UFC 166 looks better and better every day. The upcoming fall fight card, which takes place this October in Houston, TX, and which is headlined by the UFC heavyweight title trilogy matchup between champ Cain Velasquez and challenger Junior dos Santos, has added two high-profile fights as the UFC today confirmed that lightweights Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez and welterweights Hector Lombard and Nate Marquardt will go to war on a card that is shaping up to be one of the best of the year. The Melendez vs. Sanchez fight should be extremely exciting as it pits two of the best in the world at 155 pounds against one another. I really do think this fight will go the three rounds, but I believe that Melendez is a superior all-around fighter and he should be able to batter Sanchez on the feet en route to a decision win. However, Sanchez has always been a judges’ favorite and Melendez is someone who historically the judges haven’t liked too much, so the fight could end up in a controversial split decision if it does indeed hit the cards. I expect Melendez to open up around -300 with the comeback on Sanchez around +250. At that price, which I believe is correct, the public might actually bet Sanchez, and if the line on Melendez gets bet down to the -200 level there’s no doubt in my mind that he will be worth a play, even with the possibility of a lame judges’ decision. As for Lombard vs. Marquardt, the matchup will be Lombard’s first at 170 pounds and I really do believe he should be favored to win this bout. After a string of poor performances in the UFC, Lombard’s stock has definitely dropped but I believe that Marquardt has fallen ever further than Lombard has as of late and I do favor the Aussie to pick up the win, likely via knockout. I expect Lombard to open up around -200 with the comeback on Marquardt being +150. I’m not saying Marquardt can’t win this fight, because for all we know Lombard will be a shell of his former self down at 170 pounds, but based on the fact that this is a guy who I really do believe should have always been fighting in the welterweight division and based on the fact that he was very competitive against the top fighters at 185 pounds, I do favor Lombard here and I’ll likely be making a play on him, maybe in a parlay with Melendez if I can get a decent price on it come fight day. New Future Odds Added To Several Bookmakers MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas today added a batch of future fight odds to Several Bookmakers. Odds are now available for the following bouts:
- Mac Danzig vs. Melvin Guillard
- Michael Chiesa vs. Jorge Masvidal
- Robbie Lawler vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
- Liz Carmouche vs. Jessica Andrade
- Brendan Schaub vs. Matt Mitrione
- Anthony Perosh vs. Vinny Magalhaes
- Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne
- Urijah Faber vs. Yuri Alcantara
- Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann
- Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Donald Cerrone
- Ryan Bader vs. Glover Teixeira
- Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Yushin Okami
- Jussier Formiga vs. Joseph Benavidez
- Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate