch is a great welterweight but hasn't fought since 2013 before his match against Bendo.
Looks like Books that take parlays on MMA got crushed with all the underdogs that came in.
The linemakers had it quite right on this one..