Current odds thanks to BetUS.com
Franklin -240
Hamill +190

Rich “Ace” Franklin
Franklin is recently known for his great success as a light heavyweight fighter, but Franklin is going to take his 25-3 MMA record and move up to 205 for this fight. Franklin has done this before, and been able to win, but many believe he is a much better fighter at 185. Either way Franklin is going to take his great well rounded skill and excellent conditioning against a very tough and physical wrestler in Hamill. After losing a tough one to Anderson Silva at UFC 77, Franklin really bounced back well winning his most recent fight by TKO against Travis Luttter at UFC 83.

Matt “The Hammer” Hamill
Hamill has been pretty solid since joining the UFC going 4-1, including his most recent win over Tim Boetsch. Hamill seems to come in as the underdog in almost every fight, but he seems to always impress. Not only does Hammill have great wrestling skills, he also has some great boxing skills as well. Hammill continues to work to get better and better, and its hard telling just how good this guy can be. Hamill hasn’t really fought to many big name fighters, and a win over Franklin would really get people talking about this guy.

Prediction: Franklin -240 at BetUS.com
While this is going to really be a tough fight for Franklin, as he says he is trying to figure out if he can continue to fight and be competitive at 205. We feel like Franklin can win this fight, but we aren’t sure its in his best interest to fight at anything other than 185. We a split decision win going in Franklin’s favor, so no big knockouts in this one.

If you want to get a bet in on this fight or any MMA fight, get over to BetUS.com and get an account up and running today. Also if you are looking for more on the fight, be sure to check out these Franklin vs. Hamill predictions.

Georges St-Pierre vs. Jon Fitch
St-Pierre -350
Fitch +250
When you talk about the champ St-Pierre you are talking about one of the most well rounded fighters in MMA, and someone that seems to be getting better and better with each and every fight. St-Pierre made pretty easy work of Matt Serra back at UFC 83 to revenge an earlier loss to Serra. In the other corner you get Fitch, who is a perfect 8-0 in the UFC with wins over guys like Thiago Alves, Diego Sanchez, and most recently Chris Wilson at UFC 82. This should be a great main event, but don’t expect the title to change hands this weekend.
Winner: Georges St-Pierre -350

Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring
Lesnar -230
Herring +180
This fight will create a lot of buzz, as Lesnar continues to try and prove that he can make it as a MMA fighter. So far Lesnar is 1-1 in MMA, with his loss coming against Frank Mir at UFC 81 by a leg lock submission. The guy trying to stop Lesnar is Herring, who is much more experienced with over 40 MMA fights. Herring comes into the fight with a split decision win over Cheick Kongo at UFC 82 earlier in the year, and is looking for a big performance as well. This should be a great one as two huge men are set to try and beat the living crap out of each other, we are going with the minor upset in this one.
Winner: Heath Herring +180

Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta
Florian -145
Huerta +115
We think that this is going to be the fight that everyone is talking about the following week, as you get two of the best lightweights in the UFC. Huerta comes in as a slight underdog in this one, but his 6-0 UFC record that includes 3 knockouts and most recently a choke submission win over Clay Guida at the end of last year. Florian on the other hand Florian comes in with a solid 7-2 record in the UFC, with his losses coming against some solid competition in Diego Sanchez and Sean Sherk. Florian is riding a 4 fight win streak, but we see that coming to an end, as we see Huerta being to much to handle.
Winner: Roger Huerta +115

Jason MacDonald vs. Demian Maia
MacDonald +220
Maia – 300
Maia comes in at the big favorite in this one, as he is riding a perfect 8-0 record in the MMA. Maia is a submission master, and has ended both of his last two fights by choke submission. In the other corner you get the more experienced fighter in MacDonald, who comes in at 21-9 who looks to take his well rounded skills to the octagon, and cash in his 2nd straight win, after his most recent beat down of Joe Doerksen at UFC 83. MacDonald might be the more experienced fighter, but that won’t help in this one.
Winner: Demian Mia – 300

Rob Emerson vs. Manny Gamburyan
Emerson +220
Gamburyan – 300
Emerson is still looking for that big first fight in the UFC that has fans at the edge of their seat, but the powerful Californian is set to use his physical strength and kickboxing to take out Gamburyan, who will be looking to take the fight to the ground. It will be interesting to see if Gamburyan can break through on Emerson’s great take down defense, we think he will and thats why were taking the favorite in this one.
Winner: Manny Gamburyan – 300

So there you have it a quick look at the big upcoming UFC event. If you want to place a bet on any of these fights, get over to BetUS.com and get an account going today. Check out what others are saying about UFC 87 Predictions, to help you make just the right pick. Also as always, feel free to leave any comments in our comment

