UFC betting | Bet on UFC

10 (tie) – Rick Story All right, I know, I’m being indecisive, but when it came to the tail end of the list, I just couldn’t pick two fighters out of the trio of Chris Leben, Evan Dunham, and Rick Story to leave out. One (Story) went 4-0 this year, which is an amazing feat. The second (Dunham) lost a fight, but that one fight he lost he probably should have won on the scorecards. And the third (Leben) won three big fights, but the first was over a fighter (Jay Silva) who can’t be considered on the level of his other two victims. So…a three way tie, and I’m sticking to it. Anyway, Rick Story has always been a tough kid with a lot of potential. In 2010, he started to break through to the next level with two close wins over Jesse Lennox and Nick Osipczak, a brutal TKO of Dustin Hazelett, and a gut check decision victory over Johny Hendricks. Story is the real deal, and he’s only going to get better. 10 (tie) – Evan Dunham Unheralded lightweight Evan Dunham quietly made a name for himself in the UFC in 2009 with wins over Per Eklund and Marcus Aurelio, but in 2010 he moved from prospect to contender with an impressive come from behind finish of Efrain Escudero and a clear-cut decision win over Tyson Griffin. Next up for the Las Vegas resident was former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk at UFC 119, and Dunham not only showed his talent against “The Muscle Shark”, but he showed his heart and grit in battling back from a nasty cut over his eye to arguably win a fight which ultimately went to Sherk via a controversial split decision. 10 (tie) – Chris Leben Entering 2010, Chris Leben’s UFC career was on the line after back-to-back losses to Michael Bisping and Jake Rosholt, but amazingly, by the time he forced Yoshihiro Akiyama to tap out in the third round of their UFC 116 bout in July, he was back among the ranks of middleweight contenders. This amazing transformation took place thanks to wins this year over Jay Silva, Aaron Simpson, and the aforementioned Akiyama, with the latter two victories occurring within a two week period. Next up for the resurgent “Crippler” is a January 1st date with Brian Stann. 9 – Rashad Evans Following the loss of his UFC light heavyweight title via knockout to Lyoto Machida in May of 2009, fight fans were wondering how Rashad Evans was going to react in his next bout. Well, in January he decisioned Thiago Silva, going back to his wrestling roots and surviving a late sequence when Silva got him in trouble. And four months later he headlined another major event when he took on – and beat – bitter rival Quinton “Rampage” Jackson with another solid wrestling-based victory at UFC 114 in May. Some would say “Suga” is back, but in reality, he never left, and in 2011 he will be rewarded with a shot at light heavyweight boss Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. 8 – Yushin Okami Long seen as the forgotten man in the middleweight division, Japan’s Yushin Okami always seemed to be one win away from the big one when he would slip back into the shadows after key losses to Rich Franklin and Chael Sonnen. But in 2010, “Thunder” put it all together

The very last fight to ever take place under the World Extreme Cagefighting banner was nothing less than spectacular. For five whole rounds, Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis went to war for the WEC lightweight title and to determine the number one contender for the UFC lightweight championship. It truly was “Showtime,” folks. Anthony Pettis took a decision victory to become the WEC lightweight champion in a thrilling fight for the world’s most exciting organization. It was a “razor close fight” as color commentator Stephan Bonnar referred to it. In the fifth and final frame, Pettis landed the most exciting head kick in the history of MMA. In fact, this may have truly been the “Fight of the Year.” Ben Henderson was unhappy with the decision being awarded to his opponent but there was little doubt “Showtime” won the fight after the final round. Throughout the fight, “Bendo” was landing takedowns but it seemed as if each time he did, Pettis would reverse him and take his back. He never could get the submission but it scored him enough points to give him two of the first four rounds. Not to be