MMA Odds: UFC 139 Betting Preview

by admin

November 15, 2011

After more than a two-year absence Dan Henderson will make his return to the Octagon this Saturday night at UFC 139 in a Light Heavyweight contender match against former champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Sportsbooks are offering MMA betting fans action on seven fights from the card, including an interesting co-main event between former WEC champions Urijah Faber and Brian Bowles.

41-year-old Henderson returns to the UFC following a stunning knockout over MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko in July. Like many Pride imports Henderson found little success in the UFC going 2-3 in his last stint with the promotion.

It’s hard to imagine that his impact with be any better than it was two years ago. As a UFC odds +120 underdog at 5Dimes the payout on “Hendo” doesn’t look to be enough return for the upset risk.

Rua is considered one of the top-ten pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He possesses lethal striking and solid jiu-jitsu skills and until Jon Jones came along it looked like Rua would rule the Light Heavyweight division.

As the Bodog Sportsbook -125 favorite, the UFC odds on “Shogun” are coming cheap in this fight.

The co-main event looks to be offering some more MMA betting hype value on a fighter with a famous name. Urijah Faber is handicapped as a -210 favorite at Bodog Sportsbook over Brian Bowles, whose only career loss was to UFC Bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz.

Faber has not been the dominate fighter he was in the past, and at +190 at 5Dimes the upset bet on the Bowles win looks like the easy choice.

Other action on the UFC 139 fight card includes;

Martin Kampmann (+115 Bodog Sportsbook) vs. Rick Story (-130 5Dimes)
Chris Weidman (-360 5Dimes) vs. Tom Lawlor (+300 5Dimes)
Cung Lee (-140 5Dimes) vs. Wanderlei Silva (+120 5DIMES)
Kyle Kingsbury (-130 5Dimes) vs. Stephan Bonnar (EV 5Dimes)
Jason Brilz (+250 5Dimes) vs. Ryan Bader (-325 5Dimes)