Initial Gambling Reaction to UFC 85

by Mike Fagan on Jun 7, 2008 7:46 PM EDT

Gonna talk about the fights I listed in the pre-fight article.

Thiago Alves vs. Matt Hughes - Thiago looked very impressive here. He looked physically bigger than Hughes, and as if he was able to simply power out of Matt's straight shots. In addition to his usual superb striking, he showed very good GNP.

I think this fight displays that Hughes' best days are behind him, but I'm not sure he's "done." Outside of Alves, I think only Fitch or GSP is going to match him in size. Still, after the Serra fight, I'm not sure how many more interesting fights are left for him.

In retrospect, you could probably take Alves on any positive number and maybe up to something like -125.

Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick - From the pre-fight article: " Swick's height and reach could give him trouble though.". Swick was able to strike effectively from the outside, and was able to control in the clinch with the Thai plum (though Davis used some good dirty boxing).

Swick just looked a lot better this time around at 170, especially physically. Swick was the right side here.

Brandon Vera vs. Fabricio Werdum - So, I recommended a play on Vera at -170, but I didn't personally bet it AND I almost was able to get Werdum at +200 (I apparently missed it by a few minutes). It's hard to really analyze a fight that ended like it did.

Werdum really showed the advantage he had on the ground and with his size on the feet. I think anything at +170 or above has definite value. I also think Vera needs to give up his HW pipe dream and drop to 205.

Nate Marquardt vs. Thales Leites - This is the defintion of a bad beat. Nate controlled (and dominated at times) this fight for 13 out of 15 minutes. The point deduction for striking the back of the head was awful. There really isn't much else to say. Nate was the right side, especially where I had him at -175.

[UPDATE] by Nick Thomas:

Plus UFC 85's 'Of the Night' awards:
Knockout of the Night ($50,000): Thiago Alves
Submission of the Night ($50,000): Kevin Burns
Fight of the Night ($50,000/each): Matt Wiman and Thiago Tavares

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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Comments

Nate’s piledriver…

by Nick Thomas on Jun 7, 2008 10:54 PM EDT reply actions

... that was illegal right? I kind of freaked out when it happened. And then they shrugged it off so I just got more confused.

by Gong on Jun 8, 2008 12:21 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm pretty sure...

“spiking” is illegal. So I was kind of shocked too.

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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 8, 2008 12:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Spiking is definitely illegal. Though, I must say that looked more awkward than anything.

Intentional Blog on Balls

by Richard Wade on Jun 8, 2008 2:26 AM EDT up reply actions

...Wiman should have gotten the ko of the night. He actually knocked tavares completely out. I suppose getting fight of the night kept them from giving him two bonuses, though.

by Kierkegaard on Jun 8, 2008 10:06 AM EDT reply actions

I agree that Nate kind of got the short end of the stick. I had the first round 10-9 Leites, second 10-9 Nate, and third 9-9 due to the point deduction. Should have been a draw.

by pud333 on Jun 8, 2008 12:43 PM EDT reply actions

So never mind. Just watched the fight again and somehow I missed that Nate got a point deducted in the second. I guess Nate got the result he deserved. Too bad, cause he was doing well in the latter two rounds. Some vicious GnP.

by pud333 on Jun 8, 2008 2:04 PM EDT up reply actions