Current odds from Bodoglife.com
Anderson Silva -500
James Irvin +350

Anderson “The Spider” Silva
Silva is one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC, as his striking ability is 2nd to none. Silva can land a kick, punch, knee at any time during the fight, and that has led to complete dominance in the UFC. Silva has yet to lose and hasn’t seen a fight go more than 2 rounds. Silva last suffered a loss to Yushin Okami back in 2006, but that was prior to his start in the UFC. Since then its easy to say that Silva has gotten much better and its easy to see when you watch this guy fight. He was named the #1 pound for pound fighter in world, and it will be interesting if he can put on the weight to fight this fight and still be as fast and strong as he is in middleweight action. Silva is currently 6-0 in the UFC and 21-4 overall in MMA fighting.

James “The Sandman” Irvin
Irvin might not have the name recognition as Silva, but he is a very good fighter and definitely has the power to win this fight. If you question Irvin and his power just look back to his last fight against Houston Alexander where he won the fight in 8 seconds with flying superman punch to get things going. Irvin is 14-4 while fighting MMA, but hasn’t faced the competition at his level that Silva has faced in the middleweight division. If Irvin is going to win this fight he is likely going to have to use his amazing power and avoid the numerous strikes from Silva. Don’t expect Irvin to try and take this fight to the ground, as he has only won by submission 2 times in his career.

Winner: Anderson Silva -500
If you want our opinion this fight isn’t going to be that close, it might be the first fight Silva is taken to the distance, but we don’t see anyway that Irvin is able to over power Silva. If we had to make a prediction on when we think this fight will be over, we would have to say Silva wins by TKO in the later part of the 2nd round.

Be sure and check back for each and every MMA event as we will continue to bring you our opinions on all the big upcoming fights and events. Also if you are looking to get a bet in on this fight or any other fight, get an account started at Bodoglife.com today.

Current odds at Bodoglife.com
Tim Sylvia +300
Fedor Emelianenko – 450

Fedor Emelianenko
This Russian heavyweight fighter is about as good as it gets when you are talking about MMA heavyweight fighters, and his 28-1-1 record is plenty of reason why people are calling him the best heavyweight fighter in the world. Emelianenko is not only a fighter that can pound his opponents, he has the great ability to get his oppenents to submit. Emelianenko has been the PRIDE heavyweight champion for years, and has been able to handle some of the best talent in the world. Emelianenko has big knock out wins over guys like Heath Herring, Yuji Nagata, and his most rececnt came back in 2005 against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, who is the only man to beat Emelianenko. This guy has won his last 5 fights by submission and has now won 24 straight times without a loss. Its going to take one hell of a fight from Sylvia to stop this machine when the lock it up at the Honda Center.

Tim Sylvia
Sylvia is a giant among men in MMA as he towers over many fighters at 6′8, but it hasn’t stopped this guy from putting together a great MMA fighting career. Even though Sylvia has suffered losses to Randy Couture and most recently Antonio Nogueira back at UFC 81, he is still considered one of the top 10 heavyweight fighters in the world. He will get his first shot at Emelianenko and he will have to likely knock him out if he wants to pull off what many would consider a big upset. Sylvia was able to squeeze in a unanimous decision win over Brandon Vera at UFC 77. Sylvia will likely need to use his size and strength to win this one and hope that his kickboxing style can lead him back to the center stage of the MMA fighting scene.

Winner: Emelianenko – 450

Get over to Bodoglife.com and get your bet in on the fight today, Bodoglife.com is not only a great place to bet on any event, its one of the best you will find for MMA fighting.

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson -260 at Bodoglife.com
If you like a guy that simply is out to hurt someone than Jackson is definitely a fighter you will like. Jackson has impressive power as he showed when he landed a fast right hook against Chuck Liddell at UFC 71 for the Light Heavyweight belt. Jackson is a perfect 3-0 since entering the UFC with his last win coming against Dan Henderson at UFC 75, in a 5 round battle that ended in a unanimous decision for Jackson. Jackson started his MMA career in Japan’s PRIDE organization, where his last loss came against Mauricio Rua at PRIDE Total Elimination 2005. While Jackson’s main strengths are his power, the way he uses that power to slam opponents to the mat. If you want to see a good example of this check out his PRIDE fight against Ricardo Arona. Some people might not know this, but Jackson does have pretty good wrestling skills, that could be put to the test against Griffin.