outdone, Henderson nearly choked out the MTV reality star with a rear naked choke in the third. Pettis, determined and unwilling to break, managed to get out once again and head to a fifth and deciding round. The fourth round may have saw the most action but what happened in the fifth will never be forgotten.? Towards the end of the round, in what was still close enough to get nervous about for either fighter, Pettis charged forward with Henderson backing away. Instead of going straight at him, he used the cage to push off and landed the most amazing head kick in the history of the WEC. “Bendo” immediately dropped and looked like he was out

The most graceful finish in all of combat sports, the submission win can come in a number of ways, but the end result is always the same – a victory for the man pulling off the move, and a look of ‘what happened?’ from the victim. 2010 had its share of memorable wins by way of submission, and in part III of the Highly Unofficial awards, here are the best. 10 – Jim Miller gives Oliveira his first “0” Jim Miller felt a little disrespected in the lead-up to his UFC 124 bout against unbeaten phenom Charles Oliveira, and despite his lengthy win streak in the Octagon, he was seen by many as the underdog. So how did the Jersey native respond? By doing what veterans do. In this case, Miller walked through a few kicks to the head, took Oliveira down, and then finished him off with a kneebar less than two minutes into the fight. Don’t expect any disrespect to be thrown Miller’s way anymore. 9 – Davis breaks new ground against Boetsch ? Already known for his wrestling and ground and pound, Phil Davis’ submission game is starting to get some positive notices as well, not surprising since three of his five finishes have come via tap out. In his most recent bout at UFC 123 in November, “Mr. Wonderful” even went as far as to create his own move, a modified kimura that finished veteran Tim Boetsch and which is already being dubbed “The Philmura.” 8 – Palhares introduces Drwal to the heel hook If there’s one fighter in the UFC that you don’t want around your feet or legs, it’s Rousimar Palhares. In March, he gave a quick and deadly demonstration why, as he caught and submitted Tomasz Drwal with a heel hook in just 45 seconds. And while these moves happen so fast that they never look like much, a glance at the pained face of the fighter on the receiving end speaks a thousand words when it comes to the devastating effects of a well-placed move like the one the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt specializes in. 7 – Dogged Dollaway hangs on to finish Doerksen Ever since his Peruvian Necktie finish of Jesse Taylor in July of 2008, fight fans have been waiting for another submission to remember from The Ultimate Fighter alum CB Dollaway. They got it at UFC 119 in September, when Dollaway showed the continued evolution of his game in submitting veteran jiu-jitsu black belt Joe Doerksen. After locking in a guillotine choke, Dollaway had to weather a feverish escape attempt from the Canadian, but he held on and modified the choke to finish matters at 2:13 of the opening round. 6 – Lesnar roars back, finishes Carwin After taking a hellacious beating from Shane Carwin in the first round of their July bout, Brock Lesnar’s odds of making it out of his corner for round two, let alone winning the fight, were slim. But the then-heavyweight champion showed his warrior’s heart by roaring back, taking down a winded Carwin, and finishing matters with a memorable arm triangle. 5 – Bocek wins battle of black belts with Hazelett A lot of times, if you match up two Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts, a kickboxing match breaks out. Not this time, and Mark Bocek made sure that his UFC 124 bout with Dustin Hazelett went to the ground almost immediately. In pre-fight interviews, Hazelett said he was just fine with that prospect, but Bocek sapped the joy out from the Kentucky native quickly, finishing the bout via triangle choke just past the midway point of the first round, and establishing Bocek as one of the game’s top groundfighters. 4 – Double Trouble – Lytle Surprises Foster and Brown When you’ve been around the fight game as long as Chris Lytle has, you develop more than a few veteran tricks.

