Early Look into the UFC 185 Main Card on Pay Per View

Henry CejudoThe Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to Dallas, TX on March 14th with UFC 185, featuring an action-packed fight card that includes two championship bouts. The main card gets underway at 10pm ET on Pay Per View, with preliminary action getting going on FOX Sports 1 at 8pm and UFC Fight Pass at 6:30pm before that. If interested in wagering on any of the contests on this fight card, all betting lines will be made available at Several Bookmakerss. Kicking things off for the UFC 185 main card on Pay Per View will be a flyweight contest between veteran Chris Cariaso and Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo. After picking up a win against Dustin Kimura at 135 pounds in his promotional debut, Cejudo has been granted another opportunity to make a run in the flyweight division. The 28-year-old was initially set to make his Octagon debut at 125 pounds against Scott Jorgensen but had issues making weight and the match-up was ultimately canceled. That was the third time in Cejudo’s professional mixed martial arts career that he had missed weight (two other times under the Legacy FC banner) so the promotion told him he had to move up to bantamweight if he planned on competing in the UFC. Greeting Cejudo at 125-pounds will be former bantamweight Cariaso, who is coming off a title fight in which he came up short against UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, losing the bout via submission (kimura) in the second round of action. Prior to the defeat, Cariaso was on a three-fight run and now looks to return to his winning ways against the Olympic gold medalist, who is eager to pick up his first win in the UFC’s flyweight division. Cejudo opened as a -475 betting favorite in this contest, with Cariaso being an underdog at +325. Action has since come in on the favorite, making current betting lines -550/+425. The next bout on the UFC 185 main card comes in the heavyweight division and will see veterans Roy “Big Country” Nelson and Alistair “The Reem” Overeem go to war. It is a rare “winner vs loser” match-up, considering Nelson is coming off a knockout loss to Mark Hunt, while Overeem is coming off a knockout win over Stefan Struve. “The Reem” opened as a -190 favorite in this contest, with “Big Country” being the betting underdog at +150. There has been some back-and-forth action, but the public has mostly sided with Overeem, bringing betting lines to a current -220/+180. Next up on the UFC 185 Pay Per View card sandwiched between Cejudo vs Cariaso, Nelson vs Overeem and a pair of title fights is a championship-caliber match-up between top welterweight Matt “The Immortal” Brown and former UFC Welterweight Champion Johny “Bigg Rigg” Hendricks. Both 170-pounders are coming off decision defeats to the same man in their latest outings: current UFC Welterweight Champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler. An impressive victory by either Brown or Hendricks would not only get them back into the win column, but would likely set them up to take on the winner of the upcoming championship tilt between Lawler and current #1 challenger Rory MacDonald. This is a very important fight for both welterweights, and it will be the first time in a long time they have to prepare for a three round contest, instead of the main event five. Hendricks opened as the betting favorite at the sportsbooks in this contest at -270, with Brown being the underdog at +190. There has since been plenty of back-and-forth action, but the public has mostly backed the former champ, as current betting lines are -325/+265. The co-main event of the evening sees UFC Strawweight Champion Carla Esparza make her first official title defense against Polish challenger Joanna Jedrzejczyk. These ladies 115-pounder are full of heart and will leave it all inside the Octagon, ultimately proving their infant division belongs. Esparza opened as a -185 betting favorite in this contest, with the return on the underdog contender being +145. Slight action has come in favor of the Polish challenger, making current betting lines -160/+140. Anthony “Showtime” Pettis headlines the main event of the evening, and up for grabs is his UFC Lightweight crown. Reaching out for it and challenging his thrown is long-time Octagon veteran Rafael dos Anjos. The Brazilian rides an impressive three fight winning streak and is 8-1 in his last nine. He firmly believes it is his time to be the champ. Many may disagree with him, but none more strongly than Pettis. “Showtime” feels he is capable of finishing every man on the UFC’s lightweight roster and thinks the only way one could defeat him is to grind him out for a decision. Coming off back-to-back submission victories over Benson Henderson and Gilbert Melendez, regardless of the outcome of his March 14th bout, Pettis aims to successfully make his second official title defense. The Champion opened as a -350 favorite to win at the sportsbooks, with the challenger being a +250 underdog. The public has backed the champ, and current betting lines are -440/+350.

Written by Gabe Killian

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