Strikeforce Overeem vs Werdum picks

Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum

Location: Dallas, Texas
Venue: American Airlines Center
Broadcast: Showtime (main card) and HDNet (preliminaries)

MAIN CARD (Showtime)

• Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum (heavyweight grand-prix opening round)
• Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers (heavyweight grand-prix opening round)
• Daniel Cormier vs. Jeff Monson
• Chad Griggs vs. Valentijn Overeem
• Jorge Masvidal vs. K.J. Noons

PRELIMINARY CARD (HDNet)

• Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante vs. Justin Wilcox
• Magno Almeida vs. Conor Heun
• Nah-Shon Burrell vs. Joe Ray
• Mike Bronzoulis vs. Todd Moore
• Brian Melancon vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg

 

The 2nd round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight grand-prix takes place this saturday featuring 4 either past or current champions or number one contenders.  This is the first tournament event since the UFC purchase of Strikeforce so it should be interesting to see what the outcome of the tournament will become.  Will the Grand Prix winner then get a shot at the UFC heavyweight title?  Originally on this card was also the return of Gina Carano, who was pulled from the card with only a couple weeks to go from doctors orders.

Alistair Overeem has looked unstoppable for the past few years.  This massive heavyweight has been finishing his opponents at ease and Fabricio Werdum looks to be next in line to take some punishment.  It is very hard for me to see how Werdum will be able to beet Overeem, there is so much power difference.  Werdum had a nice win over a regressing Fedor, but Overeem is on the rise and doesn’t look like he will be stopped by any of the current Strikeforce challengers.

Brett Rogers looked very promising at one time, but after his last bout where he barely won in a W-1 match versus Ruben Villareal, he doesn’t look like a contendor anymore.  Josh Barnett is one fighter who I feel should not even be in MMA anymore.  The guy with numerous “steroid” infractions somehow still has a job while tainting the sport.  You should never let your emotions decide on who to bet on, so I will listen to that advice and bet on Josh Barnett to win even though I wish he would never win another fight again.  There is still good odds for an upset though at +300 odds, since Josh has not fought in about a year.

Daniel Cormier versus Jeff Monson should be a fight taking place on the matt for about 14 mins.  The former champion of the King of the Cage Daniel Cormier should come out on top over the aging Jeff Monson who is now over 40.

Chad Griggs is a banger and should be in a slugfest versus the older brother of Alistair, Valentijn Overeem.  I believe that Griggs is the better outright striker and if they stay standing, will get the nod.  Overeems do have nasty guillotines and other chokes though so it would be wise for Chad to keep the head up.

Jorge Masvidal against KJ Noons should be a good fight.  KJ is a great boxer and Jorge can take a punch.  If KJ would have concentrated on just MMA he could have been a great champion rather than giving it a go as a boxer.  Not sure why this fight was originally on the preliminary card, this will be a battle.  KJ has more experience though, and a better technical game.  He should come out as a decision winner on this fight.

Strikeforce Fight Odds

• Strikeforce •
Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum	-500 +300	-350 +275	-320 +290	-325 +250	1.28 4.20
Brett Rogers vs. Josh Barnett	+300 -500	+280 -355	+295 -325	+300 -500	3.60 1.33
Jorge Masvidal vs. KJ Noons	+135 -165	+135 -165	+134 -144	+125 -155	2.36 1.66
Brian Melancon vs. Isaac Vallie-Flag	-135 +105		-130 +110	-135 +105
Conor Heun vs. Magno Almeida	EV -130		+110 -130	EV -130
Mike Bronzoulis vs. Todd Moore	-365 +285		-310 +255	-300 +240
Daniel Cormier vs. Jeff Monson	-550 +350	-500 +350	-475 +420	-500 +300
Justin Wilcox vs. JZ Cavalcante	-115 -115		-105 -115	-115 -115
Chad Griggs vs. Valentijn Overeem	-135 +105	-145 +115	-125 +115	-135 +105
Joe Ray vs. Nah Shon Burrell	-500 +300		-330 +270	-325 +250

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Strikeforce Diaz vs Daley Picks

Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley

Location: San Diego, California
Venue: Valley View Casino Center
Broadcast: Showtime

MAIN CARD

• Champ Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley (for welterweight title)
• Champ Gilbert Melendez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri (for lightweight title)
• Keith Jardine vs. Gegard Mousasi
• Shinya Aoki vs. Lyle Beerbohm

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Robert Peralta vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
• Brett Albee vs. Virgil Zwicker
• Saad Awad vs. Joe Duarte
• A.J. Matthews vs. Herman Terrado
• Edgar Cardenas vs. Rolando Perez
• Casey Ryan vs. Paul Song

This will be the first UFC Strikeforce event since the acquisition took place earlier last month.  Even though there will be no crossover for mma fighters of each respective organization at the moment, there are 3 former UFC fighters in the 4 main cards!

