While The Masters online betting has stolen much of the media spotlight heading in to this weekend, the Mixed Martial Arts betting attention will turn back to the UFC this weekend, and UFC: 112: Invincible, which will go down this Saturday overseas in Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates. A card that promoters are boasting as one of the best in recent years, a closer look at the scheduled bouts would reveal that this will be one of the more lopsided events. Four of the top six bouts will have favorites that have odds -500 or greater, and a quick look at the names headlining the card are an indication of just why that is.
Anderson Silva will put his middleweight championships on the line for the sixth time since winning it back in 2006 at UFC: 64 over Rich Franklin. Ranked the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world by Sherdog.com among other MMA websites, the list of opponents that have fallen to "The Spider" is nothing short of impressive, with names including Forest Griffin, Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, and Nate Marquardt. Demian Maia will be the latest to step in to the octagon with Silva, who is a best online sportsbook -600 favorite leading in to the fight.
BJ Penn is an even bigger favorite as he defends his lightweight title in his fight with Frankie Edgar, at -800. Although Penn has struggled taking the step up to fight at the welterweight level, he has been absolutely dominant at the 155-pound division, and is facing an opponent that lacks in overall talent compared to some of the fighters Penn has already successfully defended his title against. Matt Hughes will be -500 as the favorite in his welterweight bout with Renzo Gracie, in the latter's UFC debut. Hughes has not been in UFC octagon since dropping Matt Serra by decision in May of 2009, a fight that he won by unanimous decision. While Gracie is a talented fighter with an arsenal of different submission moves, at 43-years old he may be overmatched at this point in his career. While on the under card, Phil Davis is also -500 in the sports book as he looks to achieve a perfect sixth win by ending Swede Alex Gustafsson's undefeated run.
Meanwhile, it appears as though UFC President Dana White has his sights set on Afghanistan as the next venue to host its first event for the world's number one ranked Mixed Martial Arts promotion. White has told the media that he is looking to solidify an event in the war-torn region within the next two months time, a card that will be to help boost the moral of troops overseas. While the Afghanistan event will be an ambitious event in itself, White is also attempting to hold another sports betting event on a US aircraft carrier in the near future, although for the time being he is concentrating on a land-held event in Afghanistan.