Forrest Griffin +200 at Bodoglife.com
Griffin was the winner of the first ever Ultimate Fighter show, and has put together a 15-4 MMA record over his fighting career. Since joining the UFC after his win against Stephan Bonnar in the Finale of the Ultimate Fighter. After winning his first 2 fights after the event, Griffin suffered a tough split decision loss to Tito Ortiz at UFC 59. Griffin then beat up on Bonnar once again, but his next fight didn’t go so well as he got knocked out by Keith Jardine at UFC 62. Griffin has since responded in a big way as he used his all around ability and great grappling skills to beat Mauricio Rua, by choke submission. So having beat the last man to beat Jackson, it has to give Griffin the feeling that he can win this fight and become the new light heavyweight champion.

Prediction: Quinton Jackson -260
We really feel like this could end up being one of the best fights the UFC has seen in years. While we give the edge to Rampage when both fighters are standing, Griffin gets the edge on the ground. There is no doubt the Rampage has more power than Griffin, but Griffin has been known to take his share of punishment and keep on fighting before. We think that this fight will be a crowd pleaser and go at least 3 rounds with Rampage winning the fight by knock out before the final bell rings in round 5.

If you are looking for a great place to get some action on the fight, head over to Bodoglife.com and get an account set up now. Also be sure to check back often as Jason Lowry will continue to preview some of the best fights and MMA events all year long. As always feel free to leave any comments in our comment box.

Our sports predictions cover football, baseball, and basketball.  We excel at both college and pro even though you are going to have to treat each level differently and most certainly each sport.  We know the angles due to the years we have spent in the business and we have been through ten plus seasons in every sport that we handicap.  You won’t find that kind of experience with too many other sites and with too many other handicapping services.  This is how you know the sports picks offered by Dave Price are as solid as they get.

Some other quality sports predictions can be found at Rocketman Sports.  Rocky has been in the business for quite awhile now and is very talented, honest, and respectable.

As many of you know, the main event was originally scheduled for an Interim Lightweight Championship, but Lightweight title holder, Sean Shrek, has his UFC Lightweight title taken away when he was tested positive for nandrolene. Now the winner of the B.J. Penn vs. Joe Stevenson bout will be the undisputed title holder.

Jay Dee “B.J.” Penn is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu specialist with notable wins over Matt Hughes, Takanori Gomi, Jens Pulver, Caol Uno, Duane Ludwig, Matt Serra, Rodrigo Gracie, and Renzo Gracie. Penn is the first American-born winner of the World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the elite black belt division which he won back in 2000. Penn has held the title belt at the welterweight division in the UFC and is one of the most respected fighters in the UFC, as you can see by the list of top opponents he has knocked off. With Penn dropping down a weight class, one has to like his chances as he has already proven that he can hang with the big boppers. You can bet Penn at -280 at BetUS sportsbook.

Penn’s opponent is no slouch. I’m talking about American Joe Stevenson. Nicknamed “Daddy”, the 25-year-old Stevenson first made his mark on The Ultimate Fighter reality TV series where he won the season two welterweight division. That victory over Luke Cummo bought him a UFC contract. To be more of a force in the UFC, Daddy has moved down to the Lightweight division where he holds a number ten ranking in the world. Penn will have to watch out for Stevenson’s famous guillotine choke and his elbow strikes which have brought him much success. Bet on Stevenson at +235 at Sportsbook.com if you think he has what it takes to pull off the upset.

The heavyweight bout features Gabriel Gonzaga and Fabricio Werdum in a battle of Brazilian powerhouses. Gonzaga holds a very respectable 9-2 mixed martial arts mark, but it will be interesting to see how responds after going down for the first time in four years to Randy Couture last August. Despite that loss, he is still the favorite to win this heavyweight bout. Bet on Gonzaga at -225 at Bookmaker.

Gonzaga’s opponent, Fabricio Werdum is inexperienced in the UFC with just one UFC fight, which was a loss, but he has a professional MMA record of 9-3-1 and has beaten Gonzaga before. With Werdum coming from the same school of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, we are expecting a very close bout as both fighters know each other well. Bet on Werdum at +210 at Sportsbook.com.

Check out the odds on all of UFC 80’s fights at the sportsbook’s listed below.

BJ Penn -280 at BetUS
Joe Stevenson +235 at Sportsbook

Gabriel Gonzaga -225 at Bookmaker
Fabricio Werdum +210 at Sportsbook.com

Kendall Grove -300 at BetUS
Jorge Rivera +275 at Sportsbook

Bet on the UFC Using Your Credit Card!

Understanding the Odds
UFC betting uses the money line system, and if you don’t know how that works then take a look at the following example.

Chuck Liddell -250
Tito Ortiz +200

You might look at those numbers and draw a blank, but it’s really pretty simple.  If you want to bet on Liddell then you would have to risk $250 to win $100.  Of course you can use any denomination of those numbers so if you risk $125 then you would win $50.  If you want to risk less then win more then Ortiz might be your play.  By betting $100 on Tito you would win $200 with a victory.

