Tapology

February MMA Buzz Rankings: Bantamweight Division

Gregory Saks — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:00:44 +0000

Miguel Torres stayed atop the bantamweight divisional buzz rankings for February, cementing his place as the most popular 135 pound fighter among MMA fans. With Torres’ 2nd straight loss coming at the hands of Joseph Benavidez at WEC 47, however, it will be interest to see how long he can remain the fan favorite. New bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz held onto his position as the 3rd most buzzed about bantamweight in February, just prior to the March title fight where he knocked off Brian Bowles in impressive fashion. Beyond Torres, Cruz, Bowles, and Benavidez, a number of other talented fighters are also hovering close to the top of the bantamweight list, making the division one of the most exciting and dynamic currently in MMA. Full Top 20 rankings are below.

Tapology’s Buzz Rankings measure fan interest in individual MMA fighters based on online searches and pageviews for information about each athlete. The rankings are not a measure of a fighter’s skill or competitive standing within their division, but rather how much activity or “buzz” surrounds them (positive or negative).

Top 20 Bantamweight Buzz Rankings for recent months:
- January 2010 (#1 Rank: Miguel Torres)
- December 2009 (#1 Rank: Rani Yahya)
- November 2009 (#1 Rank: Miguel Torres)

February Rank	Bantamweight Fighter	January to February Change
1	Miguel Torres	No Change
2	Brian Bowles	No Change
3	Dominick Cruz	No Change
4	Joseph Benavidez	No Change
5	Scott Jorgensen	Up 1
6	Damacio Page	Up 3
7	Antonio Banuelos	Up 5
8	Rani Yahya	No Change
9	Wilson Reis	Up 10
10	Wagnney Fabiano	Down 5
11	Manny Tapia	No Change
12	Brad Pickett	Up 1
13	Cole Escovedo	Up 5
14	Takeya Mizugaki	Up 1
15	Danny Martinez	Up 5
16	Charlie Valencia	Down 9
17	Chad George	Up 6
18	Will Ribeiro	Up 3
19	Akitoshi Tamura	Down 9
20	Marcos Galvao	Up 4

Dropped out of Top 20:
Will Campuzano (#21), Clint Godfrey (#23), Coty Wheeler (#28)

February MMA Buzz Rankings: Featherweight Division

Gregory Saks — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:00:53 +0000

The top three spots for the featherweight buzz rankings were again unchanged in February, and have held steady for three straight months. Urijah Faber, Jose Aldo, and Jens Pulver continue to have a lock on fan interest for 145 pound fighters, and while it is a strong signal for the prospects of the upcoming Faber vs Aldo clash on the WEC 48 pay per view event, it also demonstrates the difficulty the promotion has had in building awareness and interest in their other fighters. As an example, Josh Grispi, the impressive 145 pound fighter who several months ago easily dispatched of Jens Pulver, is nowhere to be found among the list of fighters that fans are searching for. Full Top 20 rankings are below.

Top 20 Featherweight Buzz Rankings for recent months:
- January 2010 (#1 Rank: Urijah Faber)
- December 2009 (#1 Rank: Urijah Faber)
- November 2009 (#1 Rank: Jose Aldo)

February Rank	Featherweight Fighter	January to February Change
1	Urijah Faber	No Change
2	Jose Aldo	No Change
3	Jens Pulver	No Change
4	Mike Thomas Brown	No Change
5	Manny Gamburyan	Up 2
6	Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto	No Change
7	Leonard Garcia	Up 6
8	George Roop	Up 2
9	Joachim Hansen	Down 1
10	Javier Vazquez	Up 1
11	Bibiano Fernandes	Up 7
12	Cub Swanson	Up 5
13	Jeff Curran	Up 3
14	L.C. Davis	Up 17
15	Joe Warren	Up 11
16	Alex Karalexis	Up 5
17	Masakazu Imanari	Up 2
18	Michihiro Omigawa	Up 5
19	Chase Beebe	Up 6
20	Joe Soto	Up 14

Dropped out of Top 20:
Rafael Assuncao (#23), Anthony Morrison (#26), Mark Hominick (#27), Masanori Kanehara (#28), Mackens Semerzier (#41), Deividas Taurosevicius (#47)

February MMA Buzz Rankings: Lightweight Division

Gregory Saks — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:00:44 +0000

BJ Penn stayed atop the lightweight divisional buzz rankings in February, holding off the surge in interest in fellow 155 pound fighter George Sotiropoulos who rose 16 spots to second place in the division. Sotiropoulos defeated Joe Stevenson at UFC 110 in his home country of Australia and generated a surge of fan interest for the dominating performance. Japanese fighters Takanori Gomi and Shinya Aoki, who will be making their UFC and Strikeforce debuts shortly, lost some degree of fan interest but remained generally popular during the month. Full Top 20 rankings are below.