Paul Daley is a very dangerous fighter, but he is not really an intelligent fighter at all.  He hardly ever has a game plan, and just comes out swinging looking for the big finish.  Nick Diaz on the other hand is one of the smartest fighters in mixed martial arts.  He will easily pick away at Semtex and either gain a unanimous victory or put on a easy submission.

Bet on Nick Diaz over Paul Daley at 5Dimes -210 or Bet on Paul Daley over Nick Diaz at Bodog +185

The training partner and close friend of the main event fighter Nick Diaz, Gilbert Melendez is equally as smart of a fighter and shows the true heart it takes to be a champion.  Tatsuya Kawajiri is another fighter with huge heart, but unlike Gilbert it doesn’t always translate into victories.  Japanese fighters have had a very hard time fighting in North America in both the UFC and Strikeforce.  There should not be any exception here as Gilbert is just a little better than Kawajiri all around.  Doubtful that this will end on a stoppage of any kind as neither fighters like to give up.  Gilbert by either a split or close majority decision.

Bet on Gilbert Melendez over Tatsuya Kawajiri at BetUS -220 or Bet on Tatsuya Kawajiri over Gilbert Melendez at Bodog +205

Shinya Aoki is the least frightening looking fighter in the world.  If you met him in a dark alley you would try to steal his lunch money.   With that being said, he can make you scream like a little girl with his wide range of submissions.  Lyle Beerbohm should be no match for Shinya, especially since most of his victories are by submission.  Funny how Lyle’s nickname is Fancy Pants, and thats exactly what Aoki usually wears.

Bet on Shinya Aoki over Lyle Beerbohm at Sportsbook.com -200 or Bet on Lyle Beerbohm over Shinya Aoki at 5Dimes +190

It would be a huge fall from grace if Gegard Mousasi somehow lost to Keith Jardine.  Once considered amongst the best pound for pound fighters in the world, Mousasi will need to win some fights to get back the respect.  The Dean of Mean has upset potential, but half the time when he does fight, he is really bad.  Gegard should win this easily.  The lines for this fight are currently unavailable.

By parlaying these picks at Bodog off a bet of $100, you can win $178.

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Strikeforce Fedor vs Silva picks

Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Silva

Location: East Rutherford, N.J.
Venue: IZOD Center
Broadcast: Showtime and HDNet

Strikeforce betting odds from BetUS

MAIN CARD (Showtime)

• Fedor Emelianenko -500 vs. Antonio Silva (heavyweight-tournament quarterfinals) +300
• Andrei Arlovski -120 vs. Sergei Kharitonov (heavyweight-tournament quarterfinals) -120
• Shane Del Rosario vs. Lavar Johnson (heavyweight-tournament reserve fight)
• Valentijn Overeem vs. Ray Sefo (heavyweight-tournament reserve fight)
• Chad Griggs vs. Gian Villante (heavyweight-tournament reserve fight)

PRELIMINARY CARD (HDNet)

• Igor Gracie vs. John Salgado
• Marc Stevens vs. John Cholish
• Josh LaBerge vs. Anthony Leone*
• Jason McLean vs. Kevin Roddy*

The first round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight grand prix tournament begins.  Though there isn’t much on this card so far other than the 2 tournament fights, tournaments are still exciting nonetheless.  Here is the complete Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight tournament bracket.

It would be cool if a betting site had a bracket style pickem wager, but so far I have not found any yet.  There are a few sites that have odds for winning the tournament.  Though I would not recommend betting on this, as there is no indication on how long this tournament will actually run for, and if it will actually finish at all.  Overall the bracket does not seem very well thought out, arguably you can say that the top 4 fighters are on the left side.    Fedor, Overeem, and Werdum should definately be ranked 1-3 and one of these fighters should definately be on the other side.  As is I’m betting on seeing Barnett vs Overeem in the finals, with Overeem winning in a cake walk in the final to become the Strikeforce M1 Global World Grand Prix Champion

Fedor should hopefully have no problem with the much slower Antonio Silva.  Once Fedor takes him down it should be good night for the big foot.  Theres probably not a more unevenly matched fight in this tournament even though Silva is a good fighter.

On the flip side the other grand prix fight is one of the most even fights as the odds suggest.  Andrei Arlovski still has a glass chin and Sergei Kharitonov can definately bang with the best of them.  The Pitbull can surprise people though but I think the toughness of Sergei will conquer in the end.

