MMA Viking takes a look at the big UFC 148 card with sponsor NordicBet. Read some insights and thoughts from our staff. Good luck!
Who Will Win On the Biggest Fight Card of the Year?
Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen: Sonnen dominated over 20 minutes of their first fight before getting submitted. While that wasn’t Silva’s best performance, it showed that a wrestler of Sonnen’s calibre can bring the fight to Silva. Silva’s camp has surely made changes to his game plan for this fight. I don’t see Silva submitting Sonnen again. Will Anderson be able to keep it on the feet and unleash his unearthly Muay thai attack? Based on their first fight there is definitely value in Sonnen at 2.72.
Forrest Griffin – Tito Ortiz: Third time is the charm in this fight. Tito won the first by GnP and Forrest pretty easily outstruck Tito in their second fight. This will be Tito’s last fight ever as he has announced that he will retire after this. So it’s all in for Tito who has been training up at the Big Bear for this fight. Forrest’s chin is gone so Tito should put the action right from the bell, try to get inside and blast Forrest with short strikes like he did with Bader. Tito will slow down after the first round so Forrest should stick n move for the first round and then take over on the feet by using his reach advantage. Tito definitely wants to leave the sport with a win. Who wants it more? A small bet on Tito at 3.15 doesn’t sound too bad.
Cung Le – Patrick Cote: Cung Le is a 40 year old part-time MMA fighter who is now again facing a difficult match up. Last time he was pitted with Wanderlei Silva who redesigned Le’s nose with brutal knee strikes. This time Le has to deal with Canadian Cote who brings a granite chin and heavy hands to the table. Le has a limited gas tank so he should try to finish the fight early with kicks to the liver and so on. If it goes past the first round more experienced and younger Cote will take over. If you like parlays, I’d combine Cote at 1.4 with some other picks.
Dong Hyun Kim – Demian Maia:Grappling wizard Demian Maia drops down to 170 and meets another grappler in Kim. Judo player Kim is an excellent grappler but he has shown a bad habit from judo which makes him give up his back too easily. Even Sean Pierson took his back in the first round of their fight. Maia has been focusing on his grappling again and train with Marcelo Garcia among others for this fight. If you think Maia will be able to outgrapple Stun Gun then Maia at 2.08 is a solid bet.