Top 20 Lightweight Buzz Rankings for recent months:
- January 2010 (#1 Rank: BJ Penn)
- December 2009 (#1 Rank: BJ Penn)
- November 2009 (#1 Rank: Diego Sanchez)

February Rank	Lightweight Fighter	January to February Change
1	BJ Penn	No Change
2	George Sotiropoulos	Up 16
3	Joe Stevenson	Up 10
4	Takanori Gomi	Down 1
5	Clay Guida	Up 2
6	Shinya Aoki	Down 4
7	Kenny Florian	Up 1
8	Melvin Guillard	Up 14
9	Frankie Edgar	Down 4
10	Mac Danzig	Up 11
11	Phillipe Nover	Up 16
12	Sean Sherk	No Change
13	Roger Huerta	Up 2
14	Gray Maynard	Down 10
15	Tyson Griffin	Up 5
16	Rob Emerson	Up 13
17	Efrain Escudero	Down 11
18	Justin Buchholz	Up 36
19	Ronnys Torres	Up 32
20	Eddie Alvarez	Up 5

Dropped out of Top 20:
Sam Stout (#25), Benson Henderson (#26), Jim Miller (#28), Cole Miller (#31), Evan Dunham (#34), Joe Lauzon (#35), Jamie Varner (#61)

February MMA Buzz Rankings: Welterweight Division

Gregory Saks — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:00:02 +0000

Georges St. Pierre maintained his grip on the welterweight buzz rankings in February, while Renzo Gracie rose sharply to come in as the second most buzzed about 170 pounder for the month. GSP’s upcoming title defense against #3 buzz ranked Dan Hardy at UFC 111 in late March will no doubt be the center of welterweight attention when it takes place. Coming right on its heels, however, is the return of the legendary Renzo Gracie at UFC 112. This bout against Matt Hughes may add another bit of marketing punch to what is already a stacked card with two title defenses. The biggest mover of the month for February was John Hathaway, who rose 67 spots and into the top 20. Full Top 20 rankings are below.

Top 20 Welterweight Buzz Rankings for recent months:
- January 2010 (#1 Rank: Georges St. Pierre)
- December 2009 (#1 Rank: Georges St. Pierre)
- November 2009 (#1 Rank: Dan Hardy)

February Rank	Welterweight Fighter	January to February Change
1	Georges St. Pierre	No Change
2	Renzo Gracie	Up 5
3	Dan Hardy	Up 1
4	Matt Hughes	Up 1
5	Matt Serra	Up 4
6	Paulo Thiago	Up 12
7	Nick Diaz	Down 4
8	Diego Sanchez	Down 2
9	Frank Trigg	Up 7
10	Josh Koscheck	Down 2
11	Mike Swick	Up 6
12	Thiago Alves	Down 2
13	Jon Fitch	No Change
14	Paul Daley	Down 12
15	Chris Lytle	Up 24
16	Anthony Johnson	Up 4
17	Amir Sadollah	Down 6
18	John Hathaway	Up 67
19	Karo Parisyan	No Change
20	Phil Baroni	Up 5

Dropped out of Top 20:
Nate Diaz (#22), Dustin Hazelett (#39), Marius Zaromskis (#160)

February MMA Buzz Rankings: Middleweight Division

Gregory Saks — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:00:09 +0000

Anderson Silva and Wanderlei Silva remained the two most buzzed about middleweight fighters from January to February. Wanderlei’s solid victory over Michael Bisping at UFC 110 kept him in the limelight, while fans are anxious for “The Spider” to return when defends his belt against Demian Maia at UFC 112. Both Maia and Chael Sonnen, who each scored wins at UFC 109 early in the month, jumped 13 spots in the rankings to 3rd and 4th. Three fighters fell from the top 20 middleweights in February. Full Top 20 rankings are below.

