MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas has released the full main card betting odds for UFC Fight Night 55 at Several Bookmakers. Here’s a preview of the evening’s four-fight main card. Luke Rockhold vs. Michael Bisping The main event of UFC Fight Night 55 is a five-round middleweight bout between two of the best in the world, Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping. Rockhold is 2-1 in the UFC and coming off of devastating back-to-back Ws over Costa Philippou and Tim Boetsch, while Bisping recently returned to the win column with a TKO win over Cung Le, bouncing back from a surprising decision loss to Tim Kennedy prior to that. This is a great fight and should be quite entertaining, but I give Rockhold almost all of the advantages in the fight and have a very strong lean towards him to be the winner. Rockhold opened at -375, Bisping +265. Rockhold is now -400 and Bisping is at +325. I like Rockhold here and even at the current line of -400, I see value in parlaying him. Al Iaquinta vs. Ross Pearson The co-main event is a three-round lightweight bout between Al Iaquinta and Ross Pearson. This should be a fun fight, and could be Fight of the Night. Iaquinta is coming off of a TKO win over Rodrigo Damm and is 3-2 overall in the UFC, but don’t forget he’s one loss removed to Mitch Clarke. As for Pearson, he knocked out Gray Maynard in his last fight and is overall 8-4, 1 NC in the UFC. This is a good fight between two evenly-matched fighter, and I am very much looking forward to it. Pearson opened at -135, Iaquinta -105. Pearson is now -190 while Iaquinta is a +150. This should be a fairly competitive fight but I like Pearson here, and I think the movement in his direction makes sense. Rober Whittaker vs. Clint Hester In a middleweight bout, Robert Whittaker takes on Clint Hester. Whittaker won his last fight against Mike Rhodes in nearby New Zealand, but for whatever reason is moving up to 185lbs, a move that I’m not sure is the best for him. As for Hester, he has won four in a row in the UFC and seven in a row overall. I thought the UFC would give Hester a contender, and I’m unsure why he’s taking on Whittaker in this matchup considering it’s a battle of one of the biggest 185ers in the UFC against one of the smallest. As well, Whittaker has struggled in the UFC while Hester is undefeated at this level. It’s just weird matchmaking in general, and I’m unsure why Whittaker moved up in weight to take this fight. Hester opened at -150, Whittaker +110. Hester is now -165 while Whittaker is +125. The strange matchmaking throws me off a bit, but I definitely lean towards Hester in this fight, and I think there might be value on him at -165. Soa Palalei vs. Walt Harris And finally, a heavyweight battle between Soa Palelei and Walt Harris opens up the card. Palelei is coming into this fight off of a loss to Jared Rosholt that snapped a long winning streak, while Harris recently knocked out DJ Linderman to get another shot in the UFC. Palalei is the hometown fighter in the spot, and he has had a full training camp for this fight, while Harris is taking it on short notice. Palelei has the size advantage and has the better ground game, but Harris is younger and faster and has a much better standup game. However, Harris also took the fight on short notice, and in his previous stint in the UFC did not look like he belonged at this level of the sport. For what it is should be a pretty entertaining bout, one that is not likely to make it the full 15 minutes. Palalei opened at -165, Harris +125, and so far there has been no change in the line. I agree that Palalei should be a slight favorite here, but I actually lean Harris at dog money for my pick here.
