The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heads to Hollywood, FL for the fourth time in promotion history for UFC Fight Night 70: Machida vs Romero. The nine-fight card will kick off at 7pm ET on FOX Sports 2 with a four-fight preliminary card, and the main card will get going at 9pm ET on FOX Sports 1 with five scheduled bouts. If interested in wagering on any of the contests on this UFC fight card, all betting lines will be made available at Several Bookmakerss. Kicking things off for the prelims on FOX Sports 2 will be a featherweight match-up between Nova Uniao’s Hacran Dias and New York-based Georgian, Levan Makashvili. “The Hornet” made his promotional debut at last month’s UFC Fight Night 66 in the Philipinnes, taking a split decision win over Mark Eddiva, and is eager to pick up a more impressive victory in this immediate return to action. Dias last saw action at UFC Fight Night 57 six months ago, where he snapped a two-fight skid with a unanimous decision win over Darren Elkins. Much like Makashvili, the Brazilian is aiming to make it two in a row inside the Octagon this Saturday night. The Nova Uniao product opened as a -270 betting favorite in this contest, with the return on the underdog Makashvili being +190. However, action has since come in on the underdog, tightening the lines up and bringing them to their current -185/+160. The next bout on the main card comes in the UFC’s middleweight division and sees former Canadian hockey player and enforcer Steve Bosse make his long awaited Octagon debut. Meeting him across the cage will be the Brazilian, Thiago “Marreta” Santos. After initially signing with the UFC, Bosse opted to retire without ever stepping foot inside the Octagon, as he was dealing with lingering injuries. Time seems to have healed the Canadian’s wounds, as he initially agreed to replace Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in his bout against Fabio Maldonado, and has since been staying in shape for a fight. “Marreta” is now 2-2 inside the Octagon and is coming off an impressive first round TKO win over MMA Lab product Andy Enz. He will be looking to string a pair together when he squares off against the promotional newcomer in Florida this weekend. Bosse opened as a +130 underdog in this 185-pound contest, with Santos being a -170 favorite to win. The public has backed the Brazilian, as betting odds are currently +160/-185. In the next bout of the evening, Serra-Longo product Eddie “Truck” Gordon makes a quick turnaround following a split decision loss to Chris Heatherly two months ago. Greeting him inside the Octagon will be TUF: Brazil 3 winner, Antonio Carlos Junior. After winning the TUF: 3 Finale as a heavyweight, Junior dropped down to the light heavyweight division for his next outing, where he was dominated by Patrick Cummins for three rounds of action for a unanimous decision defeat. That makes the first loss of the Brazilian’s professional mixed martial arts career and made him opt to drop down another weight class to the middleweight division. Making his 185-pound debut against Gordon, Junior certainly has his hands full, but he opened as a -210 favorite in the contest, with “Truck” being a +160 underdog. After some back and forth action, current betting lines for this scrap are -200/+170. In the co-main event of the evening, Argentina’s Santiago Ponzinibbio hopes to extend his UFC winning streak to three in a row when he enters the Octagon to take on Lorenz “Da Monsoon” Larkin. After dropping three in a row at 185-pounds, Larkin made the move down to the welterweight division, where he took out John Howard via first round TKO. Following the highlight reel victory, he aims to string two together at 170-pounds this Saturday night by taking out the Argentinian. Ponzinibbio opened as a +170 underdog in this contest, with “Da Monsoon” being a -210 favorite to win. Slight action has since come in on Larking, bringing betting lines to their current +190/-230. In the co-main event of the evening, Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida makes a quick return to action following his second round submission loss to Luke Rockhold two months ago, and he looks to get back on track against the Cuban, Yoel “Soldier of God” Romero. The American Top Team product recently withdrew from a scheduled bout with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza due to a knee injury, though rather than having surgery, he opted for a little time off to heal and is now ready for his return to action. Machida vs Romero is likely to be a war that won’t see the five round distance, and many don’t expect it to make it out of the first round. Come Saturday night, this main event scrap will likely be the favorite to take home the evening’s ‘Fight of the Night’ honors, as it is likely going to be edge-of-the-seat excitement from start to finish. Even when nothing is happening, fight fans will be fully aware that at any moment, anything could happen between these two precise knockout artists. “The Dragon” opened as as -185 betting favorite in this main event affair, with Romero being a +145 underdog. Lines have since tightened up and are currently sitting at -170/+150.
