Lots to Like About UFC 126 Main Card

One of the most tantalizing UFC cards in a while is kicking off this weekend at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The headline fight is a massive all-Brazilian bout between Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort. Silva is the major favourite and it’s not particularly surprising as he has never lost when fighting at UFC level and his last bout, a headline fight against Chael Sonnen, was voted fight of the year after his triangle/armbar submission at UFC 117.

A high-quality preliminary and main card set the stage for this massive event and we’ll be taking a look at the main card in this betting preview but we will examine the Middleweight Championship between Silva and Belfort in greater detail tomorrow.

The bantamweight fight between Miguel Torres and Antonio Banuelos is tilted sharply in favour of Torres as he makes his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut. He has a solid selection of choke holds and submission skills but he’s also won a number of fights due to strikes. He has plenty of options here and trades at a slim 1/4 price for the outright win.

Jon Jones and Ryan Bader face off in a light heavyweight bout with Jones trading as a distinct favourite. His only loss is his DQ on the Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale when he dropped 12-6 elbows on Matt Hamill. Aside from that, he has been using those elbows for more legitimate means as both of his past victories have come from elbows alone or a combination of elbows and punches. Fighters who can continually finish matches with strikes make for some of the most exciting bouts, but there is plenty of risk to that type of approach.

Jake Ellenberger takes on Brazilian Carlos Eduardo Rocha in the ultra-competitive welterweight division. Fighting out of Orange County, California, Ellenberger went through 2010 undefeated with a pair of victories at UFC 108 and a UFC Live event in August. The last time he fought on a Silva-headlined card, he got a TKO victory over Mike Pyle. Ellenberger is a slim 1/3 against an undefeated opponent in Rocha, who took his first UFC victory at UFC 122 with a submission win over Kris McCray.

Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin at Light Heavyweight is a headline bout on any other night and, at the moment, the bookmakers are giving the edge to Rich Franklin. He took a real beating when he got his first round victory over Chuck Liddell at UFC 115 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Griffin took a split decision over Tito Ortiz at UFC 106 in their second bout. Griffin will be looking to make a real statement in his quest to recapture the light heavyweight title.