UFC 188 took place earlier tonight (Saturday, June 13, 2015) at the Arena Ciudad de México in Mexico City, Mexico. It was a very solid card overall, with a number of quick highlight-reel finishes on the main card and decent performances on the prelims. Overall from a betting perspective, four betting favorites were victorious while six underdogs won and a pick-em fight occurred based on the closing odds at Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap for each fight. UFC 188 Betting Favorites That Won In a middleweight bout, Kelvin Gastelum put a hurting on Nate Marquardt en route to scoring a second round stoppage victory. Gastelum outworked Marquardt both standing and on the ground with big strikes in both areas. Marquardt looked spent as he headed to his corner at the end of the second round and his corner stopped the fight after he said he had nothing left. Gastelum won at -475 (Bet $475 to win $100) while Marquardt lost at +420 (Bet $100 to win $420). In women’s strawweight action, Tecia Torres surprised onlookers by utilizing her superior wrestling to win a relatively lackluster decision over Angela Hill. Torres was able to take Hill down on several occasions and stay on top, but she didn’t do much damage or advance to a dominant position en route to winning the bout. Torres closed at -235 while Hill was a +215 dog. In flyweight bout, Henry Cejudo earned a workmanlike decision over Chigo Camus in a bout that wasn’t that impressive. Hoping to earn a title shot, Cejudo’s gold medal-winning wrestling was not on display and he was unable to get anything going on the ground, although he did manage to outwork Camus on the feet just enough to earn the nod from the judges. Cejudo closed as a massive -1100 favorite while Camus was a +900 underdog. In the opening bout of the FX prelims, Johnny Case destroyed Francisco Trevino, doing everything but finish the tough Mexican. Case outworked Trevino in all facets en route to winning all three rounds convincingly but the finish eluded him. Case closed at -495 while Trevono finished at +430. UFC 188 Betting Underdogs That Won In the main event of the evening, Fabricio Werdum took the fight to Cain Velasquez en route to dethroning the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Velasquez came out with a strong pace early but he couldn’t sustain it and Werdum began to land heavy shots in the second round to bloody up the champion’s face. When Velasquez shot in for a desperation takedown in the third round, Werdum latched on a tight guillotine choke to force a tap and take the title. Werdum was a hefty +390 underdog while Velasquez was a -440 favorite. In the co-main event of the evening, Eddie Alvarez survived a tough first round to outgrapple and outwork Gilbert Melendez en route to winning a split decision. Melendez rocked Alvarez in the first round with a big elbow, which kept him tentative the rest of the frame. Alvarez bounced back with a wrestling and clinch-based approach mixed with his striking to win a very close contest on the judges’ scorecards. Alvarez was victorious as +150 underdog while Melendez lost at -160. In a featherweight contest, Yair Rodriguez and Charles Rosa put on an extremely entertaining battle for three rounds. Rodriguez showcased improved and diverse stand-up skills throughout the fight and some impressive ground transitions to do some serious damage to Rosa. Rosa fought back and showed a ton of heart to come back and take the third round but it wasn’t quite enough as Rodriguez was awarded the decision. It was a spectacular fight, but Rodriguez came through as a +160 underdog while Rosa was defeated at -170. In a lightweight fight, Efrain Escudero scored an emphatic first round finish of Drew Dober to continue his impressive Octagon resurgence. The former Ultimate Fighter winner latched on a guillotine choke after pressing Dober into the fence, nearly lifting his opponent into the air to force a tap. Escudero was +125 while Dober was -135. In a bantamweight bout, Patrick Williams earned some serious redemption by absolutely destroying TUF Latin America winner Alejandro Perez in just 23 seconds. Williams connected with two flush shots early and then pounced on his stunned opponent with a guillotine choke to render Perez unconcious. Williams closed at +150 while Perez lost at -160. In the opening bout of the evening, Gabriel Benitez defeated Clay Collard from pillar to post to put on a tremendous performance en route to earning a big upset win for Mexico via unanimous decision. Benitez was +225 while Collard was -245. UFC 188 Pick’em Fights In a welterweight contest, Cathal Pendred won a lackluster decision using positioning, superior grappling and conditioning against hometown favorite Augusto Montano. The fight was not very fun to watch, but Pendred did enough to earn a nod from the judges. Both fighters closed at a pick’em price of -105.
