Diving into the Main Card for UFC Fight Night 66 in the Philippines

Frankie Edgar BoxingThe Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is set to make it’s inaugral trip to the Philippines on Saturday, May 16th with UFC Fight Night 66. The event will feature an entirety of 12 bouts, including a four fight main card and an eight fight preliminary card, all streaming live on UFC Fight Pass starting 10am ET. If interested in wagering on this fight card, all betting lines will be made available at Several Bookmakerss. Headlining the UFC Fight Night 66 main card in the Philippines will be a five round featherweight contest that has been dubbed by many as a superfight. Fans will be on the edge of their seats when former UFC lightweight champion Frankie “The Answer” Edgar squares off against former WEC featherweight champion “The California Kid” Urijah Faber. This is a scrap many hardcore fight fans, myself including, are very much looking forward to. There is a good chance that when it’s all said and done, it will go down in the books as one of the most notable match-ups in UFC history. Not only are they making history with this fight, but they are likely going to produce fireworks for the fans, leaving everything they’ve got inside the Octagon. Edgar is on a three fight winning streak since his failed bid at the UFC’s 145-pound gold against Jose Aldo and is on track to earn a second crack at the throne. He hopes that a win over Faber would put him in line to take on the winner of UFC 189’s Aldo vs McGregor title fight. Faber has a controversial first round TKO stoppage against Renan Barao sandwiched between six victories; five of them by submission. On a two fight winning streak and having competed in the bantamweight division for his last 11 fights, he now moves back up to 145-pounds to take on Edgar in this highly-anticipated match-up. An upset win over Edgar would be huge for Faber, as it would put him in the title picture in both bantamweight and featherweight divisions. Edgar opened as a -380 betting favorite in this contest, with Faber being a +260 underdog. After what I assume has been some back and forth action, betting lines are currently -400/+325. The co-main event of the evening comes in the middleweight division and see’s former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi take on Costa Philippou. This is another match-up fight fans are eager to see, as it is a caliber of fight that could headline a Fight Pass card on it’s own. Mousasi is coming off a first round knockout of Dan Henderson and Philippou is coming off a first round knockout of Lorenz Larkin; both middleweights look to seize the opportunity of making it two in a row inside the Octagon. Mousasi opened as a -555 betting favorite, with Philippou being a +365 underdog, and after some back and forth action, current betting lines are -550/+425. The UFC Fight Night 66 main card will feature a middleweight contest with mixed martial arts’ most popular Philippino fighter in Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz, as he gets set to take on The Ultimate Fighter season 17 veteran Luke Barnatt. For Munoz, it is arguably the most important fight of his professional mixed martial arts career, as it is not only the UFC’s inaugral trip to the Philippines, but also his farewell bout. He has confirmed that he will be hanging up the gloves for good after this contest. For the 27-year old up-and-comer Barnatt, this fight means a lot, too, considering he is on a two-fight skid; both defeats coming via split decision. He does not believe he lost either fight and is desparate to return to the win column. Barnatt opened as a slight betting favorite in this bout at -125, with Munoz being -115. The public has since backed the youngster over the veteran, bringing betting lines to the current -160/+140. Kicking things off for the UFC Fight Night 66 main card is a welterweight contest between two long and rangy fighters in Colorado’s Neil Magny and the Korean Hyun Gyu Lim. In what could very well take home the evening’s ‘Fight of the Night honors, these 170-pounders will be looking to make a statement by sending a message to the rest of the division. Magny will aim to extend his impressive six fight winning streak to seven and gain ranked opposition for his next outing, likely cracking the top 15 himself. Lim hopes to make it two in a row after having his seven fight winning streak snapped by former Strikeforce welterweight champion Tarec Saffiedine at UFC Fight Night 34. Magny opened as a slight +110 underdog in this contest, with Lim being favored to win at -150. The public has opted to side with the dog, thus the odds have flipped and made Magny a slight favorite, with current betting lines sitting at -120/+100.

Written by Gabe Killian

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