Tag Archives: UFC 211

UFC 211 Betting: Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier Odds and Prediction

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Eddie Alvarez fights for the first time since losing his UFC lightweight title to Conor McGregor at UFC 205 last November. The Underground king will face former featherweight contender Dustin Poirier at UFC 211 on May 13th, 2017 at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas, USA.

Two Promotion Champ

Alvarez is the only fighter to win a world title in two different promotions. Prior to winning the UFC lightweight title against Rafael Dos Anjos in July of 2016, Alvarez was the staple lightweight in Bellator and was a two-time lightweight champion there. Since coming over to the UFC, Alvarez has fought one world class fighter after another: Cowboy Donald Cerrone, Gilbert Melendez, Anthony Pettis, Rafael Dos Anjos and Conor McGregor.

Chasing A Title

Dustin Poirier has been chasing a world title for a long time now. The Diamond is 5-1 since returning to lightweight and losing to McGregor. He just beat Jim Miller last February and is now making a quick return fight against a former champion. Poirier believes that he will be one fight away from that much coveted title shot if he beats Eddie Alvarez at UFC 211.

The Odds

Eddie Alvarez is the slight favorite here at -160 while Dustin Poirier is at +120. Both men are excellent strikers who possess knockout power. Both can also hold their own in grappling and wrestling so this fight could go anywhere.

Both men stand at 5-9 but Dustin Poirier has the longer reach at 72’ . He is also four years Alvarez’s junior and averages 1.54 more strikes per minute landed than the former champion. Poirier’s 49% striking accuracy is also 7% better than Eddie Alvarez’s number.

However, if we go down to the grappling statistics, Eddie Alvarez is more aggressive with his take downs. The Underground King averages 3.58 take downs per 15 minutes as compared to the Diamond’s 1.79. That’s almost a two take down differential and those two take downs would be a huge difference maker in a fight that is expected to be this close.

The Prediction

One can certainly make case for either fighter to win this fight but we’re going with Eddie Alvarez because of his aggressive take downs and because he has fought better competition. Sure, there is a possibility that Dustin Poirier is going to get the knockout here but unless Eddie Alvarez gets clipped and gets knocked out by Poirier, the former Lightweight king  has got this. We’re picking Eddie Alvarez  to win by early KO or unanimous decision.

UFC 211 Odds and Preview: Frankie Edgar vs. Yair Rodriguez

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Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar faces the up and coming Yair Rodriguez in a featherweight contest at UFC 211 at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas on May 13th.

Just The Gatekeeper?

Frankie Edgar has seen it all and has been there in the sport. After losing his lightweight title to Benson Henderson, losing to Bendo in the rematch and losing to Jose Aldo in his first bout at featherweight, Edgar has won six of seven bouts in impressive fashion. The only loss for Edgar during this period was his UFC 200 defeat to Jose Aldo (again) in his most recent bout. After losing his last three title fights, many wonder if Frankie is simply the gatekeeper now. The Answer hopes to prove them wrong with a win over the fast rising Yair Rodriguez.

Rising Star

Yair Rodriguez is the rising star at featherweight. After winning the first season of TUF Latin America, Rodriguez has remained perfect in his UFC career. El Pantera opened with victories over Charles Rosa, Dan Hooker and Andre Fili. He then headlined his first event last August where he beat Alex Caceres via split decision. Rodriguez’s last three wins have been fight of the night bonus winners. He is looking for the signature victory that will push him to the upper echelon in his weight class. He will have that opportunity against the battle tested Frankie Edgar.

Odds And Prediction

Frankie Edgar is a -175 favorite against Yair Rodriguez, who is at +150 right now. No doubt Frankie has the edge in experience but Yair Rodriguez has the tools to beat Frankie Edgar. First, Edgar isn’t a known knockout artists so this opens up the opportunity for Rodriguez to take his chances with his unorthodox striking. El Pantera’s superb striking skills should put Frankie Edgar on his toes and make him hesitant to shoot for takedowns.

Should Edgar be successful in taking down Rodriguez, Yair has shown much improved ground game which shouldn’t keep him on the ground for too long for Frankie to dominate. Rodriguez also has freak athleticism which can free him in the clinch. In short, we think Rodriguez is going to turn this into a striking battle and he has a three inch reach advantage. For sure Yair Rodriguez is a live underdog. We’re picking him to beat Frankie Edgar in a competitive fight.

Repeat or Revenge? Junior Dos Santos vs. Stipe Miocic Odds and Prediction

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UFC Heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic defends his belt for the second time against former champion Junior Dos Santos in the main event of UFC 211 on May 13th, 2017 at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas.

The bout will be a rematch of the headliner of UFC on Fox 13 in 2014 where Dos Santos beat Miocic via unanimous decision in a back and forth slugfest that earned Fight of The night Honors. That defeat was the last setback in Miocic’s career. He’s been on a tear ever since.

Breaking The Curse

Miocic earned worldwide recognition by breaking the Curse of Cleveland. He became Cleveland’s first major sport world champion in 52 years. Stipe earned that distinction by knocking out then champion Fabricio Werdum in the latter’s own backyard in Brazil at UFC 198. After that, Miocic successfully defended the UFC Heavyweight title with a first round knockout of Alistair Overeem at UFC 203. Miocic’s last five victories have been by knockout, with the last three all coming in the very first round.

Dos Santos, meanwhile, is coming off a solid victory over the surging Ben Rothwell at UFC Fight Night 86 in April of 2016. Two fights earlier, Dos Santos beat Miocic on points. Junior is famously known as the first fighter to beat Cain Velasquez, although he lost his next two bouts against Cardio Cain. His fight resume is a list of the who’s who of the heavyweight division, while Dos Santos is looking at one final crack at the world title.

The Odds and Prediction

Miocic vs. Dos Santos is a tough one to pick. The odds have installed Miocic a -175 favorite against Junior’s +150 but in the UFC’s heavyweight division, but it takes just one punch to change destiny.

Miocic is a striking machine who averages 5.03 significant strikes landed per minute at an accuracy of 50.4%. That’s dangerous, considering he packs tremendous power in both hands. Twelve of Miocic’s 16 victories have been by knockout, so his strategy won’t come as a surprise for Junior Dos Santos. He does have decent wrestling and grappling but it’s a known fact that his haymakers are his bread and butter.

Likewise, Dos Santos is an equally excellent striker. In fact, he’s been long considered to be the best boxer in the UFC’s heavyweight division. He averages 4.89 significant strikes landed per minute and does so with an accuracy of 48%. Dos Santos has 12 KOs in 18 victories with three of his last five wins by stoppage. Stylistically, this is hard to pick because these are the two top strikers at heavyweight. But given that Cigano is now 33, has gone 3-3 in his last six bouts and has suffered knockout losses in two of his last three losses, it’s fair to wonder if he’s in a good spot here. Not only has been Dos Santos hit and miss lately, he also hasn’t been too active with just one fight in each of the last three years.

Dos Santos is still one of the elite strikers in the business but he’s facing a raging bull in Miocic. It’s Stipe’s time now and while we may see another back and forth war, Miocic will likely end up getting his revenge against Dos Santos. We’re picking Stipe Miocic to successfully defend the UFC Heavyweight title for a second time this year.