UFC 197 took place last night (Saturday, April 23, 2016) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was headlined by a light heavyweight interim title bout between Jon Jones and Ovince Saint Preux. Overall from a betting perspective, nine favorites won while two underdogs came through and there was one pick’em fight according to the closing odds at Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap for each bout. Favorites That Won In the main event of the evening, former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones returned to the Octagon with a dominant and one-sided performance against Ovince Saint Preux. OSP had no answer for Jones’ repeated low kicks from distance. Jones seemed capable of putting Saint Preux away whenever the fight entered the clinch but he couldn’t quite pull the trigger, although he nearly ended the fight with heavy ground strikes in the fourth frame. When it was all said and done, all three judges awarded Jones all five rounds to crown him the new UFC interim light heavyweight champion. Jones was victorious as a -675 (Bet $675 to win $100) favorite while Saint Preux lost as a +550 (bet $100 to win $550) underdog. In the co-main event of the evening, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson absolutely obliterated previously-undefeated challenger Henry Cejudo. Cejudo was no match for Johnson in the clinch, where “Mighty Mouse” hammered away with vicious elbows and knees at short range to stagger the Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler. Johnson smelled blood and continued to attack Cejudo until his opponent turned away from the punishment and the fight was stopped in the first round. Johnson was victorious as a -325 betting favorite while Cejudo was handed his first loss as a +295 underdog. In a middleweight contest, Robert Whittaker gave Rafael Natal all he could handle for 15 minutes. Whittaker hurt Natal multiple times but couldn’t put the Brazilian away, instead settling for a one-sided unanimous decision victory. Whittaker won at -310 while Natal lost as a +280 dog. In a flyweight bout, Sergio Pettis scored a workmanlike decision over Chris Kelades. Pettis outpointed Kelades on the feet and managed to secure top position during most ground exchanges to earn the nod from the judges. Pettis held serve as a -215 betting favorite while Kelades was +195. In a welterweight showdown, Danny Roberts got all that he could handle from Dominique Steele. Steele won the first round with aggressive striking and some impressive wrestling and top control, but cardio failed both fighters. Both Roberts and Steele were gassed by the midway point of the second round but Roberts managed to keep the fight upright and outstrike Steele to squeak by with a competitive decision victory. Roberts came through as a -340 favorite while Steele was +310. In a strawweight scrap, former champion Carla Esparza utilized her wrestling to take Juliana Lima down repeatedly over the course of three rounds to win a pretty one-sided and tepid decision. Esparza was -185 while Lima was a +170 underdog. In a lightweight fight, James Vick bounced back from a rough first round against prospect Gleico Franca to outstrike his Brazilian opponent in the final two rounds and win a unanimous decision to remain undefeated. Vick was victorious as a -190 favorite while Franca was +175. In a light heavyweight contest, Marcos Rogerio de Lima dominated Clint Hester. Hester was moving up to 205 pounds but de Lima refused to give him a warm welcome to the division, instead blasting him with a counter to drop the TUF veteran then hammering away with ground and pound before securing a fight-ending arm triangle on the canvas. De Lima held serve as a -115 favorite while Hester was a +105 underdog. In the opening bout of the evening, Lightweights Efrain Escudero and Kevin Lee duked it out in a competitive three round affair. Escudero held his own early, scoring a few takedowns and hanging with Lee on the feet but Lee came on strong late with a dominant third round which helped him take a close decision. Lee closed as a massive -345 betting favorite while Escudero was +315. Underdogs That Won In a lightweight bout, Edson Barboza took the fight to former champion Anthony Pettis to score the biggest victory of his career. Barboza hammered away with low kicks, landed crisp jabs and simply outworked Pettis from bell to bell to take a very impressive decision victory on all three judges’ scorecards. Barboza was the winner despite being a +170 underdog while Pettis lost as a -185 favorite. In a heavyweight contest, Cody East looked to be in control against Walt Harris with solid kicks and striking exchanges, but a huge right hand dropped the UFC newcomer. East tried to hold on but Harris hammered away with ground strikes until the referee put a halt to the action. Harris was a +165 underdog while East closed as a -175 favorite. Pick ’em Fights In the opening bout of the pay-per-view main card, Yair Rodriguez cemented his top prospect status by completely and utterly crushing Andre Fili. Rodriguez was in top position for a majority of the first round before landing a devastating switch kick to the face that put Fili’s lights out in the second round in the most impressive finish of the night. Both fighters closed at dead even -105 pick ’em odds.
