UFC Fight Night 82 took place last night (Saturday, February 6, 2016) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was headlined by a welterweight bout between Johny Hendricks and Stephen Thompson. Overall from a betting perspective, six favorites won while six underdogs came through according to the closing odds at Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap for each fight. Favorites That Won In the co-main event of the evening, heavyweight Roy Nelson was the aggressor against Jared Rosholt, avoiding the takedowns and holding the center of the Octagon en route to winning a pretty boring unanimous decision. Nelson was a -110 (Bet $110 to win $100) betting favorite and Rosholt was +100 (Bet $100 to win $100). In a light heavyweight contest, Ovince Saint Preux overcame an ankle injury to hurt Raphael Cavalcante multiple times on the feet and win a one-sided decision where it appeared the Brazilian simply gave up after being put on his back. Saint Preux was -400 while Cavalcante was a +355 dog. In a flyweight bout, Joseph Benavidez got the better of Zach Makovsky via superior striking ability over the course of three rounds. Makovsky managed some takedowns but couldn’t do much with them or keep Benavidez down for long as Benavidez would go on to win a unanimous decision. Benavidez was a -400 favorite while Makovsky was +355. In a light heavywight fight, Misha Cirkunov recorded a snuff film against Alex Nicholson. Cirkunov worked his striking in the first round, then took Nicholson down early in the second and forced the late injury replacement to tap with a brutal face crank which likely broke Nicholson’s jaw and forced a quick tap. Cirkunov came through as a -660 betting favorite underdog while Nicholson did nothing at +540. In a lightweight bout, Josh Burkman made a pretty solid debut in the division, simply outworking a very tepid KJ Noons, who never really opened up until it was too late in the third round. Burkman eventually walked away with a pretty one-sided unanimous decision. Burkman held serve as a -125 favorite while Noons was a +115 dog. In a welterweight bout, Mickey Gall earned his shot against CM Punk by obliterating Mike Jackson via first round submission. Gall dropped Jackson with a right hand against the fence then followed him to the canvas and attacked with a rear naked choke. Gall was victorious as a -525 favorite while Jackson was +450. Underdogs That Won In the main event of the evening, former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks got more than he could handle from an extremely game Stephen Thompson. Hendricks couldn’t take Thompson down with his first attempt, then froze and proceeded to eat a beautiful array of diverse strikes and combinations from Thompson. Eventually, Thompson unloaded on Hendricks along the fence and put him down with a nasty left hook to the chin to pick up the first round knockout. Thompson came through as the +248 underdog, while Hendricks failed to cash as the -270 favorite. In a welterweight contest, Mike Pyle overcame getting dropped in the first round to hurt Sean Spencer in the second and then finish him in the third in the final minute. The 40-year old Pyle still had something left in the tank against his significantly younger opponent. Pyle was victorious as a +140 underdog while Spencer was finished at -150. In a heavyweight bout, heavyweight Derrick Lewis dominated Damian Grabowski, securing top position and then battering the Polish fighter with heavy punches while dropping down from standing position. The referee eventually had seen enough and put a stop to it. Lewis was a slight +100 dog while Grabowski couldn’t win as a -110 favorite. In a flyweight contest, Justin Scoggins avoided Ray Borg’s scary ground game and put on a striking clinic with his superior karate style. Borg got more desperate as the fight continued and Scoggins was able to secure top position on the ground multiple times without giving up sweeps en route to winning a one-sided decision. Scoggins was a +167 underdog while Borg was -178. In a featherweight fight, Noad Lahat let his guard down for just a moment and that was all Diego Rivas needed to capitalize. Lahat dominated the first round with superior grappling and top control, but Rivas blasted him with a knee in the opening seconds of the second round to put the Israeli out cold. Rivas pulled it out as a +305 dog while Lahat couldn’t hold on as a -335 favorite. In the opening bout of the evening, Alex White showed serious improvement in a featherweight bout against Artem Lobov. Lobov was far too one dimensional, looking for the home run swing, while White picked him apart with combinations, distance strikes and occasional takedowns. It was a one-sided affair as White took all three rounds on all three judges’ scorecards. White was a +120 underdog while Lobov was -130.
