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[UFC 136]

I know there are a few guys who follow MMA/UFC on blonde so I thought a dedicated thread could work.

UFC 136 tonight and it's going to be a cracker, can't wait til start time. A few years back when the British bookmakers started accepting MMA bets their prices were all over the place and anyone with a decent knowledge of the sport could pick off the value easily. Nowadays they are a little more clued up but you can still find the value and Ladbrokes are relatively new to the field and seemed to be best price about a lot of stuff.

The main event is the third fight between the lightweight champ Frankie Edgar and the undefeated Gray Maynard with Maynard having decisioned Edgar in 2008 with the other fight ending in a draw earlier this year. The second fight ranks up there as one of the top fights of recent times and hopefully this fight is as good. Picking a winner is tough and the experts' opinions are divided but IMO the champion Edgar grinds out a decision win by using his defensive wrestling to keep it standing and simply outworking Maynard on the feet. Edgar could go for 50 rounds never mind 5 and the drawn fight this year showed that as he got stronger as the fight went on after being in serious trouble early.

Neither man is a known finisher, Edgar doesn't have KO power and Maynard is known as a grinder who was overlooked previously for a title shot due to his unflattering style. Edgar has 8 of 13 career victories by way of decision and Maynard has 8 of 10, stats which kind of tell their own story. My feeling is, if it goes to points, which is extremely likely, then Edgar is the far more likely winner. Edgar is 11/8 with Ladbrokes to win by decision whilst it is odds on in most other places with one other touching evens. Betfair are better priced than Ladbrokes but that rules out multiples.

Another bet I like for this evening is in another rematch, that of Nam Phan and Leonard Garcia. Garcia won their first fight in controversial fashion with most thinking Phan had won the decision only for Garcia to have his hand raised. Due to that I think the market is way off this time and Phan has been made a clear favourite. Garcia took the last fight on 8 days notice and had to drop 30 pounds in that time to make weight, this time he's had longer and should be better prepared. For sure it is going to be a close fight again but Garcia isn't the 2/1 shot that Bet365 have him and I'll have to get involved.

Joey Beltran welcomes Stipe Miocic to the UFC who I must admit to have never having seen fight. Miocic has been a bunch of cans on his way to amassing his 6-0 record and the UFC is a whole different game. Whilst Miocic might be a world-beater I doubt it so I've dabbled in small stakes on Beltran at 9/4 who is an exciting fighter who likes to trade punches.

Elsewhere I like a bunch of the favourites: Pettis (4/11), Maia (4/11), Guillard (1/3), Sonnen (2/5) and Aldo (4/11).

UFC 136 bets

Frankie Edgar by decision @ 11/8 (Ladbrokes)
Leonard Garcia @ 2/1 (Bet365)
Joey Beltran @ 9/4 (Bet365)
Demian Maia by submission @ 11/4 (PP)

Anyone else got an opinion on tonight?

Good idea.
Now I'm back, maybe we could resurrect this old beauty;
http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=20685.msg420129;topicseen#msg420129

[Bold]

A long time ago there was a fella called AdamM who posted on here.
He's no longer with us, but I'm his chilled out twin brother.

I've been playing at DTD fairly regularly for a while, mainly Super50s, Incredible100s, and the occassional Grand Prix, UKIPT and APAT event when in town.
Last week I decided I was going to take it a bit more seriously in 2012, playing a few more big events and playing some away games.
I had been planning to start that after Christmas and was only intending to play the Super50 this weekend as usual.
However, I threw €50 at a £300 deepstack satellite on Friday night and got a seat, so I'm stepping up a bit earlier than planned.

I'm back for day 2 with 90k.
Maybe this post means I'm going back as a Blonde.
Maybe I'll be in Bold in the chip counts in future