MFC 37 went down tonight in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and the event overall saw betting three favorites win while one underdog came through. Below is a recap of MFC 37 based on the closing odds on Several Bookmakers. —————————————– MFC 37 Betting Favorites That Won In the main event of the evening, Ryan Benoit and Anthony Birchak fought back-and-forth for three rounds in one of the most entertaining fights in non-UFC/Bellator action so far this year, but at the end of 15 minutes it was Birchak who got his hand raised with a unanimous decision win (30-27, 29-28, 29-28). The fight was really a coin-flip going in and really played out that way in the cage with both guys getting each other in near submissions only to escape every time. But it was a great fight and both men deserve props for their performances. Birchak closed as a -125 favorite (bet $125 to win $100), while closed as a -105 underdog (bet $100 to win $105). In a lightweight bout, Kurt Southern defeated Mukai Maromo via submission (north-south choke) at 2:54 of the first round. Southern took Maromo down very quickly into the fight and started to work on the north-south choke, and although it took about a minute to lock it in, eventually Maromo was forced to tap out for the second-straight fight to a north-south choke, while might be the first time that’s ever happened in MMA history. Southern is a solid young Canadian prospect and don’t be surprised if he gets interest from the UFC and Bellator in the near future. Southern closed at -145, while Maromo closed at +115. In a middleweight bout, TUF vet Sam Alvey defeated UFC vet Jay Silva via third-round TKO (punches). The stoppage came at 1:05 of the third but it was controversial because it appeared as though a head butt is what knocked Silva down to the ground and the referee appeared to stop the bout early. Either way, Alvey was controlling the bout up until the point and nearly ended it in the second round with a flurry of punches on Silva, although he was able to survive it. Still, you always like to see a fighter win without any controversy and that’s not what happened here, but Alvey gets the win anyways. Alvey closed at -275, while Silva closed at +215. MFC 37 Betting Underdogs That Won In the co-main event of the evening, Luke Harris defeated Jason Zentgraf via first-round submission (neck) crank. The tap out came at 2:21 of the first stanza as Harris used his judo background to get the fight down on the mat and immediately began to work on Zentgraf’s neck, and it was only a matter of time until he tapped out. The Canadian Harris closed as a +155 underdog, while Zentgraf was a -185 favorite. Harris was the only underdog on the card to win. All in all MFC 37 was a very entertaining event and was definitely a much-needed influx of mixed martial arts action during the break in action by both the UFC and Bellator.