– Bet on Strikeforce Grand Prix at BetUS –

For reference here are the odds to win the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix from Bookmaker.com

Fedor Emelianenko +170

Alistair Overeem +180

Josh Barnett +350

Andrei Arlovski +950

Fabricio Werdum +1200

Antonio Silva +1800

Sergei Kharitonov +2000

Brett Rogers +2200

Reserve fighters

Shane Del Rosario +3200

Valentijn Overeem +3500

Lavar Johnson +4000

Ray Levo +5200

Any Fighter Not Listed +3500

Tags: BetUS, Strikeforce Picks, World Grand Prix Tournament
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Strikeforce Diaz vs Cyborg Picks

Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg

Location: San Jose, Calif.
Venue: HP Pavilion
Broadcast: Showtime

Strikeforce Diaz vs Cyborg Odds from 5Dimes

MAIN CARD

• Champ Nick Diaz -335 vs. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos +305 (for welterweight title)
• Champ Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza -220 vs. Robbie Lawler (for middleweight title) +200
• Herschel Walker -350 vs. Scott Carson +260
• Roger Gracie -145 vs. Trevor Prangley+115

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Nate Coy -260 vs. Nate Moore +200
• Isaiah Hill +340 vs. Bobby Stack -465
• Ron Keslar +190 vs. Eric Lawson-250
• Germaine de Randamie vs. Stephanie Webber
• Lucas Gamaza +190 vs. James Terry -250
• Jenna Castillo vs. Charlene Gellner
• Anthony Dariano vs. Alan Perez
• Niko Jackson vs. Ricky Jackson
• Sam Bracamonte vs. Armin Safiari

This is Strikeforce’s first card of 2011.  Even though mma enthusiasts are waiting for their next card (the grand prix heavyweight tournament) next month in New Jersey, this card has a pretty good top 2 fights.

Though this will be an exiting fight, there is no doubt that Nick Diaz is a much better fighter than Cyborg Santos.  Maybe if it were Christine it would be a closer fight.  Diaz is the more technical fighter and will be able to outhit Cyborg somewhere in the 10:1 range.  Diaz can take punches as well.  An upset is a tough pick here, go with Diaz.

The next fight will be much closer.  You can never count Lawler out of a fight, and I think this might be the case in his fight versus Jacare.  Yes Souza is great on the ground, but getting knocked out by an upkick still shows how strong (weak) his chin really is.  Will he be able to take a Ruthless punch?  Not a chance.  Though I think Souza will be winning most of the fight, I expect Robbie to catch him with something late in the fight.

Herschel Walker vs Scott Carson, the fight of 40 year olds.  I think Scott Carson is coming out of retirement to fight here.  Take Herschel to beat this can easily.

Roger Gracie vs Trevor Prangley will be a close fight as well.  Prangley is coming off a win vs another UFC veteran Keith Jardine so he must be feeling pretty good.  Gracie’s BJJ is well Gracie BJJ.  I’m sure he can find a submission somewhere.  This fight will end up on the ground sometime, and Roger will catch Trevor with something.

– Bet on Strikeforce Fights at 5Dimes –

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Strikeforce: Henderson vs Babalu Picks

Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu Picks and Odds

Date: Dec 04, 2010
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Venue: Scottrade Center
Broadcast: Showtime

MAIN CARD

Strikeforce odds from BetUS

* Dan Henderson -260 vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral +200
* Paul Daley -400 vs. Scott Smith +300
* Robbie Lawler -190 vs. Matt Lindland +155
* Mike Kyle +300 vs. Antonio Silva -400
* Benji Radach EV vs. Ovince St. Preux -130

PRELIMINARY CARD

* Fernando Bettega vs. Wayne Phillips
* Justin Lawrence vs. Max Martytniouk
* Terrell Brown vs. Patrick Cummins
* Lee Brousseau vs. Mike Glenn
* Ben Brown vs. J.W. Wright

For some reason as of today not a single sportsbook has put out any odds for Strikeforce Henderson vs Babalu.  Possibly that fighters continue to get pulled off this card due to injury, or possibly that they think everybody will be watching the Ultimate Fighter Finale on the same night anyways and won’t be betting on this Strikeforce card.  Either way here are my picks irregardless of the betting odds, but will definitely update if odds are released.

Dan Henderson is trying to come back from an embarrassing loss to a much smaller Jake Shields.  Babalu is well Babalu… great fighter but doesn’t seem to do well against the top of the class.  Henderson will punish Renato Sobral in this fight.

Everybody is waiting to see Paul Daley vs Scott Smith.  Scott Smith has an iron chin but I don’t know if he will be able to handle the constant barrage of Semtex.  Smith though has that punchers chance and I could see him catching Daley.  But I’m fairly certain that in 7 of 10 fights, Daley takes this.

Robbie Lawler should have a pretty easy fight here, Linland isn’t even competitive anymore.  Pretty sure this will be a boring fight.

Antonio Silva was originally supposed to battle it out vs Alistair Overeem’s brother but instead gets Mike Kyle.  Bump in the road for Big Foot.

Benji Radach vs who???

Too bad we miss out on Herschel Walker’s second fight, would have been interesting to see how much better he has gotten.

Strikeforce Henderson vs Babalu odds will be posted as soon as they are released, and mmabetting.net will let you know exactly where you can bet on strikeforce.

>>> Bet on Strikeforce at BetUS <<<

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