Your Best Bets for UFC 169’s ‘Fight of the Night’ UFC 169 airs live tonight (Feb. 1, 2014) from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, with 12 scheduled bouts including a five card Pay-Per-View main card that is sure to produce fireworks. After the fights conclude, the UFC will be awarding a $50,000 ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus for the most exciting bout of the evening. To place a wager on this prop, or any others for UFC 169, you may do so at Several Bookmakerss. I believe the top contenders for this prize are: Faber/Barao +200 — This is a rematch of a fight that was very uneventful; a very lackluster 25 minute affair. Faber had a broken rib going into that bout, so he was more conservative than you would expect. I believe this rematch will be more entertaining than their initial meeting, and do believe it has a very good chance of taking home the bonus, but keeping in mind how dull the first fight was, I don’t think the +200 line warrants a bet. They each own one ‘Fight of the Night’ award, so if they clash in a memorable fight, this will be the second time for both of them. Bagautinov/Lineker +300 — This is my favorite to take home the award, and it is no secret that Dana White favors flyweights (as well as heavyweights, and womens fights). Both of these flyweights are tough as hell and hard to put away. Whether this fight lasts one minute or all 15, I can’t see it lacking excitement. I just don’t see Lineker being in a boring fight, though there is a chance Bagautinov may try to make it one by moving around too much and not engaging enough in the striking. That said, I think both of these guys are going to slug it out. Knowing a title shot is on the line, I expect them to leave it all in the cage. This would mean the first ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus for Bagautinov, and the second for Lineker, who earned one in his UFC debut. Trujillo/Varner +470 — This should be a very good fight between a pair of talented lightweights, and I don’t see how it won’t be. They are both talented strikers with wrestling backgrounds, but I give the striking edge to Trujillo and the wrestling edge to Varner. I think Trujillo will find success in keeping this fight on the feet, where I expect a majority of it to take place. This really should be a fun fight, regardless of however long it lasts, and at +470, I can’t fault anybody for making a play. Varner already owns one ‘Fight of the Night’ award for his war with Joe Lauzon, while Trujillo owns none. I believe those are your three best bets to take home the bonus. I think the dark horse is Enz/Hester +2000, but I am not touching it. In fact, I will only be personally playing Bagautinov/Lineker +300, so if you’re also looking to just pick one fight, then that would be my recommendation.