There will also be lines set for each fighter to win by knockout and by submission.  The numbers will be similar in that they are based off the $100 unit, but the fighter will have to win by the method chose if you are going to win those wagers.

How to Pick a Winner
It isn’t going to be easy picking a consistent winner in the UFC.  There are a wide range of skill sets, but we want to give you a much of a boost in making accurate predictions that we can.  Here are three things that we think you should keep an eye on:

1.  Stand-Up Striking: How good is the fighter at attacking and defending when he’s on his feet.  He’ll use a combination of punches, kicks, elbows, and knees depending on which style he implores.  If a fighter is good on his feet he’ll be referred to as having good stand-up.

2.  Ground Grappling: How a fighter does on the ground determines how he can control the fight when is leaves the standup and hits the floor.  A fighter good at grappling will have a better chance at submitting their opponent.

3.  Wrestling: This skill set is based on how well a fighter can get his opponent to the ground and how well he can stop his opponent from taking him to the ground.  If a fighter is good at wrestling they can determine where the match takes place, standing up or on the ground.

• How to Bet on NCAA Basketball

• How to Bet the NBA

You don’t want to even think about touching one of the most anticipated fights in boxing history without first reading Dave Price’s De La Hoya Mayweather predictions.

Mayweather is a perfect 37-0 with 24 KO’s and owns nearly all of the physical advantages. He’s younger, faster, more athletic, more instinctive and will be in better shape. This causes us to ask the question: can De La Hoya really beat a guy who has been boxing’s best fighter for more than five years? Surprisingly, the Pretty Boy is just a -170 favorite against the Golden Boy who has been more interested in his bankroll than winning fights of late. De La Hoya hasn’t fought in a year and his knockout of Ricardo Mayorga doesn’t exactly rank as a good win. De La Hoya’s last real fight was in 2004 when he was knocked out by Bernard Hopkins. The scary thing here is that this wasn’t a case of Hopkins just catching De La Hoya, he was actually outboxing him. In De La Hoya’s preceding fight he was granted a gift decision against Felix Sturm and he lost to Shane Mosley in the fight before that. We would have to venture back over four years to find a bout that De Lay Hoya won when facing a top notch boxer.

It was a no-brainer for De La Hoya to take this fight with an estimated $40 million coming his way, but the evidence points to him being pummeled. One huge factor that likely goes De La Hoya’s way is his falling out with corner man Mayweather Sr. and his new relationship with Freddie Roach. Floyd Mayweather Sr. may be a bigger player in this fight than his son. He is famous for being De La Hoya’s corner man, but the Golden Boy’s refusal to pay him a flat $2 million for this bout has spurred on an unlikely occasion. Mayweather Sr. did not willingly accept De La Hoya’s $500,000 guaranteed and $500,000 bonus for a win offer so now he will be in his son’s corner. Don’t take this as De La Hoya being a money hungry tyrant. Of course he would question how hard Mayweather Sr. would really train him against his son. This may give De La Hoya some extra incentive to train harder to win the fight because beating Mayweather Jr. would be like beating Mayweather Sr. as well. Freddie Roach is the best in the business and comes from the Eddie Futch school of getting more out of less talented fighters. If anyone can have Oscar ready to pull off the unthinkable, it’s Roach.

As much as I want to believe in this upset against the cocky Mayweather, I just can’t pull the trigger. The best kind of experience is ring experience as no amount of training can simulate the same high intensity conditions. De La Hoya has been out of commission for too long. He won’t get knocked out, but I think we’ll be safe taking Mayweather in a decision.

The important thing to remember when going over Dave Price’s boxing predictions is that you aren’t going to win every time.  There are going to be times when we take underdogs at 10 to 1, which means that we think the fighter will win the fight more than 1 out of 10 times.  Obviously we are going to probably lose more of these than we win, but when we win with these bets we are going to really cash in for our clients.  The fact that not as many people are as interested in boxing anymore means that the odds makers are not paying as much attention when setting the lines, because they don’t have to worry about getting killed like they do in high profile sports.   This just leads our clients to the promise land because we take the time to break down the big fights and find the advantage you have been looking for.

Read all of our boxing predictions articles to get an idea of how we go about finding winners.  Each of our articles will detail who we think will win and why, or if it’s an underdog why we think he’s being undervalued.  Remember the key word is value when it comes to any sport that uses a money line, and boxing is one of those sports.  Of course if you like our boxing predictions then you should think about signing up for one of our premium packages and taking advantage of our premium sports picks.

• De La Hoya Mayweather Predictions