Saturday’s UFC 146 card is stacked from top to bottom, and the top is a little top-heavy considering all five main card fights involve heavyweights. However, the preliminary card without a doubt contains some incredibly exciting and interesting matchups. Starting on Facebook.com at 6:45 p.m. (ET), the night of MMA action kicks off with former WEC champ Mike Brown (25-8) fighting to extend his UFC life against Daniel Pineda (17-7). Brown is 3-4 in his last seven, but he seems to have found a comfort zone and comes in as the slight favorite at -170 (bet $170 to win $100) to Pineda’s +140 (bet $100 to win $140) according to the UFC 146 odds. Next up on the preliminary Facebook card, Kyle “Kingsbu” Kingsbury (11-3) looks to plant his formidable AKA trained fists into the skull of Glover Teixeira (17-2). This is the Brazilian Teixeira’s first UFC appearance after spending much of his fighting life in his home country along with the WEC. Will the bright lights give him the UFC jitters? The oddsmakers don’t seem to think so, as Glover opened up as the -230 favorite while Kingsbury is a +180 underdog. The final Facebook fight is between the always interesting lightweight Jacob Volkmann (14-2) and Englishman Paul Sass (12-0). The outspoken Volkmann is the favorite at -205 against Sass (+165) in a fight he will more than likely try to turn into a grind-out decision victory. Then beginning at 8 p.m. on FX, there will be three more bouts involving former bright stars who are now fighting for their jobs in the UFC. First up, Dan Hardy (23-10) takes on Duane Ludwig (21-12) in an exciting matchup that should be a high-octane slugfest. Hardy may be on a four-fight losing streak, but he is the oh-so-slight favorite over “Bang” Ludwig at -130 to Bang’s +100. That one could be a nail-biter. Jason “Mayhem” Miller (27-8) will also be fighting for his MMA life against former TUF finalist C.B. Dolloway (11-4). Miller said that if he loses this fight, he’ll retire from MMA, but then again he says a lot of things. MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas still gave him a slight edge by opening him at -150 to Dolloway’s +120. The prelims continue with former WEC champ Jamie Varner (19-6) returning to the UFC to duke it out with the undefeated Edson Barboza (10-0). Barboza is fresh off his spectacular spinning heel kick KO on Terry Etim earlier in the year, and Varner was brought in as a late replacement for Evan Dunham. Thus, Barboza is the heavy favorite at -500 to Varner’s +350. Capping off the prelims on FX will be a battle of featherweights when Darren Elkins (13-2) scraps with BJJ ace and the most recent TUF winner Diego Brandao (14-7). Elkins has something to prove, but the TUF winners usually do well in their first few fights, so Brandao comes in as a decent favorite at -235 to Elkins’ +185.
