What a weekend. It’s the start of NFL preseason betting as the Titans take on the Bills in the Hall-of-Fame Game. Bodog has the odds as Tennessee -2.5 with a total of 31. The preseason primer with NFL exhibition quarterback rotations will be updated, but an early look is already up.
Kurt Pellegrino comes into UFC 101 on Saturday looking to push the pace with an aggressive wrestling attack. The 30-year-old New Jersey native is coming off two consecutive UFC wins over Thiago Tavares and Rob Emerson and is hoping to make good on an excellent opportunity in Philadelphia.
Pellegrino is 13-4 with two wins coming by way of knockout and nine wins coming by way of submission.
Josh “The Dentist” Neer is a guy that has fought some sturdy competition on the minor league circuit on his way to the big show. Neer has a reputation as being a strong puncher for the lightweight division but a close look at his record reveals that he is a balanced fighter.
Bodog has Neer listed as a -250 favorite and Pelligrino pegged at +190 to pull off the upset.
This is a tough one to call as both guys have looked solid in recent outings.
Another great matchup on the main card of UFC 101 on Saturday will pit Amir Sadollah against Johny Hendricks.
Sadollah has not been able to fight for more than a year due to a staph infection and broken clavicle. He beat the highly-touted CB Dollaway in the finals of the Ultimate Fighter and everyone wants to know if that was a fluke.
Dollaway was too into looking good to take fighting seriously. He probably lost because he thought the finals were just another audition for his reality show, the CB Dollaway show, which never got picked up by a network.
It appears that Hendricks has problems in the clinch and questionable endurance, which Sadollah should exploit with his great ground work and superior cardio.
Hendricks will rely on his wrestling skill, which is formidable but lacks the complete aspects of a real ground MMA game, that Sadollah has. Both fighters are currently listed at -115, so take your pick.
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Saturday night at UFC 101, Thales Leites will look to bounce back from a loss to Anderson Silva with a win over Alessio Sakara.
Leites, who is 14-2/5-2 in UFC, is the clear odds-on favorite at -500 to beat Sakara (+300).
Sakara (13-7/4-4 UFC) only took the fight at short notice after Rousimar Palhares was ruled out through injury. He may want to reconsider that choice after Saturday.
Leiteshas a strong jiu jitsu game and should take care of business in this middleweight bout.
This clash could be wasted on the undercard in Philadelphia. The chances of making it on to the pay-per-view card would have been greater if Leites would of put in a better performance last time out against Silva.
Sakara’s boxing skills make him a danger, but it won’t be enough for an upset. This one should be over fast.
But the MMA Odds previews aren’t done!
One of the first fights on the main card will be Ricardo Almeida against Kendall Grove.
This fight is going to come down to how well Grove can defend on the ground. Despite his much taller frame and how much longer his reach is, Grove is likely going to find himself on the ground a lot.
Almeida is on another level and is listed as the -160 favorite in this one. A third-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu, Almeida runs his own academy in Hamilton and expects a big Central Jersey turnout at the Wachovia Center.
Grove is listed at +130 despite a six-inch reach advantage over Almeida.
This will be another good crossroads fight between two guys that could use a victory. Some say Almeida is planning on dropping down to welterweight after this fight and could be overlooking Grove as a worthy opponent.
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