The UFC went to sleep for a month but wetted our appetites last Sunday with the Jon Jones fight and will kick things into high gear at UFC 117 this Saturday. The fight card includes some of the sport\u2019s most colorful personalities, including Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen and Roy Nelson.<\/p>\n
Event<\/strong>: UFC 117: Silva vs Sonnen UFC 117 is probably 2010\u2019s most stacked event thus far, so you don\u2019t want to miss it \u2013 or miss betting on it. Time to make some picks.<\/p>\n UFC 117 odds: Silva -420, Sonnen +320<\/p>\n When the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world meets the top trash talker in mixed martial arts, fireworks should ensue. Anderson Silva has been the UFC\u2019s most untouchable fighter for the last four years, breezing through the competition and setting the UFC record for consecutive title defenses with six in the middleweight division.<\/p>\n Despite his amazing speed, Muay Thai striking ability and grappling skills, Silva has lost plenty of fans lately. He practically refused to engage Demian Maia in his last bout, doing the bare minimum to score a decision and irking the fans. He also pissed off his UFC 117 challenger: Chael Sonnen. The outspoken, Olympic-level wrestler can\u2019t stand Silva and has spent the last few months telling the whole world that.<\/p>\n Sonnen believes Silva doesn\u2019t even want to fight and that he can use his wrestling to take him down and pound him out. But I\u2019m not convinced that will happen. Anderson Silva only mails it in against weak opponents. His most lackluster efforts came against Maia, Thales Leites and Patrick Cote \u2013 all of whom were considered cupcake matchups and almost undeserving of their title shots.<\/p>\n Silva saves his spectacular efforts for the top-notch opponents. Look at what he did to Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, and Rich Franklin (twice). Sonnen, who has won five of his last six fights, is an elite opponent. He\u2019ll bring out the best in Silva, who should win in eye-popping fashion. Expect a big knockout.<\/p>\n Pick: Silva -420<\/p>\n UFC 117 odds: Nelson +260, Dos Santos -320<\/p>\n Hard to believe the perpetual underdog Roy Nelson is one win away from a title shot. The portly heavyweight, known for rubbing his belly and demanding cheeseburgers, was a laughing stock just a year ago. But he\u2019s been on a tear since then, winning\u00a0The Ultimate Fighter<\/em> and viciously knocking out Brendan Schaub and Stefan Struve. Nelson\u2019s looks are deceiving; he has good cardio for his size, sort of like an offensive lineman, his Jiu-Jitsu is great and he has heavy hands. But I\u2019m still not sure he can overcome the mountain that is Junior Dos Santos. The big Brazilian is a devastating knockout machine and he hasn\u2019t rolled though powder puffs either. He made short work of legit fighters like Fabricio Werdum, Mirko Cro Cop, Gilbert Yvel and Gabriel Gonzaga.<\/p>\n Nelson is on a nice run but he\u2019s struggled against athletic heavyweights in the past. Andrei Arlovski knocked him out and Dos Santos is almost like a young Arlovski with a better chin.<\/p>\n Pick: Dos Santos -320<\/p>\n UFC 117 odds: Fitch -110, Alves -120<\/p>\n This fight deserves more attention. Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves are champion-caliber fighters at 170 pounds. Combined, they\u2019re 27-2 in their last 29 fights, with each guy each losing once \u2013 to Georges St-Pierre.<\/p>\n This is a rematch; Fitch knocked out Alves four years ago. The big question is whether or not either fighter has changed much since the last meeting. Fitch still relies on his dominant wrestling; Alves still wins via powerful Muay Thai striking. I think Fitch will do what GSP did to Alves (and him for that matter); he\u2019ll grab onto Alves, bully him and take him down. He can handle Alves\u2019 attacks, as he has a fantastic chin. Fitch by decision.<\/p>\n Pick: Fitch -110<\/p>\n Main card<\/strong><\/p>\n Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen Preliminary card<\/strong><\/p>\n Welterweight bout: Dustin Hazelett vs. Rick Story <\/strong> Looking for some inside UFC 117 betting info? UFC 117 Odds to Win for all the matchups, plus the full UFC 117 fight card for this week’s Ultimate fighting championship in Oakland, CA…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":24558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1436],"tags":[31886,31887,471,31884,31885,909,28641,31897,31896,31888,31889,31890,31891,31892,31893,31894,31895,3365],"class_list":["post-24556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fight-club","tag-anderson-silva-vs-chael-sonnen-picks","tag-anderson-silva-vs-chael-sonnen-predictions","tag-free-picks","tag-nelson-dos-santos-lines","tag-nelson-dos-santos-odds","tag-oakland","tag-official-fight-card","tag-oracle-arena","tag-roy-nelson-vs-junior-dos-santos-picks","tag-silva-sonnen-lines","tag-silva-sonnen-odds","tag-silva-vs-sonnen","tag-ufc-117-betting","tag-ufc-117-betting-odds","tag-ufc-117-fight-card","tag-ufc-117-odds-to-win","tag-ufc-117-picks","tag-ultimate-fighting-championship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24556"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25384,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24556\/revisions\/25384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nDate<\/strong>: Saturday, August 7, 2010
\nTime<\/strong>: 10PM ET\/7PM PT
\nLocation<\/strong>: Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.
\nBroadcast<\/strong>: Pay-per-view
\nBet On UFC 117<\/strong>: CLICK HERE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/ufc-117-odds-150x150.jpg\")
<\/p>\nUFC MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Anderson Silva (26-4) vs Chael Sonnen (24-10)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Roy Nelson (16-4) vs Junior Dos Santos (11-1)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/media.partners.betus.com\/BANNERS\/ufc\/sportsbook_ufc_300x600_mybanner.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\nJon Fitch (22-3, 1 NC) vs Thiago Alves (16-6)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Official fight card<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nWelterweight bout: Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves
\nLightweight bout: Clay Guida vs. Rafael dos Anjos
\nWelterweight bout: Matt Hughes vs. Ricardo Almeida
\nHeavyweight bout: Roy Nelson vs. Junior dos Santos<\/p>\n
\nLight Heavyweight bout: Phil Davis vs. Rodney Wallace
\nLight Heavyweight bout: Tim Boetsch vs. Todd Brown
\nWelterweight bout: Johny Hendricks vs. Charlie Brenneman
\nHeavyweight bout: Stefan Struve vs. Christian Morecraft
\nWelterweight bout: Ben Saunders vs. Dennis Hallman<\/p>\nReady to Bet on UFC 117 Odds at BETUS.COM?? We’ll give you $75 FREE if you join today – CLICK HERE NOW!!!! Enjoy all the UFC 117 matchups folks!<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"