This is it: The end of an era. The grand finale of what two friends started back on June 30, 2001 as a “dabbling” investment for fun and relatively little profit. At the time, when MMA was but a blip on the mainstream sports radar, Reed Harris never envisioned his Indian casino adventure would blossom into an MMA superpower, second in prestige only to its sister organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Yet over the past decade, some of the world’s best fighters have produced riveting theater inside a WEC cage. The distinguished list of athletes includes the following stars: Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber, Miguel Torres, Carlos Condit, Chael Sonnen, Leonard Garcia, Hermes Franca, Nate Diaz, Chris Leben, Mike Swick, Brian Stann, Benson Henderson and Dominick Cruz. Thursday night in Glendale, Ariz., the final chapter in the WEC’s illustrious history will be written. When it’s all over – as Mike Goldberg would say – the WEC will be blended into the UFC. For the first time ever, the UFC will add bantamweight (135) and featherweight (145) world champions. Harris, the real estate guru turned MMA promoter, sat down with me and spoke about the incredible run of the enterprise he and Scott Adams founded 9 and ½ years ago. Harris discusses, for the first time, how arranging a real estate loan for Chuck Liddell set into motion the events that would usher him into the then-dead industry.? In this two-part series, the Chicago native talks about the perils of hosting an outdoor fight show, the horrors of losing his checkbook at a fight and having the lights go out at another show, and how he expects to feel when the final curtain falls. Q: You and Scott Adams co-founded the WEC as sort of a spur-of-the-moment thing, never intending it to be a huge deal. At what point did you guys realize you had staying power? Harris: We did that show at the Mohegan Sun and we had a number of problems and we were able to survive it. Three days before our event was a WWE. So the ticketing company was telling people that our event was sold out. People would call about the WEC and they thought it was WWE; the ticketing company didn’t differentiate between the two events. Four or five days before our event we couldn’t figure out why we weren’t selling tickets. So we called and they said it’s sold out. That show we did about 3,200 (tickets) but it was a very expensive show for us. I think we would have sold about 6,000 if that (mistake) hadn’t happened. There were probably 4,000 at the first event. The first event was really just a test for the casino to see if it was something they wanted to do. If that event wasn’t successful we would have done one show and that would have been it. It would have been like throwing a party. Q: What made you think the market was there for MMA, because you guys entered the business at a time when it wasn’t obvious or crystal clear like it is today. Reed: One of them was, I think it was our third show, about an hour and a half before our event Scott Adams got in a car accident. So the show is getting ready to start and he’s nowhere to be found because he was at the hospital

While Thursday’s WEC event in Arizona marks the end of an era for the home of the best lighter weight fighters in the world, it’s a journey that’s far from over for lightweight prospect Tiequan Zhang, whose second WEC fight, against Danny Downes, will be seen by millions in his home country of China, a nation rapidly becoming a hotbed of mixed martial arts excitement and coverage. Guangdong Television and Shanghai Greater Sports will televise the Zhang vs Downes bout in China, and the bout may also be viewed on QQ.com and Sohu.com, which, along with being the UFC’s online home in the country, is also the official web partner for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the official partner of the NBA, ESPN, Adidas and Sports Illustrated in China, with over two billion registered worldwide users. QQ.com has also brought Zhang to the masses with over 110 million page views over a 30 day period for articles and pictures related to his upcoming fight . Zhang, 32, is taking such attention in stride, even though his pre-fight blogs on Sohu.com are reaching more people than any professional fighter has ever reached at one time. Unbeaten in 17 fights, including a stirring first round submission win over current UFC fighter Pablo Garza in his WEC debut in September, Zhang is the first fighter from mainland China to fight in the organization. And since he displayed his talents for fans around the world, the buzz at home in Beijing has gotten louder and louder, even prompting new visitors to the China Top Team gym. “We don’t change a lot at CTT, but there has been an influx of training partners since my first debut at WEC 51,” he said. “Many old Sanda teammates, and MMA friends from the old days have come back to start training again.? It has given me a lot more opportunities to work with different types of fighters.” And while his status as a pioneer is established as he helps clear the way for more and more Chinese fighters and fans to embrace mixed martial arts, he is not looking towards his 2011 future in the UFC; his focus is strictly on talented prospect Danny Downes. “He is young, but he is a solid fighter,” said Zhang. “He never hesitates to move forward and isn’t afraid to crash into another fighter.? I like that style as I am in some ways the same.? I think my experience in Chinese Sanda is definitely going to be beneficial for me as I will be bringing strikes and movements he will probably not be accustomed to, and hopefully that will give me an advantage.? I am also comfortable on the ground and will use this mixture to win this fight.”

