Bookmaker – Mir vs. Cro Cop Highlights UFC 119 on Saturday. The fight card for UFC 119 is not as good as last months great card in Boston but there are still some intriguing fights including the feature bout with Frank Mir favored at the bookmaker against Mirko Cro Cop.
Sbgglobal lists Mir as about a 2-1 offshore betting favorite against Cro Cop.There are 11 fights set for UFC 119 on Saturday, September 25th from the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. In addition to Mir and Cro Cop, the main card has Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Ryan Bader, Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle, Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham and Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens.
Mir vs. Cro Cop – Mir is facing a must-win in this fight. He was rocked last time by Shane Carwin so he really needs to win this fight if he wants to get another title shot. Cro Cop is getting paid very well for this fight and he might just decide to retire when it is over. He already has a built in excuse of an injury and little preparation time so he can lose and still save face.
Nogueira vs. Bader – This is a matchup that could easily end up being better than the feature bout. Both fighters are unbeaten and looking for marquee status. Nogueira is more experienced but Bader is the -170 favorite in offshore betting.
Lytle vs. Serra – This should be good for as long as it lasts. Both fighters love to throw haymakers so you would expect one of them to land a big punch and end this early. The odds at the bookmaker are almost a pick with Lytle the slight -130 favorite.
Sherk vs. Dunham – This is the return for Sherk to the UFC and he does not get an easy fight against Dunham who is unbeaten in the UFC. Dunham is more than a 2-1 favorite.
Guillard vs. Stephens – This fight is the one that should be the feature. This has Fight of the Night written all over it.
Preliminary Card – The first two bouts on the preliminary card will be shown on Spike TV. It will be C.B. Dollaway vs. Joe Doerksen and Matt Mitrione vs. Joey Beltran. The other four fights are Thiago Tavares vs. Pat Audinwood, Steve Lopez vs. Waylon Lowe, Sean McCorkle vs. Mark Hunt and Julio Paulino vs. TJ Grant.