UFC 181 Date: December 6, 2014 Arena: Mandalay Bay Events Center City: Las Vegas, NV The Ultimate Fighting Championship will be live from Las Vegas this Saturday night with UFC 181, which will be headlined by a pair of title fights. The main card will be live on Pay Per View at 10pm ET, with preliminary action preceding it on FOX Sports 1 at 8pm ET and UFC Fight Pass at 7pm ET. To place a wager on this prop, or any others for UFC 181, you may do so at Several Bookmakerss. I believe these UFC 181 contenders hold the most value: Pettis/Melendez +300 — On a card filled with potentially great bouts from top to bottom, I think this fight has the best chance of taking home the evening’s ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus. Pettis and Melendez are arguably the two most entertaining lightweights in a division stacked with entertaining lightweights. They are two fighters who always give it everything they have in every fight, and are always looking for the win, which is what is most important to them. I think pairing them inside the Octagon together is a recipe for fireworks. This 155 pound title scrap is expected to be a real barn-burner and potentially an instant classic. Every fight fan on the planet is looking forward to this one and they will all be glued to their seats with eyes peeled when Bruce Buffer makes the introductions and scatters out of the cage. Should these two take home the evening’s bonus, it would mean the first time for the current champion Pettis, while being the second for the challenger Melendez, who earned his first for his last three round brawl with Diego Sanchez, whom he defeated via unanimous decision. Melendez vs Sanchez, along with Jones vs Gustafsson were considered to two best fights of 2013. At the current betting line of +300, I think there is enough value to warrant a play. I was expecting +150, so this line is a gift, even though it is far from being close to a sure thing, because I already said, this card is just stacked with fights that have the potential to blow the roof off the house. Gordon-Samman +600 — While I think Pettis vs Melendez has the best chance of taking home the bonus, Gordon vs Samman is my actual pick of being ‘Fight of the Night’ because I think these two are going to produce the most exciting bout of the night when they clash in Las Vegas on Saturday night. I think they will both throw caution to the wind and look for the finish from the opening bell, but I don’t think they will find it, as I expect both of their toughness, hearts, and chins to hold up and get them through the exchanges and potential trouble. Regardless of how long this 185 pound scrap lasts, I think it is going to prove to be quite an entertaining one. I was hoping to get a better line on it than +600, but even the books know that this is going to be a real fight for the fans. That said, 6-to-1 underdog odds carries enough value to pull a trigger on what I think will be the most entertaining fight of the night, although I think politics may give the bonus to Melendez vs Pettis or another main card bout if they prove to be half as entertaining as this one. Should these two take home the evening’s bonus, it would mean the first time for both middleweights, who will each be appearing for the second time inside the Octagon. Evans-Smith/Pennington +1500 — I think this is the one fight on the entire UFC 181 fight card that offers the most betting value. It is no secret that Dana White favors women’s bouts and it’s probably no secret that Evans-Smith and Pennington are two women’s bantamweights who can and do throw down. Toughness is a trait both of these ladies have, but it is not all they have going for them, as they are both very skilled in their own rights. When they collide inside the Octagon on Saturday night in Las Vegas, I believe they will both give it everything they’ve got and leave it all inside the cage. I do expect this to be a very fun fight and believe there is great value in it at +1500 so it would be tough to make a pass. Should these women’s 135 pounders take home the evening’s ‘Fight of the Night’ honors, it would of course mean the first time for Evans-Smith who is making her promotional debut, but it would also be the first for two time UFC veteran Pennington, who won ‘Fight of the Season’ for her fight against Jessamyn Duke during the 18th season of The Ultimate Fighter. She won the fight via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards after three hard-fought, closely contested rounds of action.
