James Te Huna (+135) Profile: Te Huna (16-5) has won two straight fights at light heavyweight in the UFC and eight of nine overall, with his only loss during that stretch coming against rising star Alexander Gustafsson. He is 3-1 in the UFC, and his last two opponents have been knockout victims (Ricardo Romero and Aaron Rosa). The 30-year-old New Zealander won the Cage Fighting Championship Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Finals in 2009 before signing a contract with the UFC in 2010. He won his UFC debut against Igor Pokrajac via TKO before falling to Gustafsson by rear-naked choke submission at UFC 127, his first setback since losing to Hector Lombard in 2007. Brandon Vera (-165) Profile: Vera (12-5, 1 No-Contest) is coming off a unanimous decision victory against Eliot Marshall at UFC 137 after going 0-2-1 in his previous three bouts. He is just 3-3-1 at light heavyweight after previously fighting at heavyweight and has much more top-level experience than Te Huna. The only problem is that the 34-year-old Vera has not been very successful against big-name opponents, with all five of his losses coming against current light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, MMA legend Randy Couture, Keith Jardine, Fabricio Werdum and Tim Sylvia following an 8-0 start to his career. Vera’s biggest win came against Frank Mir at UFC 65 more than five years ago. Opening Odds Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas has Vera as a slight -165 favorite (bet $165 to win $100) while Te Huna is the +135 underdog (bet $100 to win $135). Vera’s experience is definitely a factor in this matchup despite the fact that he has not beaten a notable opponent in almost three years (Krzysztof Soszynski at UFC 102). The last time Te Huna was an underdog according to the UFC odds was against Gustafsson, and he looked the part in the submission loss. While Te Huna has some potential to win this fight, his lack of UFC experience could be the deciding factor.