Top 20 Middleweight Buzz Rankings for recent months:
- January 2010 (#1 Rank: Anderson Silva)
- December 2009 (#1 Rank: Cung Le)
- November 2009 (#1 Rank: Anderson Silva)

February Rank	Middleweight Fighter	January to February Change
1	Anderson Silva	No Change
2	Wanderlei Silva	No Change
3	Chael Sonnen	Up 13
4	Demian Maia	Up 13
5	Michael Bisping	Up 3
6	Vitor Belfort	Down 3
7	Dan Henderson	Down 3
8	Nate Marquardt	Up 3
9	Cung Le	Down 3
10	Jason “Mayhem” Miller	Down 3
11	Frank Shamrock	Down 2
12	Yoshihiro Akiyama	Up 6
13	Kazushi Sakuraba	Up 1
14	Jake Shields	Down 1
15	Dan Miller	Up 7
16	Melvin Manhoef	Down 6
17	Robbie Lawler	Down 2
18	Yushin Okami	Up 8
19	Goran Reljic	Up 15
20	Chris Leben	Down 8

Dropped out of Top 20:
C.B. Dollaway (#21), Scott Smith (#32), Mark Munoz (#35)

February MMA Buzz Rankings: Light Heavyweight Division

Gregory Saks — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:00:44 +0000

Randy Couture became the most buzzed about light heavyweight fighter in MMA in February following his flawless performance and victory over Mark Coleman at UFC 109. The over-matched Coleman came in second in the divisional buzz rankings, while last month’s leader Quinton Jackson fell to third. Ryan Bader also made a big move, rising eight spots after his knockout victory over Keith Jardine at UFC 110 in Australia. Sokoudjou and Ricardo Arona fell from the rankings. Top 20 rankings are below.

Top 20 Light Heavyweight Buzz Rankings for recent months:
- January 2010 (#1 Rank: Quinton Jackson)
- December 2009 (#1 Rank: Quinton Jackson)
- November 2009 (#1 Rank: Tito Ortiz)

February Rank	Light Heavyweight Fighter	January to February Change
1	Randy Couture	Up 1
2	Mark Coleman	Up 4
3	Quinton “Rampage” Jackson	Down 2
4	Chuck Liddell	Up 1
5	Lyoto Machida	Down 1
6	Tito Ortiz	Up 1
7	Forrest Griffin	Up 2
8	Keith Jardine	Up 5
9	Mauricio “Shogun” Rua	Up 1
10	Rashad Evans	Down 7
11	Ryan Bader	Up 8
12	Gegard Mousasi	Down 1
13	Brandon Vera	Up 2
14	Rich Franklin	Down 2
15	Stephan Bonnar	Up 1
16	Jon Jones	Down 2
17	Krzysztof Soszynski	Up 8
18	Thiago Silva	Down 10
19	Kevin Randleman	Down 2
20	James Te Huna	Up 19

Dropped out of Top 20:
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (#23), Ricardo Arona (#24)

February MMA Buzz Rankings: Heavyweight Division

Gregory Saks — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:00:19 +0000

Fedor Emelianenko returned to the top of the overall buzz rankings for February, and by definition also to the top of the heavyweight division. Emelianenko is increasingly of interest to mainstream MMA fans despite not having been active since his November 2009 win over Brett Rogers. Brock Lesnar dropped one spot to second, while Cain Velasquez jumped all the way to third place following an impressive first-round knockout of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 110. In the biggest move, Australian heavyweight Anthony Perosh rose 106 spots as fans curious about the late replacement for Ben Rothwell who took to the stage to fight the aforementioned Velasquez. Full top 20 rankings below.

Top 20 Heavyweight Buzz Rankings for recent months:
- January 2010 (#1 Rank: Brock Lesnar)
- December 2009 (#1 Rank: Kimbo Slice)
- November 2009 (#1 Rank: Fedor Emelianenko)

February Rank	Heavyweight Fighter	January to February Change
1	Fedor Emelianenko	Up 1
2	Brock Lesnar	Down 1
3	Cain Velasquez	Up 15
4	Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson	Up 1
5	Herschel Walker	Down 2
6	Bobby Lashley	Down 2
7	Frank Mir	Down 1
8	Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic	Up 3
9	Ken Shamrock	Down 2
10	Andrei Arlovski	Down 1
11	Shane Carwin	Up 1
12	Alistair Overeem	Down 4
13	Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira	Up 12
14	Tim Sylvia	Up 3
15	Fabricio Werdum	Down 2
16	Anthony Perosh	Up 106
17	Junior Dos Santos	Down 7
18	Roy Nelson	Down 4
19	Ben Rothwell	Up 7
20	Matt Mitrione	Up 7

