UFC 120 Betting Preview Michael Bisping vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama | IXGAMES

Mixed martial arts is also exploding in popularity in Europe and that’s expected to be proven true on Saturday night in London for UFC 120 between British star Michael Bisping vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama in the card’s headline fight at middleweight. The show is expected to set European attendance and gate records and will be shown in the United States on Spike, which should only help betting action at Bodog because bettors love free TV fights (it will be on delay, however). UFC 120 is the first event in the United Kingdom since UFC 105 nearly a year ago. Bisping was the winner of the third season of “The Ultimate Fighter” while Akiyama is certainly one of the best-ever Japanese MMA fighters. Both guys are in need of a win. Bisping (19-3) started his MMA career with 14 consecutive wins but has gone just 2-2 in his past four fights. Last time out he beat former International Fight League middleweight champ Dan Miller by unanimous decision at UFC 114. Bisping, 31, has secured more than half (12) of his 19 career wins by knockout or technical knockout and has been finished only once – by Dan Henderson at UFC 100. He has never lost on British soil, going 5-0 in UFC bouts and 15-0 overall. Chris Leben and Yoshihiro Akiyama back in UFC 116 The 34-year-old Akiyama (13-2) enters just his third UFC fight and submitted to a triangle choke from Chris Leben at UFC 116 in July. It was his first loss in more than five years. Akiyama has been awarded a “Fight of the Night” bonus after both of his UFC bouts, making him the only fighter to win that award in consecutive bouts to begin his UFC career. Michael Bisping vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama Odds Bisping is currently the -210 favorite on Bodog’s MMA odds but Akiyama at +170 is taking a better than 75 percent lean in early betting. The line for this bout opened with Bisping as a -265 favorite but all that heavy sharp action on Akiyama moved the line to -260, then -250 and finally to its current number. We are starting to see good two-sided action where the line is now but obviously the book is still significantly exposed on Akiyama. Bisping has not lost when he opened as a betting favorite at Bodog – he was -200 in his fight against Miller. Akiyama is an underdog for the first time in his last seven bouts. But that worked out well back then as the last time Akiyama opened as a betting underdog he knocked out Dennis Kang with a single punch at K-1 Hero’s Korea as a +220 dog. The other main bout on Saturday is a welterweight match between Brit Dan Hardy (23-7) and Carlos Condit. It’s Hardy’s first fight back since being dominated in his welterweight title shot against Georges St. Pierre in March. “I’ve come back with a whole new skill set,” said Hardy, who spent most of the St. Pierre bout on his back. “Things I’ve not necessarily used in the past. I have had added technical assistance from a new secret weapon, new skills which will not work in Condit’s favor on the night.” Condit (25-5) enters on a two-fight win streak, coming from behind to TKO Rory MacDonald in the third round at UFC 115 in June. Hardy is currently the -165 favorite at Bodog sportsbook and getting nearly 68 percent of the action. One betting trend we are noticing is players parlaying Bisping with Hardy and John Hathaway at -600 against Mike Pyle – that parlay would pay out at +180. Hathaway (14-0), another Brit, is 4-0 in his UFC and enters off a breakthrough performance in beating Diego Sanchez at UFC 114 in May. Pyle (19-7-1), an American, is an 11-year veteran who submitted Jesse Lennox at UFC 115 in his last fight. Overall there will be 11 matches on the UFC 120 card. Article author: Richard Gardner