UFC Fight Night 61 Date: February 22, 2014 Arena: Gigantinho Gymnasium City: Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to Brazil tonight with UFC Fight Night 61: Bigfoot vs Mir. The event will feature an entirety of 11-bouts, including a six-fight main card that will be live on FOX Sports 1 at 8pm ET. Preliminary action will precede it on FOX Sports 2 at 6pm ET with four fights, and two fights before it at 5:30pm ET on UFC Fight Pass. If interested in wagering on these props, or any other for this fight card, all lines will be made available to you at Several Bookmakerss. I believe these UFC Fight Night 61 ‘FOTN’ contenders hold the most value: Ponzinibbio/Strickland +600 — This is a fight that features two very talented welterweights who both have a future in the division, and when they enter the Octagon tonight in Porto Alegre, I think there is a good chance they will leave fight fans pleased, regardless of the outcome. When you pit a pair of talented prospects against each other inside the Octagon, more often than not they perform to their full potential and leave behind a great performance when all is said and done. Regardless of who gets his hand raised in this 170-pound contest, I think they are both likely to have their moments. There is however the possibility that the first round could be very entertaining, but followed by uneventful rounds two and three where Strickland outgrapples a fading Ponzinibbio. The American looks to go 3-0 inside the Octagon in his welterweight debut against the Argentinia, who hopes to extend his own winning streak to two. Should they end up taking home the evening’s ‘Fight of the Night’ honors, it would be the first time for both 170-pounders. Andrade/Reneau +1250 — I think this is the one fight on the entire UFC Fight Night 61 fight card that holds the most value for the ‘Fight of the Night’ betting props. At +1250, I think it is definitely worth a chance, as I think it stands a slightly better chance of taking home the bonus than the two other fights I mention in this article, both of which are priced at +600. While I think those two have value at that price, I think this one has even more value at this price and is my favorite play here. I could justify passing on the other two, but I couldn’t justify passing on this one. I think this fight has a great recipe for fireworks and I expect these ladies to leave it all inside the Octagon tonight. I think this is a fight the crowd will really get behind, and knowing how much Dana White favors women’s bouts (as well as flyweights and heavyweights) when it comes post-fight bonus time, I think this is a very good bet. It is worth noting that I think the fight that has the best chance of winning the bonus is the lightweight co-main event bout between talented strikers Edson Barboza and Michael Johnson, but at its current price of +305, I don’t like it enough to pull the trigger. Andrade is 3-1 in the UFC, having won her last three, and Reneau is 1-0, coming off an impressive win in her promotional debut just a month ago. Should these ladies take home the evening’s honors, it would be the first time for both. Gibson/Silva +600 — It’s tough for a Cody Gibson fight to not be entertaining, the guy delivers every time he steps foot inside the cage. Despite coming from the wrestling background, he looks for the finish on the feet before he looks for the takedown; and when he does look for the takedown, he doesn’t look for a grind-out, he looks for the submission finish. He is an entertaining fighter who always looks to put his opponents away and clear-as-day has been getting better from fight to fight. I think Silva is a very game opponent for him and stylistically, the pair should produce a very entertaining scrap; likely one that will wake the Brazilian crowd up following Ivan Jorge vs Josh Shockley, which has a good chance of being a snooze-fest. They will both be looking to bounce back into the win column following recent defeats, and should these bantamweights take home the evening’s ‘Fight of the Night’ honors, it would mean the first time for both of them.
