UFC 96 BETTING TIPS

The latest Ultimate Fighting Championship event, UFC 96, is kicking off this weekend at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The main attraction is the Light Heavyweight bout between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Keith Jardine. A few other excellent fights are going to be happening as well with a stellar undercard featuring names like Canada's Jason Day, Joe Duarte and Tamdan McCrory. William Hill, who have launched a dedicated section on their site for UFC Betting, are offering up some very impressive odds on three of the evenings top fights and I expect a few more markets to be added as we get closer to the action. In the Matt Hamill-Mark Munoz bout, you can expect a really fast start with Hamill coming out and trying to get Munoz on the ground as quickly as possible. I think Hamill will get out there quick and start wearing Munoz down early. Munoz uses a slightly more technical wrestling approach, but he has won several matches thanks to his striking. He is a bit more versatile than Hamill, but I am still going to be backing Matt Hamill in this fight- I simply think he has more to prove. A Munoz victory by any method pays 6/4 while a Hamill win pays ½. Shane Carwin takes his undefeated record into his battle with Jiu Jitsu specialist Gabriel Gonzaga. This one is likely going to be a stand-up brawl for the most part, but mid-way through the 2nd round we're going to see Carwin trying to take Gonzaga to the ground. Most of his early wins came from either a guillotine choke or a rear naked choke so I'm expecting Gonzaga to be wary of Carwin's ground threat. Gonzaga has more experience, but Shane Carwin is undefeated for a reason. I can't see that changing in this fight. Gonzaga is the bookmakers favourite, listed at 8/15 while a Carwin victory pays out at 11/8. Rampage Jackson is a heavy favourite over Keith Jardine and the bookmakers will be praying that Jackson takes the victory here. A Jardine victory by any method pays out at an enticing 9/4 with the kickboxing specialist going in as a distinct underdog. One of the main reasons that Jardine is the underdog here isn't the fact that Rampage Jackson is such an explosive opponent, it's his inconsistent record as of late- two losses in his last four with his only victories coming from split decisions. His performances just haven't been up to par and I'm unsure whether he'll turn that around here. I'm backing Jackson, but Jardine may have a surprise in store for us.