UFC returned for a televised event last night (Saturday, December 10th, 2016). The card was headlined by an interim featherweight title bout between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis. All in all, five favorites won, while seven upsets occurred. Here’s how everything played out based on the Several Bookmakers closing odds: Favorites That Won In the main event of the evening, Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis duked it out for the interim UFC featherweight title, although only Holloway could win the belt due to Pettis missing weight. Both men landed some decent strikes in a rather dull affair over the first half of the fight, but Holloway kicked it up a notch at the end of the third round, stunning Pettis with some combinations and then absolutely unloading on the former champ along the fence until he wilted and the fight was stopped with 10 seconds left in the frame. Holloway was victorious as a -290 (Bet $290 to win $100) betting favorite while Pettis lost as a +260 underdog. In a welterweight co-main event, Donald Cerrone and Matt Brown beat the tar out of each other, landing huge shots and dropping each other in the first two rounds before Cerrone landed a perfect head kick which knocked Brown out cold. Cerrone was victorious as a -290 favorite while Brown lost at +260. In a lightweight contest, Olivier Aubin-Mercier showcased improved striking ability in the first round against Drew Dober, then survived an early second round knockdown to both sweep Dober and then submit him via rear naked choke. Aubin-Mercier picked up the win as a -175 favorite while Dober lost as a +165 underdog. In a lightweight bout, Lando Vannata made quick work of John Makdessi, landing a beautiful spinning kick to the face to put Makdessi’s lights out early in the first round. Vannata was victorious as a -150 favorite while Makdessi lost at +140. In a lightweight fight, Rustam Khabilov outmuscled Jason Saggo with his superior wrestling, strength and aggression to win the stand-up exchanges as well as securing top position on the ground to easily win a unanimous decision, winning all three rounds. Khabilov won as a -210 favorite while Saggo was +190. Underdogs That Won In a featherweight war, Dooho Choi and Cub Swanson put on a fight for the ages. Choi started strong with a technically sound first round, but he got caught early in the second frame and both men absolutely laid into each other over the final 10 minutes in a barnburner that will be a serious contender for Fight of the Year honors. Swanson got the better of the final two rounds, particularly a brutal last 10 seconds which saw him pull away and earn a unanimous decision. Swanson closed as a +205 (Bet $100 to win $205) underdog while Choi was a -225 betting favorite. In a middleweight bout, Tim Kennedy repeatedly looked for takedowns against Kelvin Gastelum, but ate way too many punches in the process. Kennedy ran out of steam in the second round and was eventually put away as Gastelum repeatedly found a home for his powerful hands. Gastelum pulled out the win as a +110 underdog while Kennedy was -120. In a welterweight battle, Jordan Mein started strong against Emil Meek, but just like in the past before he returned from retirement, his conditioning failed him again as he gassed out in the second round and spent the majority of the final two frames on his back en route to losing a decision. Meek was a +155 dog while Mein was -165. In a light heavyweight scrap, Misha Cirkunov showcased some heavy hands and a strong ground game against Nikita Krylov. Krylov escaped several takedowns from Cirkunov in the first round, but was unable to squirm free after getting rocked with a right hand and then guillotine choked. Cirkunov was a slight +100 underdog while Krylov was -110. In a women’s strawweight fight, Valerie Letourneau started strong against Viviane Periera but then slowed her output considerably, allowing the UFC newcomer to score a second round takedown and increase her tempo in the final two rounds to steal a very close split decision victory. Pereira was +105 while Latourneau was a -115 favorite. In a bantamweight contest, Mitch Gagnon gave it his best shot in the first round against Matthew Lopez, nearly finishing the fight, but he ran out of steam down the stretch and was outworked in the final two rounds to allow Lopez to earn the decision. Lopez was a +115 underdog while Gagnon was -125. In the opening bout of the evening, flyweights Dustin Ortiz and Zach Makovsky threw down in an entertaining back-and-forth brawl. Much of the fight took place on the canvas, and Ortiz was able to outmuscle Makovsky to win most scrambles and secure superior position. The fight was close, but Ortiz clearly did enough to win a split decision. Ortiz was a +115 underdog while Makovsky was -125.
