The excitement surrounding UFC 145 betting has come and gone, but MMA bettors are already hungry for more action on what has become one of the world’s most popular sports. The UFC’s next event is scheduled for May 5 when UFC on FOX 3 takes place in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The headliners on that card will be lightweights Jim Miller (21-3) and Nate Diaz (15-7) while welterweights Josh Koscheck (19-5) and Johny Hendricks (12-1) will square off in the co-main event. Miller (-215) is a solid favorite against Diaz (+175), and Koscheck and Hendricks are even according to sportsbooks as each fighter is listed at -115. However, the biggest news outside of the UFC 145 bouts last weekend involved the naming of a replacement for Alistair Overeem (36-11-1) in the heavyweight title fight against champion Junior Dos Santos (14-1) at UFC 146 on May 26 in Las Vegas. Overeem, the UFC’s top heavyweight title contender, tested positive for elevated testosterone and was ruled out of the bout. He will be replaced by former heavyweight champ Frank Mir (16-5), who was originally scheduled to fight Cain Velasquez (9-1) at UFC 146. Velasquez surrendered his championship belt to Dos Santos in the first UFC on FOX event back on November 12 of last year, and Mir has won three straight since losing the interim title to Shane Carwin (12-2) on March 27, 2010. Mir is a big +385 underdog against Dos Santos (-535) according to the UFC 146 odds while Velasquez will now take on Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (16-3) in his UFC debut. The other three bouts on the all-heavyweight main card for UFC 146 include Roy Nelson (17-7) against Gabriel Gonzaga (13-6), Mark Hunt (8-7) against Stefan Struve (27-5) and Shane Del Rosario (11-0) against Stipe Miocic (8-0). The only other UFC 146 odds out right now for the heavyweights have Struve as a slight -130 favorite against Hunt (EVEN). UFC President Dana White also announced that MMA legend Dan Henderson (29-8) will be next in line for a title shot at light heavyweight following a unanimous decision victory for champion Jon “Bones” Jones (16-1) against “Suga” Rashad Evans (22-2-1) last Saturday. Although the date and location of the next championship bout for Jones is yet to be determined, the 41-year-old Henderson earned the right to fight him with an epic unanimous decision win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 139 last November 19 in his return to the organization from Strikeforce.
