The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is set to return to Australia on Saturday, May 9th with UFC Fight Night 65: Miocic vs Hunt. The event will feature an entirety of 12-bouts, all live on UFC Fight Pass. Preliminary action will get going at 7:45pm ET with eight bouts, and the four-fight main card will get underway at 11pm ET. Getting things started for the evening’s main card will be a lightweight contest between a pair of undefeated veterans of The Ultimate Fighter. Somebody’s O will have to go when Australia’s own Jake Matthews squares off against Texas native James “The Texecutioner” Vick. Matthews and Vick are both very solid prospects in the division, so fight fans are likely in for a treat with this scrap, which is appropriately positioned to kick off the main card. The winner of this contest will move up the promotion’s 155-pound ladder and likely draw ranked opposition for his next outing, and for the loser, it will be a trip back to the drawing board. Matthews opened as a -190 favorite in this lightweight affair, with Vick being a +150 underdog. Some action has since come in on Vick, tightening the lines up and bringing them to a current -160/+130. Next up on the main card is a light heavyweight bout between Australia’s Anthony “The Hippo” Perosh and Utah native Sean “The Real OC” O’Connell. I think this is one scrap that has bonus money written all over it. “The Hippo” most recently picked up a first round submission win over Guto Inocente, marking his 10th submission victory in 15 professional bouts. He will look to extend that streak to 11 against O’Connell, who most recently snapped his two-fight skid and picked up his first UFC win with a come from behind third round knockout of Matt Van Buren. Perosh opened as a +110 underdog in this contest, with O’Connell being a -150 favorite. However, the public has heavily backed the hometown dog and flipped the lines, making him a sizeable favorite with current betting odds being -175/+145. The co-main event of the event will be a middleweight contest between the Las Vegas-based Hawaiian Brad Tavares and New Zealand native Robert Whitaker. Tavares is coming off a unanimous decision win over Nate Marquardt, which snapped a two-fight skid, and Whitaker has opted to stay at 185-pounds after knocking out Clint Hester in his middleweight debut. I think this will be an entertaining scrap and a likely contender for the evening’s ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus. Whitaker is going to look for a second consecutive knockout over the Hawaiian, and Tavares is gonna aim to send him packing back down to the welterweight division. Tavares opened as a -245 betting favorite in this contest, with Whitaker being a +175 underdog. The public has heavily backed the dog here, as well, tightening betting lines and shifting them to the current -170/+140. Headlining the UFC Fight Night 65 main card in Australia will be a heavyweight contest between Ohio-based Croation Stipe Miocic and New Zealand native Mark “The Super Samoan” Hunt. Regardless of how long this one lasts, fight fans know to expect an all-out heavyweight war. Both big men will be looking to get back on track following recent defeats, with Hunt suffering a second round flying-knee knockout against UFC interim-Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum, and Miocic coming short on the judges’ scorecards against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior “Cigano” dos Santos. Miocic opened as a -160 betting favorite in this heavyweight scrap, with Hunt being a +120 underdog. The public has backed the favorite here, making current betting lines -205/+165.
