UFC 185 Date: 03/14/15 Arena: American Airlines Center City: Dallas, TX The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to Dallas, TX tonight (Mar. 14, 2015) 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 FX at 8pm and UFC Fight Pass at 6:30pm before that. If interested in wagering on these props, or any other for this fight card, all lines will be made available to you at Several Bookmakerss. I believe these UFC 185 ‘FOTN’ contenders hold the most value: Esparza/Jedrzejczyk +450 — I am expecting this to be a war! In this true, classic “grappler vs striker” match-up, Esparza will be looking to make her very first UFC Strawweight title defense against the undefeated Polish challenger who is 2-0 in her Octagon career. Esparza could sometimes appear “boring” with her top-game-heavy style of fighting, but stylistically, I think this is going to be an entertaining fight, mostly due to the Pole’s solid striking skills and ability to keep the fight on the feet. I think this is a fight that will come down to how many takedowns Esparza can get versus how takedowns “JJ” can defend. Regardless of the outcome to this ladies’ scrap, I think more often than not they fight their hearts out for a closely-contested 25-minutes of action and await a decision from the judges’ at Octagon-side. I am expected a fun, five-round fight between these two, and I think it will be a real chess match. Should these women’s 115-pounders take home the evening’s ‘Fight of the Night’ honors, it would be the first time for both of them. Benoit/Pettis +900 — As long as there is no very early finish, I think this could very well be the most entertaining fight of the entire UFC 185 fight card. I am also hoping that Pettis’ does not do what he often does with his “stick and move” stategies; he seems to have more of a point-scoring style, as opposed to his older brother Anthony, whose style is to finish. I expect Benoit will be the one moving forward in this fight and putting on the pressure, while Pettis moves around the Octagon and attempts to counter-strike. They are both generally fun fighters to watch but I think it will be Benoit who pushes the pace here and really makes it a truly entertaining fight. The co-main event probably has a better chance at taking home the bonus, but this is my favorite play for the prop, and the one I think holds the most value. I think these flyweights will produce a memorable fight more often than not, so even at the bottom of the preliminary card, I think it’s worth a play at its current betting tag of +900. Benoit took home ‘Fight of the Night’ honors for his bout against Josh Sampo in his Octagon debut, so should he earn the honors again tonight after his second UFC appearance, it would be his second in two fights, making him 100%. Pettis has appeared inside the Octagon four times and has taken home ‘Fight of the Night’ honors on two occasions, making him 50%. This would be his third in five fights.
