UFC on Fox 18 took place tonight (Saturday, January 30, 2016) at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey and was headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Anthony Johnson and Ryan Bader. Overall from a betting perspective, five favorites won while seven underdogs came through with one draw according to the closing odds at Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap for each fight. Favorites That Won In the main event of the evening, light heavyweight Anthony Johnson made quick work of Ryan Bader. Bader quickly shot in for a takedown, failed, then couldn’t secure a Kimura and proceeded to eat huge ground and pound before being put out cold. Johnson was a -240 (Bet $240 to win $100) betting favorite and Bader was +220 (Bet $100 to win $220). In a bantamweight contest, Jimmie Rivera outpaced Iuri Alcantara over three rounds, landing significantly more strikes while Alcantara tried to land the Hail Mary punch or knee. Rivera kept up the pressure and eventually walked away with a unanimous decision victory. Rivera was a -165 favorite while Alcantara lost as a +155 underdog. In a welterweight contest, Tarec Saffiedine utilized his superior striking technique to outpace Jake Ellenberger over the course of three rounds. Ellenberger landed a few big shots, but couldn’t capitalize and Saffiedine won a unanimous decision. Saffiedine was -255 while Ellenberger was a +235 dog. In a middleweight bout, Rafael Natal did his thing against Kevin Casey, landing takedowns, using superior striking and wearing the American down, eventually picking up a third round TKO as Casey faded. Natal was a -170 favorite while Casey was +160. In a featherwight fight, Alex Caceres took command for all three rounds in a pretty one-sided unanimous decision victory over Masio Fullen that lacked significant action. Caseres came through as a -280 betting favorite underdog while Fullen did nothing at +255. In a welterweight bout, UFC newcomer Randy Brown shook off the UFC jitters after losing the first round to win the second two and take a decision against Matt Dwyer. It wasn’t the flashiest win, but Brown was happy to get his UFC career off to a winning start. Brown held serve as a -140 favorite while Dwyer was a +130 dog. In the opening bout of the evening, lightweight Tony Martin bounced back with a very impressive third round submission victory over Nova Uniao fighter Felipe Rivieri, who was making his UFC debut. Martin fought the opposite of his usual self, losing the first round this time before coming back strong in the second and third to pick up the stoppage win. Martin was victorious as a -135 favorite while Henrique was +125. Underdogs That Won In the heavyweight division, Ben Rothwell pulled off a shocker by submitting Josh Barnett. Barnett was working to utilize his jab but Rothwell turned up the heat in the second round and then proceeded to submit Barnett with a guillotine choke after a takedown attempt. Rothwell came through as the +125 underdog, while Barnett failed to cash as the -135 favorite. In the first bout on the main card, welterweights Sage Northcutt and Bryan Barberena put on an entertaining battle. Northcutt started out strong, but he wilted after winding up on his back in the second round, eventually tapping out to an arm triangle from half guard. Barberena was a +245 dog while Northcutt couldn’t win as a -265 favorite. In a lightweight contest, Carlos Diego Ferreira ended his two-fight losing streak by dominating top Canadian prospect Olivier Aubin-Mercier with superior striking and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Aubin-Mercier couldn’t utilize his wrestling attack effectively and Ferreira made him pay, winning a unanimous decision. Oliveira got it to the ground and Jury couldn’t shake loose. Ferreira was a +230 underdog while Aubin-Mercier was -250. In a flyweight fight, Wilson Reis found the fountain of youth by completely dismantling Dustin Ortiz. Reis repeatedly got the fight to the floor and found success with his superior Brazilian jiu-jitsu, taking strong positions on the ground and occasionally threatening with submissions. Reis’ striking was on point as well as he was in control of nearly every aspect of the fight. Reis looked great as a +245 dog while Ortiz couldn’t muster a response as a -265 favorite. In a welterweight fight, Alexander Yakovlev impressed onlookers with a nasty first round knockout over the normally durable George Sullivan. Yakovlev landed a quick combination and Sullivan couldn’t recover. Yakovlev was a +100 underdog while Sullivan was -110. Draws In a featherweight bout, Levon Makashvili looked to be on his way to winning a ho-hum decision victory over Damon Jackson, except for that fact that he had a point deducted. Instead, the bout was ruled a majority draw. Makashvili was a pretty strong favorite at -320 while Jackson was +290.
