UFC Fight Night 68 took place earlier tonight (Saturday, June 6, 2015) at the Smoothie King Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was a very solid card overall, with a number of quick highlight-reel finishes on the main card and solid performances on the prelims. Overall from a betting perspective, six betting favorites were victorious while six underdogs won based on the closing odds at Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap for each fight. UFC Fight Night 68 Betting Favorites That Won In a lightweight bout, Dustin Poirier continued his resurgence in a new weight class with another impressive first round knockout victory, this time over Yancy Medeiros. Medeiros came into the bout nearly four pounds overweight and the hometown favorite Poirier punished him for it with some heavy strikes. Poirier closed at -250 (Bet $250 to win $100) while Medeiros closed at +230 (Bet $100 to win $230). In a bantamweight bout, Francisco Rivera scored a brutal first round stoppage against Alex Caceres. “Bruce Leroy” was no match for the power of Rivera, who cracked him early and put him down to earn the knockout victory. Rivera won at -135 while Caceres lost at +125. In a heavyweight bout, Shawn Jordan made a statement against Derrick Lewis in their rematch. Jordan had previously won a decision but both men threw heavy bombs this time around and Jordan connected with a beautiful kick in the second round to set up the finish via strikes early. Jordan was -110 while Lewis was +100. In welterweight action,Omari Akhmedov earned an injury TKO after one round against Brian Ebersole. Ebersole was game, but something was clearly wrong with his knee and despite gutting it to the end of the first frame, the veteran couldn’t continue and the fight was stopped. Ebersole also called it a career after the fight due to the significance of the injury. Akhmedov closed at -130 while Ebersole was a +120 dog. In lightweight bout, Chris Wade styled on Christos Giagos en route to winning a hard-earned unanimous decision victory. Giagos was the superior striker but he was no match for Wade’s elite wrestling, top control, throws and takedowns. Wade repeatedly took the fight to the canvas and kept it there and Giagos wasn’t able to get enough space to do any serious damage. Wade closed as a -165 favorite while Giagos was a +155 underdog. In the opening bout of the FS1 prelims, Joe Proctor pulled a rabbit out of his hat to score a submission victory over Justin Edwards with just five seconds left. He very well could have been down on the scorecards at that point but it wasn’t over until the fat lady sang and the technical submission allowed Proctor to get back into the good graces of the UFC. Proctor closed at -200 while Edwards finished at +185. UFC Fight Night 68 Betting Underdogs That Won In the main event of the evening, Dan Henderson proved he still had some gas left in the tank by absolutely destroying Tim Boetsch via first round knockout in just 28 seconds. The normally solid-chinned Boetsch couldn’t handle the insane pressure and volume of heavy blows from the former two-division Pride champ and succumbed to strikes. Henderson was a +165 underdog while Boetsch was a -175 favorite. In a heavyweight battle, Ben Rothwell survived an early surge from Matt Mitrione to pull off a surprising first round submission victory just two minutes into the fight. Mitrione was doing work in open space but Rothwell got a hold of him and didn’t let go of the front choke until it was over. Rothwell was victorious as +150 underdog while Mitrione lost at -160. In a featherweight contest, Brian Ortega gritted through an incredible fight to score a very late knockout victory against veteran Thiago Tavares. Tavares had a bad gash on his forehead but seemed on his way to winning the fight before getting caught with a big shot late in the third frame. It was a spectacular fight, but Ortega came through as a +130 underdog while Tavares was defeated at -140. In a bantamweight fight, Anthony Birchak scored an emphatic first round finish of Joe Soto to rebound nicely from his Octagon debut. Soto had fought for the title in his first UFC fight on short notice, but it was Birchak who landed a big shot to put the former Bellator champion away just 90 seconds into the first round. Birchak was +175 while Soto was -190. In a middleweight bout, Jake Collier shocked Ricardo Abreu via close split decision in a very competitive contest. It could have gone either way but the judges decided with the American when it was all said and done. Collier closed at +160 while Abreu lost at -170. In the opening bout of the evening, Jose Quinonez made quick work of Leonardo Morales in a bantamweight match-up of TUF Latin America veterans. Quinonez got the fight to the ground quickly and latched on a rear naked choke after taking back control to earn the tap at the midway point of the first round. Quinonez was +55 while Reis was -165.
