UFC 199 took place last night (Saturday, June 4, 2016) at The Forum in Inglewood, California, and was headlined by a UFC middleweight title bout between Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping. Overall from a betting perspective, seven favorites won while four underdogs came through, there was one pick ’em and one fight ended in a draw according to the closing odds at Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap for each bout. Favorites That Won In a bantamweight title fight, Dominick Cruz had a one-sided performance in his trilogy bout against Urijah Faber. Cruz hurt Faber multiple times, and scored several takedowns, but wasn’t quite able to put Faber away. That being said, Faber provided very little offense after getting dropped in the second round and the bout was pretty much over from that moment on as Cruz easily won a unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46). Cruz was a -365 (Bet $365 to win $100) favorite while Faber was a +328 (Bet $100 to win $328) underdog In a featherweight bout, Max Holloway put on a clinic against Ricardo Lamas, swarming “The Bully” with repeatedly combinations along the fence and outworking Lamas over the course of three rounds. Lamas had his moments, landing some heavy punches with his back against the fence in round two, but Holloway was the better man and easily walked away with a unanimous decision victory. Holloway closed as a -260 favorite while Lamas was a +240 underdog. In a lightweight battle, Dustin Poirier dominated Bobby Green, hurting the veteran multiple times on the feet but remaining patient and getting a TKO victory near the end of the first round. Poirier’s left hand was the deciding factor as he connected with it the entire fight en route to the first round stoppage. Poirier won at -178 while Green was a +167 dog. In a featherweight contest, Clay Guida looked like he might be about to pull off a stunning upset against heavily favored Brian Ortega after pushing a heavy pace and outworking the prospect on the feet. Everything got turned on its head in the final 30 seconds, however, as Ortega looked for a knockout and actually got one with a brutal knee which send Guida crashing to the canvas for a TKO. Ortega was -225 while Guida was +205. In a lightweight fight, Beneil Dariush overcame a pair of eye pokes to completely crush James Vick and hand the Texan his first loss. Dariush repeatedly found a home for his straight left hand, hurting Vick on multiple occasions, eventually finishing him with some heavy shots in the second half of the first frame. Dariush was victorious as a -135 favorite while Vick was +125. In a strawweight contest, Jessica Andrade put on a striking display against an overmatched Jessica Penne. Andrade was making her strawweight debut and battered Penne with repeated combinations, swarming her with unanswered shots. Penne tried to fight back but was overwhelmed and the ref put a halt to it in the second frame. Andrade held serve as a huge -125 favorite while Penne was a +115 underdog. In the opening bout of the evening, lightweights Polo Reyes and Dong Hyun “Maestro” Kim put on one of the most entertaining fights of the year. Reyes and Kim unloaded on each other over the first two rounds, nearly finishing the other on multiple occasions. Both men were exhausted but Reyes landed a big shot in the third round and put Kim out with a couple follow up strikes. Reyes closed as a slight -110 betting favorite while Kim was +100. Underdogs That Won In the main event of the evening, UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold kept his chin too high and Michael Bisping clipped him with a huge left hand to the chin which dropped him early. Rockhold tried to recover but was hit by another left hand which dropped him again and then finished with follow-up strikes to crown Bisping as the new UFC middleweight kingpin. Bisping won despite being a huge +570 underdog while Rockhold couldn’t defend his belt as a -705 betting favorite. In a middleweight fight, Dan Henderson pulled off a shocker, hurting Hector Lombard early, surviving a mid-first round blitz and then finishing Lombard in the second round. Henderson connected with a right head kick then knocked Lombard out cold with a back elbow and then a dropping elbow on the ground. Henderson won as a +280 underdog while Lombard was defeated at -310. In a featherweight contest, Alex Caceres put on the best performance of his career against Cole Miller on eight days notice. Caceres repeatedly hurt Miller in the first two rounds, but wasn’t able to finish him. Miller put forth a spirited effort in the third round, but he couldn’t submit Caceres and went on to lose a decision. Caceres was a +150 underdog while Miller lost as a -160 favorite. In a light heavyweight bout, Jonathan Wilson and Luiz Henrique da Silva had a very entertaining back-and-forth battle. Wilson seemed like he had da Silva on the ropes early, then started to fade. Despite being tired, Wilson dropped da Silva in the second round, but the Brazilian reversed the position and pounded away until the fight was stopped. Da Silva was victorious as a +150 underdog while Wilson came up short at -160. Pick ’em Fights In a welterweight contest, Tom Breese and Sean Strickland had an extremely competitive stand-up affair. Despite being grapplers, the bout remained on the feet for the first two and a half rounds as Strickland pressured from the cage center while Breese looked to land big straight left hands from the outside. It could have gone either way, but Strickland had a bit more left in the tank, finishing strong and walking away with a split decision victory. Both fighters were pick ’em at -105 at time of closing. Draws In a middleweight match-up, Kevin Casey and Elvis Mutapcic threw down for three straight rounds. Casey got the better of the ground, picking up a big takedown in both the first and second frames, but he ate some big shots at the end of the second round and then got beat up by Mutapcic in the third round, although he managed to hold on to the end of the bout. When it was all said and done, the judges ruled the fight a split draw (28-29, 29-28, 28-28). Mutapcic was a -135 favorite while Casey was +125.
