Betting on UFC 198? Who should you bet on; Fabricio Werdum or ‘Michael’ Stipe Miocic? Odds-wise, Werdum is the favorite (-150 to +130) and why wouldn’t he be? He is the UFC Heavyweight Champion after all, as well as a two-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, a two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Heavyweight Champion and European jiu-jitsu champion. Additionally, Werdum has beaten Cain Velasquez, Alistair Overeem, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Mark Hunt. But then Miocic ha also beaten Mark Hunt. But then who hasn’t beaten him? What do you and Mark Hunt have in common? You will both be watching UFC 198 from home.
On the other hand, Werdum’s defensive skills are lacking, has inconsistent cardio, and is not exactly a spring chicken. Does he have what it takes to retain against Miocic – or Alistair Overeem, for that matter. Rumor has it the by virtue of defeating Andrei Arlovski – which he did – Alistair Overeem would become the de facto No. 1 contender for the UFC Heavyweight Title. In other words, the winner of Werdum vs. Miocic would go on to face the Demolition Man. The Reem TKO’d Arlovski early in the second round of their encounter at UFC Fight Night 87. As mentioned above, Werdum has already defeated Overeem, though Overeem has beaten Werdum as well – but that was in Strikeforce so it doesn’t really count.
One thing’s for certain though, and it’s that Overeem is no Mark Hunt. What does Mark Hunt do after winning the UFC Title fight? Turns off the PlayStation. UFC betting would get very interesting if that championship fight were to take place, but of course that’s not to even imply that Werdum is looking past Miocic, who is in a rather make or break situation – or is it more like sink or swim? Either way, if he wins, he just might become unstoppable, but if he loses, he might never be given a title match again. In any case, it’s safe to say that Overeem will be paying plenty of attention to the proceedings on May 14 at Arena da Baixada inCuritiba, Brazil – which reminds me that Werdum will have home field advantage.
In other related action, Cris Cyborg (-1700) is the betting on UFC favorite versus Leslie Smith (+1100), which is not surprising – one is a cyborg while the other is known as The Peacemaker. In my mind it’s a one-sided beat down, like when Romeo refused to fight Tybalt, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens. Other matchups on the main card include Ronaldo Souza vs. Vitor Belfort, Anderson Silva vs. Uriah ‘Heep’ Hall, and Mauricio Rua vs. Corey Anderson.