Dropped out of Top 20:
Brett Rogers (#22), Wes Sims (#24), Houston Alexander (#25), Gilbert Yvel (#35)

February MMA Buzz Rankings: Fedor Back on Top

Gregory Saks — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:00:46 +0000

Fedor Emelianenko inched above Brock Lesnar to become the most buzzed about MMA fighter in the month of February, returning to the spot that the Russian heavyweight last held in November. Emelianenko has increasingly become a source of intrigue and curiosity for casual MMA fans, as evidenced by his first-place ranking two months subsequent to his most recent bout. Cain Velasquez rose 52 spots to fifth in the buzz rankings after his breakout performance at UFC 110 in Australia. Also making a big move was UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen, who rose 65 spots to 16th after scoring a major upset against Nate Marquardt at UFC 109, and Demian Maia who rose 79 spots following his win over Dan Miller. 15 fighters fell from the top 50 list after having been there in January.

Top 50 Overall Buzz Rankings for recent months:
- January 2010 (#1 Rank: Brock Lesnar)
- December 2009 (#1 Rank: Kimbo Slice)
- November 2009 (#1 Rank: Fedor Emelianenko)

February Rank	Fighter	January to February Change
1	Fedor Emelianenko	Up 1
2	Brock Lesnar	Down 1
3	Randy Couture	Up 5
4	Anderson Silva	No Change
5	Cain Velasquez	Up 52
6	Wanderlei Silva	Up 11
7	Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson	No Change
8	Herschel Walker	Down 3
9	Mark Coleman	Up 5
10	Quinton “Rampage” Jackson	Down 7
11	Bobby Lashley	Down 5
12	Frank Mir	Up 1
13	Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic	Up 14
14	Georges St. Pierre	Down 3
15	Chuck Liddell	Down 3
16	Chael Sonnen	Up 65
17	Lyoto Machida	Down 7
18	Tito Ortiz	Down 2
19	Demian Maia	Up 79
20	Ken Shamrock	Down 5
21	Michael Bisping	Up 32
22	Vitor Belfort	No Change
23	Forrest Griffin	Down 2
24	Keith Jardine	Up 32
25	Andrei Arlovski	Down 2
26	Shane Carwin	Up 6
27	BJ Penn	Down 9
28	Renzo Gracie	Up 14
29	Dan Henderson	Up 5
30	Alistair Overeem	Down 10
31	Mauricio “Shogun” Rua	Down 2
32	Rashad Evans	Down 23
33	Dan Hardy	Down 3
34	George Sotiropoulos	Up 91
35	Matt Hughes	Down 4
36	Nate Marquardt	Up 25
37	Bob Sapp	Down 2
38	Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira	Up 52
39	Gina Carano	Down 11
40	Ryan Bader	Up 66
41	Matt Serra	Up 13
42	Paulo Thiago	Up 57
43	Tim Sylvia	Up 9
44	Nick Diaz	Down 18
45	Gegard Mousasi	Down 12
46	Fabricio Werdum	Down 2
47	Anthony Perosh	Up 578
48	Brandon Vera	Up 14
49	Rich Franklin	Up 2
50	Junior Dos Santos	Down 25

Dropped out of Top 50:
Roy Nelson (#51), Diego Sanchez (#54), Cung Le (#57), Josh Koscheck (#58), Jason Miller (#59), Takanori Gomi (#60), Wes Sims (#72), Thiago Silva (#73),
Paul Daley (#77), Urijah Faber (#81), Shinya Aoki (#84), Frankie Edgar (#94), C.B. Dollaway (#103), Gilbert Yvel (#122), Gray Maynard (#140)

LC Davis is Ready for His Close-up

Steven Kelliher — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:24:28 +0000

Since turning professional in 2006, Kansas City native LC Davis has racked up an impressive 15-2 pro record, defeating some of the most accomplished names in his division in the process, including Conor Heun, Bao Quach, Javier Vazquez, and most recently, Diego Nunes. While he was unsuccessful in his bid for the Sengoku Featherweight Championship after being defeated by Japanese standout Michihiro Omigawa, Davis is 2-0 since joining the Zuffa-owned WEC promotion last year. Tonight, Davis will put all of his training to the ultimate test, as he takes on powerful and aggressive grappler Deividas Taurosevicius on the main card of WEC 47: Bowles vs. Cruz, which takes place at the NationWide Arena in Columbus, Ohio with the entire main card airing live on the Versus Channel.

