UFC 152 will be highlighted by two championship fights. Jon Jones will return to the octagon for the first time since the controversy surrounding UFC 151 and will be keen to make a statement against Vitor Belfort. Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson will fight in the co-main event to crown the inaugural UFC Flyweight Champion. We will analyze the card and find the best UFC gambling opportunities this weekend. You can bet on all the fights on the card at Bovada.
Joseph Benavidez vs Demetrious Johnson for the UFC Flyweight Title
Two former Bantamweight contenders face off in what should be an extremely high-energy fight to crown the first ever UFC Flyweight Champion. This is an interesting and difficult fight to analyze. Demetrious Johnson is a tireless worker in the gym and along with trainer Matt Hume is well known for putting together highly successful fight strategies. He is a dangerous submission artist but has had trouble finishing fights in recent times; with his only finish in the past two years being a guillotine choke submission against the notoriously guillotinable Damacio Page. However, he has added more power to his hands in the last year and has improved significantly as a striker. He does have trouble with take-down defense, which was particularly evident against Dominick Cruz, which has UFC gamblers a little weary of taking any odds on offer for Johnson at Online Sportsbooks.
Joseph Benavidez is undefeated in his UFC career and booked his place in this title match with an impressive knockout of Yasuhiro Urushitani in March. Benavidez has explosive power in both hands and is also a top-level wrestler. Benavidez will need to use his wrestling ability more than he generally does as Johnson’s speed and movement makes him a difficult opponent to get into a stand-up fight with. There is a slight question mark over the conditioning of Benavidez and it will be interesting to see how he holds up if this fight makes it to the championship rounds.
In our opinion Online Sportsbooks have priced this fight incorrectly. Demetrious Johnson is fantastic value at his current odds and we suggest you take advantage of this at Bovada. Johnson has fantastic conditioning and if he can avoid Benavidez’s powerful hands in the first few rounds may be able to take control of the fight. The longer this fight goes the better Johnson will be and Benavidez may begin to panic and make a mistake. A prop betting option to be on the lookout for is the fight going to decision. Bet on Johnson at odds of +225 ($3.25) at Bovada.
Jon Jones vs Vitor Belfort for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
Nobody predicted that this would be the title fight we would end up with. After Dan Henderson was forced to pull out due to injury Jones turned down a fight against Chael Sonnen and Lyoto Machida turned down a fight against Jones. Belfort stepped in and now has the biggest opportunity of his career.
Jon Jones has received a great deal of criticism since the saga went down and will be keen to get people talking about his fighting ability again. Jones is an incredible all-round fighter and it is hard to see any weaknesses that Belfort can exploit. The youngest champion in UFC history really should have no trouble winning this fight with the most intriguing question likely to be how he finishes Belfort off.
Vitor Belfort has only way realistic way of winning this fight. He needs to come in and throw as many punches as possible and try to catch Jones with something early. Belfort is on a two fight winning streak, beating Yoshihiro Akiyama and Anthony Johnson but neither of them have anywhere near the ability of Jones. However, this is a fantastic opportunity for Belfort and if he can pull off a victory it would be one of the biggest wins in UFC history.
It is difficult to see any other outcome in this fight other than a Jon Jones victory. He is currently available at odds of -750 at Bovada which isn’t really worth betting on unless you have a monster bank roll. The best gambling option for this fight is looking at the prop betting markets offered by Online Sportsbooks. Betting on the fight ending in the first round is a good option and is currently available at decent odds.
You can bet on the entire UFC 152 card at Bovada.
