UFC on Fuel TV 5 Betting Preview at Bovada
It's the second of four straight weekends of UFC action on Saturday at Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, England, when Stipe Miocic and Stefan Struve face off in a heavyweight bout to headline the UFC on Fuel TV 5 card. It's UFC's first visit to Nottingham and it's the first main event for both fighters.
The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Miocic, an American, is a perfect 9-0 in his MMA career and 3-0 in the UFC. Just one of his fights has gone the distance. Miocic last fought in the Octagon at UFC 146 in late May and beat Shane del Rosario via second-round TKO (elbows). Struve figures to be a step up in competition for the 30-year-old Miocic, a former wrestler at Cleveland State who is a little more than two years into his MMA career.
The 24-year-old Struve is a monster at 6-foot-11, 255 pounds. The Dutchman already has fought a whopping 29 times despite his young age. Struve, aptly nicknamed "Skyscraper", is 24-5 overall and 8-3 in the UFC with three "submission of the night" bonuses. He has won three fights in a row and also last was in the Octagon at UFC 146, beating Lavar Johnson by first-round submission (armbar) just 65 seconds in.
Twenty-two of Struve's 24 wins have ended by KO/TKO (6) or submission (16). His 4.5 submissions attempted per 15 minutes ranks second all-time in the UFC. But Struve also has shown a propensity for being knocked out, as four of his five defeats have come that way. Struve's last loss was a first-round knockout at the hands of Travis Browne at UFC 130.
"It's a huge advantage all the experience I got, and for him this is a big step up in competition for him," Struve said to reporters recently. "He took a fight on short notice the last time when he fought Del Rosario, but that wasn't a big step up in competition from his last couple fights."
Miocic is currently the -235 favorite at Bovada, but Struve is taking nearly 95 percent of the action thus far as the +185 underdog.
UFC 152 Betting Recap
Light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones forced challenger Vitor Belfort to tap out in the fourth round of their bout last weekend at UFC 152 in Toronto, and it was the book's biggest win of the card. It was the fourth successful defense of the 205-pound belt for Jones, considered by many the pound-for-pound king of UFC.
Jones closed as the -750 favorite, but the nearly 60 percent lean was on Belfort at +475. Jones was originally to fight Dan Henderson at UFC 151, but Henderson had to withdraw with an injury. Jones then declined to fight Chael Sonnen on short notice, so UFC 151 was canceled and Belfort accepted a short-notice bout in Toronto. Sonnen may still get a shot at Jones if Sonnen beats Forrest Griffin at UFC 155 in December. Henderson might be first in line, however. Jones also injured his arm in the Belfort bout and could be sidelined for a while.
The biggest win for bettors at UFC 152 was when Demetrious Johnson won a split decision - 48-47, 47-48, 49-46 - over Joseph Benavidez to become the UFC's first flyweight champion. Johnson was the +210 underdog and took nearly 64 percent of the lean.
Strikeforce Title Bout Off
Saturday's Strikeforce light-heavyweight title fight in Sacramento between champion Gilbert Melendez and challenger Pat Healy was canceled after Melendez suffered a separated shoulder in training. The book would have been massively exposed on Healy as he had taken more than 97 percent of the action as the +650 dog vs. Melendez (-1100).
It's the latest injury blow for Strikeforce. The next event, scheduled for Nov. 3 in Oklahoma City, is already looking for an injury replacement for the headliner because Frank Mir injured his knee and is unable to fight unbeaten Daniel Cormier in the heavyweight main event. Mir would have been the first active UFC fighter to cross over to Strikeforce. As of now, Cormier will remain on the card.
Bet on UFC on Fuel 5 TV now at Bovada Sportsbook. Raise your game.
