UFC on FX 8 event turned into be a great event that was highlighted by the main event which featured one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history. Overall, betting favorites went 10-2, while one fight was a true Pick ’em at time of line closing. Below if a recap of the event based on the closing odds at Several Bookmakers. UFC Betting Favorites That Won In the main event of the evening, Vitor Belfort knocked out Luke Rockhold with a spinning wheel kick and follow-up punches to produce one of the greatest highlight-reel finishes in the history of the sport. The two fighters spent the first few minutes judging each other’s distance but eventually Belfort found his range and threw a spinning wheel kick out of nowhere that knocked Rockhold to the ground and then he finished it off with strikes. Belfort and Rockhold each closed at -105 (bet $105 to win $100) in what was a Pick ’em fight only on paper. In the co-main event of the evening, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza did what most expected him to do and submitted an outmatched Chris Camozzi early in round one to win in his UFC debut. All credit goes to Camozzi for taking the fight on short notice, but the bout was a mismatch from the get-go and it played out that way in the ring as Souza won with a beautiful arm-triangle choke. Souza closed at -600, while Camozzi closed at +500. In a lightweight bout, Rafael Dos Anjos won a controversial unanimous decision over Evan Dunham, all three judges scoring it 29-28. The Twitter world was generally in agreement that Dunham should have deserved the nod 29-28, and UFC president Dana White agreed as he tweeted that he believed Dunham had been robbed by the judges. The bout was most definitely competitive but Dunham should have earned the victory and hopefully the UFC does the right thing and pays him his win bonus. Regardless, Dos Anjos cashed as a -210 favorite, while Dunham was a +190 underdog. In a middleweight bout, Rafael “Sapo” Natal earned a unanimous decision win over Joao Zeferino, the judges scoring it 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28 in his favor. Although Zeferino appeared to have taken the first round, Natal clearly took rounds two and three and deserved the win. Natal closed as a -300 favorite, while Zeferino was a +270 underdog. In a lightweight bout, Francisco Trinaldo submitted Mike Rio with an arm-triangle choke from half guard to win his third fight in the UFC. Although Rio got the early takedown, Trinaldo started to take over and used his strength to tap Rio out with an impressive submission. Trinaldo closed at -320, while Rio closed at +290. In another lightweight bout, Gleison Tibau defeated John Cholish via second-round submission. Tibau controlled the entirety of the fight against an undersized Cholish and eventually was able to get him to the mat and sink in a beautiful arm-in guillotine choke. The veteran Tibau closed at -255, while Cholish closed at +235. Cholish, by the way, tweeted earlier today that he would retire win, lose, or draw, so good luck to him in his future endeavours. In a welterweight bout, veteran Paulo Thiago squeaked by Michel Prazeres to win a unanimous decision 29-28 across the board. The fight was razor thin but a late takdown by Thiago sealed it for him. Thiago closed at -190, while Prazeres closed at +175. In a bantamweight bout, Yuri Alcantara dominated Iliarde Santos en route to a first-round TKO win. Santos was completely outmatched in this fight by the much bigger Alcantara and it’s no surprise he lost, as Alcantara was one of the biggest favorites on the card. Alcantara closed at -525, while Santos closed at +450. In a light heavyweight bout, Fabio Maldonado defeated Roger Hollett via unanimous decision, with each judge scoring it 29-28 for the Brazilian. Hollett took round one with his wrestling but rounds two and three were all Maldonado as he absolutely punished Hollett’s body with brutal strikes, although he was never able to finish the Canadian. Maldonado closed at -265, while Hollett closed at +245. In a flyweight bout, Jussier Formiga defeated Chris Cariaso via unanimous decision with all three judges scoring it 29-28. Formiga easily won the first two round with his superior control but Carisao had a late rally and nearly finished Formiga in round three. But at the end of three rounds it was Formiga’s first and he deserved the win. The Brazilian closed at -165, while Cariaso closed at +155. In the “Fight of the Night,” lightweight Lucas Martins came back from being down two rounds on the scorecards to knock out Jeremy Larsen early in round with with a beautifully-timed counter punch. The fight was extremely exciting and the knockout came out of nowhere so hopefully the UFC gives Larsen another fight while Martins will hopefully be matched up against another striker the next time out. Martins closed at -305, while Larsen closed at +285. UFC Betting Underdogs That Won In a featherweight bout, Nik Lentz defeated Hacran Dias via unanimous decision, the judges scoring the bout 29-28, 29-28, and 28-27 in Lentz’ favor. Lentz easily took the first two rounds with his impressive grappling but Dias came out like a bat out of hell in round three and stole the third and final stanza. However, it wasn’t enough and Lentz won his third-straight fight as a 145 pounder. Lentz closed at +100, while Dias closed at -110. In a flyweight bout, John Lineker defeated Azamat Gashimov via second-round TKO after some brutal strikes to the body. The fight was all Lineker from the get-go and it’s surprising he wasn’t favored more, but the public came in on Gashimov late and the lines flipped so much that Lineker became the underdog. Lineker closed at +105, while Gashimov closed at -115.
