UFC 172 Date: April 26, 2014 Arena: Baltimore Arena City: Baltimore, MD Your Best Bets For UFC 172’s ‘Fight of the Night’ UFC 172 will be live from Baltimore tonight on Pay Per View starting at 10pm ET. After the fights have concluded, 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 172, you may do so at Several Bookmakerss. I think the best value plays for this bonus are: Fili/Holloway +325 — I believe this is the fight on the entire card that has the greatest chance of taking home the award. Unless Fili decides to turn this into a full-on wrestling match, it’s hard to imagine this fight being anything short of exciting. An early finish is always a possibility in any fight, but considering how durable these featherweights are, I think the chances of that happening here are slim. At the very least, I would expect a few minutes if fireworks before a mid-to-late first round finish. That said, I am expecting this contest to play out for all 15 minutes en route to the judges’ scorecards for a decision, and I am expecting a very entertaining three rounds. In Fili and Holloway, you have two featherweights who have no idea what it means to be in a boring fight. Every time they step inside the cage, they look to put on a show, as well as pick up the win. This will be the sixth Octagon appearance for Holloway, while it is only the second for Fili. Neither of them have yet to earn ‘Fight of the Night’ honors, and there’s a great chance that this may be their night. Benavidez/Elliott +525 — This is a fight I believe will play out for all 15 minutes much more often than not, and just about every time, I think it would be a fun fight. Both flyweights are coming off losses, so they will be motivated to get a win. I can’t remember the last time I saw either of these 125 pounders in a fight I thought was boring. Win or lose, they always come to fight. They’re both wrestlers who like to move forward and do damage, so it should be fun to see this fight play out. This will mark the ninth Octagon appearance for Benavidez, while it is only fifth for Elliott, who picked up ‘Fight of the Night’ honors for his fight against Jared Papazian. It is the only ‘Fight of the Night’ he has earned in his UFC tenure, but it is still one more than Benavidez has taken home. Vallie-Flagg/Gomi +800 — It is always great watching Takanori Gomi fight. He always shows up ready for action, and is always looking to land one of his bombs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg is a guy with a ton of heart and absolutely no quit in him. Every time he steps inside a cage, he leaves everything he has in there. He is not the most talented fighter, but he gives it everything he’s got. If he decides to abort a wrestling game and opts to stand and trade with Gomi, this could prove to be a very exciting 15 minutes of action. He would likely lose a decision, but he would not be out of the fight, and would have a great chance of taking home a bonus. Gomi has already notched ‘Fight of the Night’ honors once, in his split decision win over Mac Danzig. Vallie-Flagg, however has yet to earn a bonus, but his third time inside the Octagon may be the charm.
