UFC announced a couple of new fights over this past weekend that obviously got overshadowed by what happened in the main event of UFC 167, so for today’s MMA Odds and Ends, I’ll give my initial thoughts on these new match-ups. The fight new fight I want to talk about is an upcoming middleweight bout between former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and Costa Philippou. This match-up will headline UFC Fight Night 35 next January in Georgia, and as such it is scheduled for five rounds. This is a good fight on paper, although I definitely don’t think it should be the main event of any card. I know Rockhold is a marketable guy and a very good fighter obviously, but coming off that nasty KO loss to Vitor Belfort, I’m not sure if he deserves to headline his own card. And as far as Philippou goes, there’s no way in hell he should be in any sort of main event after being grounded out by Francis Carmont at UFC 165. Regardless of what I think of the placement of the fight, it is a solid match-up between two fighters ranked in the top 15 of the division and it could end up being a fun one as both of these fighters have very good striking. However, I think if Rockhold is smart he will try and take this fight to the ground and look for a submission or just try and outgrapple Philippou like Carmont did. I like Rockhold in this spot, and I think he’ll open around -250, and deservedly so. With his injury history, who knows if this fight will actually end up happening, but if it does I will probably be looking to play Rockhold if I can get him at -250 or under. As for Philippou, maybe I’ll hedge on a KO prop on him, as I believe that’s the only way he wins this fight. And the second new match-up that was announced is a lightweight fight between Benson Henderson and Josh Thomson that will headline UFC on FOX 10. This is another five-round fight, but unlike the last fight between Rockhold and Philippou that probably ends inside the distance, I can definitely see Henderson and Thomson making it all five rounds and going to a very close decision on the scorecards. This is a really tough match-up to predict because both guys are so well rounded, but based on betting history I’d have to say that Henderson opens a favorite around -140, with the comeback on Thomson at about +110. I wouldn’t be shocked if the line did flip towards Thomson’s favor because there is some hype behind him coming off that head kick KO of Nate Diaz at UFC on FOX 7, but Henderson is a very complete fighter and matches up well against “The Punk,” and as the former UFC lightweight champ, he deserves to enter this fight as a slight fav.