Davis recently spoke with Tapology’s Steven Kelliher to give his thoughts on Taurosevicius, fighting on the main card for the first time since joining the Zuffa, LLC fold, moving camp to Xtreme Couture in recent months, and his thoughts on challenging the upper echelon of the WEC’s featherweight division–including champion Jose Aldo–in the near future.

Tapology: What are your thoughts on Deividas Taurosevicius and do you think this is your biggest fight with the WEC so far?

Davis: I think Deividas is a very tough fighter. He’s well rounded, fights at a good, fast pace and I think it’s going to be a tough challenge for me. As far as being my biggest fight, I always think that my next fight is my biggest fight so it’s a very important fight for me. There’s a lot on the line, but I’ve trained my butt off and I’m ready for the challenge.

Tapology: You have been asked if you want to keep this fight standing since Taurosevicius is known for his ground skills, but you have a fair share of submissions yourself. Do you think your ability to fight well both on the feet and on the ground is going to be the difference in this fight?

Davis: Yeah absolutely. I think the key to me winning is just going to be mixing it up. I do think he is more comfortable on the ground, but he’s very well rounded, so I’m not going to say that I’m going to keep it standing; I’m going to use all of my skills—my wrestling, my boxing, my kickboxing and everything to keep him guessing and I think that’ll open up more opportunities for me.

Tapology: Nobody ever knows what’s going to happen in an MMA fight, but on paper this fight has all the makings of a back and forth war. Do you think that is a probable scenario?

Davis: I’m always trying to finish opponents and I’m going to try to finish him, but I picture this fight as being a three round war, a dog fight, and I think we’re going to be fighting in every position and it will be a good fight for the fans.

Tapology: Since this is your first fight with a guaranteed spot on the televised main card, do you think you need to finish him or would putting on a good show and getting the win do you just as well?

Davis: Ultimately, I just want to put on a good show, win or lose. I want to have a great fight. I want people to remember me and to want to see me fight again—I think that’ll be the key to getting onto more main cards in the future. I think I’ll get the victory, but I just want to put on a good show for the fans.

Tapology: You have talked recently about your decision to include Xtreme Couture into your training camps. Did you consider any other big-name gyms or did you always know you would end up there?

Davis: Before I went to Xtreme Couture, I thought about a lot of places. I thought about Greg Jackson’s, American Top Team, but ultimately, I knew a few guys at Xtreme Couture already and it was just kind of a good fit for me. Being with a lot of wrestlers there is great for my style.

Tapology: Along with having a lot of good wrestlers, most of your training partners are UFC lightweight contenders, so was it also a positive that you probably won’t be faced with the prospect of fighting any teammates from Xtreme Couture in the WEC featherweight division?

Davis: Yeah that was a huge reason too. I don’t want to go train with guys that I’m potentially going to be fighting, and Xtreme Couture has so many great lightweights so that is what they end up running into with Evan Dunham and Tyson Griffin fighting soon. They also said I was a perfect fit because I’m a 145-pounder and they really don’t have any 145lb fighters, so they were welcome to that too. I like going to a gym where I have a lot of competition with great 155-pounders, but I also don’t have to train with future opponents.

Tapology: How do you feel about the traveling you are doing now for your training? Is it structured pretty well?

Davis: I did it right. Going to Japan really helped me learn about jet lag and take it seriously, so I learned from that and found out the proper steps to take. I take all of the precautions and really haven’t had any negative effects.

Tapology: Have you spared any time to think about where this fight will put you should you win or lose or are you able to completely shut all of that stuff out?

Davis: I think the winner of this fight is going to be in the mix for a title and will be up there with the bigger name guys and in the hunt and the loser will be dropped right back down into the pack. I want to win and get closer to the title because I don’t want to climb my way back up to this point, so I definitely have a little added motivation to win this fight.