Of the 75 fighters making their UFC debuts in 2010, the big names were undoubtedly international stars Takanori Gomi, Jake Shields, Renzo Gracie, Mark Hunt and Gilbert Yvel. Yet most of the newcomers who truly made an impact in the Octagon were the fighters you may not have even heard of before the New Year began, but that you certainly know now. The Highly unofficial UFC awards season begins now… 10 – Claude Patrick Winner of ten in a row (all finishes) when he stepped into the Octagon for the first time in June, Toronto’s Claude Patrick kept the streak going with a second round submission win over Ricardo Funch. And while his decision win over James Wilks four months later was far from a barnburner, the 30-year old jiu-jitsu ace is going to be a tough out for anyone at 170 pounds in 2011 and beyond. 9 – Rory MacDonald Just 21 years old, Rory MacDonald entered the UFC with plenty of hype behind him, and he kept the buzz going with a first round submission victory against veteran Mike Guymon in January. But the kid from Kelowna, British Columbia, made believers out of the staunchest skeptics in June, when he battled tooth and nail with Carlos Condit, a legit and longtime contender who no 21-year old should be holding his own with. But MacDonald is far from your typical youngster, and though he got stopped in the third round of UFC 115’s Fight of the Night, expect big things from him in the future. 8 – Jonathan Brookins ? Jonathan Brookins’ previous MMA claim to fame was a hard-fought loss to Jose Aldo back in a 2008 WEC bout. But two years later, the humble kid from Florida reinvented himself as a star in waiting, as he scored four victories on the 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter before winning the series earlier this month with a come from behind win over Michael Johnson. There are still holes in his game that need sewing up, but as he told me before the Johnson fight, “I’m embarking on a change process that is proving to take longer than I anticipated, so I think the best of me is still yet to come.” 7 – Daniel Roberts With the way he fought in the early going of his UFC debut against John Howard in March, Daniel Roberts could have been 3-0 this year. Unfortunately, Howard ended Roberts’ first night in the Octagon via first round knockout. Undeterred, the skilled and creative grappler bounced back with a safe, but solid, three round decision win over Forrest Petz in July before showing off his goods with a 73 second Submission of the Night over Mike Guymon. Now scheduled for a Jan. 1st bout with Greg Soto in which he hopes to get 2011 off to a rousing start. 6 – Joey Beltran Brought in on short notice to face highly-touted Rolles Gracie in February, Joey Beltran was expected to be the welcome mat for the latest unbeaten prospect from the first family of MMA. Beltran didn’t get the memo though, and he rebounded from a slow start to stop Gracie in the second round. Three months later, ‘The Mexecutioner’ traveled to Montreal to take on home country favorite Tim Hague and again he overturned the apple cart with an entertaining three round win. Beltran’s hot streak ended in September with a decision loss to Matt Mitrione, but with a Fight of the Night bonus and a growing fan base that knows just what they’re getting with Beltran – a fight – 2011 should be an exciting one for the Californian. 5 – Court McGee A fighter whose inspirational comeback from the throes of drug addiction overshadowed his fighting ability slightly during the 11th season of The Ultimate Fighter, Utah’s McGee reminded the world just what he could do in the Octagon with his dominating second round submission win over Kris McCray. It was a victory that opened up the door to what should be an interesting run through the UFC’s middleweight division, and if his stirring third round comeback win over Ryan Jensen in October wasn’t enough to get your blood pumping, you’re watching the wrong sport. 4 – Kyle Noke The fact that he split two fights with George Sotiropoulos and battled Hector Lombard to a draw in his pre-UFC life should tell you all you need to know about Kyle Noke, but in spite of this, the Australian veteran came in under the radar to the mainstream fans on season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter. Yet with two ultra-impressive post-TUF wins over Josh Bryant (TKO2) and Rob Kimmons (Wsub2) that have seen him look comfortable wherever the fight goes, Noke may be entering the ranks of middleweight contenders sooner than you think. 3 – Charles Oliveira If he would have notched his third straight UFC win over Jim Miller last Saturday night in Montreal, Oliveira might have sailed up to the top of the list, but the New Jersey contender let the youngest fighter in the UFC know that a little bit more seasoning was needed before a move to the next level. But the loss far from diminishes what “Do Bronx” brought to the Octagon – energy, athleticism, skill, and a will to win that led him to submission wins against Darren Elkins and Efrain Escudero. If he’s able to take the Miller defeat as a learning experience, this 21-year old will be scary in 2011. 2 – Jake Shields The credentials are impeccable – jiu-jitsu black belt, All-American college wrestler, pro wins over Dan Henderson, Robbie Lawler, Dave Menne, Yushin Okami, Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, Carlos Condit, Mike Pyle, Jason Miller and Paul Daley, among others. But whether Jake Shields’ success was going to translate into the Octagon was the big question heading into UFC 121 in October. Well, there was good news and bad news. The bad news was that it was far from vintage Shields in Anaheim that night as he struggled with fatigue from his weight cut.