UFC 145 provided bettors with four opportunities to cash tickets on underdog fighters while the other eight bouts were not really surprises, including the main event between light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones and “Suga” Rashad Evans. Many MMA betting experts thought Evans (22-2-1) had a legitimate chance against his former training partner, but it was Jones (16-1) who proved to be a worthy heavy favorite at -510 (bet $510 to win $100) in successfully defending his title for the third time in his young career with a unanimous decision victory. Evans closed at +420 (bet $100 to win ($420) and disappointed UFC 145 bettors who believed he had a shot to pull off the upset by not doing enough to score points throughout the fight. Jones should get a lot of credit for keeping Evans at a distance where he could not do much and consistently hammered the challenger with deadly elbows while both fighters were standing. The championship bout went to the ground for only a matter of seconds in five rounds and was not a result of Evans taking Jones down. Jones still has not been taken down by an opponent in his 17 fights and thoroughly dominated Evans in the last four rounds. The biggest of the four underdogs to win was Eddie Yagin (16-5-1), who earned a split decision against Mark Hominick (20-11) in what ended up as the Fight of the Night. Both featherweight fighters were battered from beating up on each other and walked away with $65,000 after going three hard rounds. Yagin’s UFC 145 odds closed at +410, but he hung tough and shocked many in handing Hominick (-520) his third consecutive defeat. The other three underdogs to walk away with victories included featherweight Marcus Brimage (+205), welterweight Matt Brown (+190) and heavyweight Ben Rothwell (+195). Brimage (5-1) and Brown (14-11) each won decisions while Rothwell (32-8) pulled off the Knockout of the Night and took home the $65,000 prize by pounding Brendan Schaub (9-3) until the fight was stopped at 1:10 of the first round. Schaub looked like he had Rothwell in a tough spot until the Wisconsin native turned the tables and won for just the third time in six bouts. Other notable winners included bantamweight Michael McDonald and welterweight Rory MacDonald, both of whom appear to be nearing serious title contender status in their respective weight classes despite being so young. The 21-year-old McDonald (15-1) knocked out Miguel Torres (39-5) in the first round of a relatively even fight according to the oddsmakers, and the 22-year-old MacDonald (13-1) backed up his status as a big favorite at -670 in finishing off Che Mills (14-5, 1 No-Contest) via TKO in the second.
