UFC on FUEL TV 7: February 16, 2013 Wembley Arena in London, England UFC Welterweight Contender Che Mills (-140) Profile: One of the UK’s favorite exports over the last few years, 30-year-old Che Mills (15-5, 1 NC) has given as good as he has received in his UFC career. After going 14-4-1 across Europe from 2003 to 2011, Mills debuted at UFC 138 in devastating fashion, with a flying knee and punches TKO over Chris Cope in under a minute. This won Mills the Knockout of the Night award and opened the world’s eyes to new blood in the UFC welterweight division. Then Mills met Rory MacDonald at UFC 145 and received a serious wake-up call from a top contender, as he was absolutely dominated. Mills bounced back with a TKO victory against Duane Ludwig in Nottingham and returns to his home country for the third time in four fights against Matthew Riddle at UFC on FUEL TV 7. UFC Welterweight Contender Matthew Riddle (+100) Profile: The rambunctious member of Rampage Jackson’s team on The Ultimate Fighter, Matthew Riddle (7-3, 1 NC) has seen every one of his professional fights inside the Octagon. While that may be an incredible feat by itself, Riddle has not had the most successful run in the UFC so far with a few fun but extremely sloppy brawls that simply went his way on the judges’ scorecards. The 27-year-old is a physical specimen yet has a tendency to lose his head once he gets hit, and he seems to be willing to make it an all-or-nothing slugfest, which sometimes works out for him and other times leaves him with his opponents getting their hand raised. Four of his last five fights have ended in the judges’ hands (going 2-2), with the other resulting in a No-Contest after a submission win over Chris Clements was overturned due to a positive test for marijuana. Opening UFC on FUEL TV 7 Odds Breakdown: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas has made Mills a small -140 favorite (bet $140 to win $100) against Riddle, who opened as a +100 underdog (bet $100 to win $100) at Several Bookmakers sportsbook. There’s no doubt that Mills will have the fans on his side here in England, perhaps more than any other fighter on the card. Factoring that in, this line is giving Riddle a lot of respect and rightfully so. He has performed well inside the Octagon outside of a pair of unanimous decision losses between 2010 and 2011. Riddle took care of another English fighter (John Maguire) in his last bout at UFC 154 via UD, proving he has what it takes to influence the judges in a positive way. His main problem is keeping his head on straight, and he suffered his only career knockout loss in his only previous trip to England in 2009 to another Englishman in Nick Osipczak. The crowd could be a factor yet again, so Riddle will need to do his best to block out the noise and focus on the task at hand, which looks to be one of the biggest challenges of his young career. Meanwhile, Mills has had nearly twice as many fights and hopes to use that experience to his advantage. In what could be a very close bout, OVER 2.5 rounds opened as a -140 favorite.