Tapology: Is there anything specific—other than winning—you will be striving to accomplish in this fight?

Davis: Mainly my only goal is to go out, fight, and do the things that I have trained to do. I think that if I stick to the game plan and fight to the best of my abilities then I will win the fight.

Tapology: A lot of WEC fighters have been asked financial questions as of late. With the promotion now going into the Pay Per View business, does that excite you for the financial possibilities for the near future?

Davis: Yeah, I mean anything that is going to help the fighters and open up different avenues for the fighters is great. We really don’t get compensated anything close to many professional athletes, but at the same time as a fan I love that they show the fights for free on Versus, but if the Pay Per Views help us then let’s do that.

Tapology: Most people consider the WEC to be the best promotion in the world at your weight class. Do you agree with that and do you plan on staying with this promotion for as long as you can?

Davis: Yes absolutely. I hope to finish my career with the WEC or UFC, and I want to be with Zuffa from here on out. I’m going to train hard and fight harder so hopefully they will always have me in their organization.

Tapology: When you look at the top dogs in your division—from Jose Aldo and Urijah Faber to Mike Thomas Brown—what is it about your fighting style that will allow you to compete with those guys once you get up there?

Davis: I think I’m as athletic as any guy in the division. I think I can match anyone with my speed, power, and athleticism. To beat those guys, I’m just going to have to train my butt off and be very well rounded. You’ve got to be like Georges St-Pierre and just keep guys guessing, and I think that’s the key to be really successful in this sport.

Tapology: Any last message to the fans about why they should make sure they catch your fight?

Davis: I think you should tune in and watch my fight because you could see the next contender for the belt. If you want to see a really tough fight between two well rounded fighters then tune in.

Tapology: Thanks a lot and good luck.

Davis: Thank you.

MMA Odds Watch: February 2010 Upsets

Gregory Saks — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:00:56 +0000

Nine upsets took place among the major MMA organizations in February, making it a slightly busier month of oddsmaker surprises than in January of 2010. Topping the list was a major betting upset in Joey Beltran’s second round TKO victory over fellow UFC newcomer Rolles Gracie in the heavyweight division at UFC 109. Beltran began to control the fading Gracie until putting him away with strikes on the mat in the second round as a more than +600 underdog. Following in second place was Chael Sonnen, who as a +360 underdog defeated the middleweight contender Nate Marquardt, also at UFC 109. Also on the list was Cain Velasquez, who while barely even categorized as an underdog still put on an incredible display to defeat the very slight favorite Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 110. Full results below.

MMA upset rankings for recent months:
- January 2010
- Top 50 Upsets For All of 2009
- December 2009

Favorites won 63% of the 25 major MMA bouts in February, resulting in the nine underdog victories shown below. Seven of the upsets took place in the UFC, with the remaining two at Strikeforce’s Challengers card. Six of the upsets were via decision, two came by KO or TKO, and one was delivered by submission. Bouts that did not have posted oddsmaker’s lines did not qualify for the list.

Rank	Odds	Loser Name	Odds	Winner Name	Result	Fight Date	Event Name
1	-730	Rolles Gracie	+633	Joey Beltran	Round 2 KO/TKO	2/6	UFC 109
2	-438	Nate Marquardt	+360	Chael Sonnen	Decision	2/6	UFC 109
3	-251	Joe Stevenson	+211	George Sotiropoulos	Decision	2/21	UFC 110
4	-208	Goran Reljic	+178	C.B. Dollaway	Decision	2/21	UFC 110
5	-187	Mike Swick	+170	Paulo Thiago	Round 2 Submission	2/6	UFC 109
6	-142	James Terry	+110	Tarec Saffiedine	Decision	2/26	Strikeforce Challengers 6
7	-141	Raul Castillo	+111	Yancy Medeiros	Decision	2/26	Strikeforce Challengers 6
8	-127	Ronys Torres	+107	Melvin Guillard	Decision	2/6	UFC 109
9	-112	Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira	+101	Cain Velasquez	Round 1 KO/TKO	2/21	UFC 110

Tapology’s MMA odds analysis uses posted lines across more than five of the major sportsbook websites. The final lines available immediately before the start of each fight are used. Bouts from Affliction, Dream, EliteXC, Sengoku, Strikeforce, UFC, and WEC are included.