posted July 15, 2008 at 15:14 in UFC / MMA Betting Trends

BetUS Sportsbook betting fans who bet on mixed martial arts will have a choice on Saturday night (July 19). The brand-new Affliction: Banned promotion will be staging its first show in Anaheim with Fedor Emilianenko in the main event against Tim Sylvia. If there is an equal to Fedor as far as pound-for-pound consideration in the mixed martial arts world is concerned, it is UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. The UFC is going to engage in some counter-programming on Saturday, airing a non-title light heavyweight fight with Silva against James Irvin directly opposite the Affliction:Banned card, which is on pay-per-view.

BetUS UFC Betting Odds

Light heavyweights
July 19 -- Las Vegas

ANDERSON SILVA -500
JAMES IRVIN +350

For sports betting purposes, let's look at the contestants:

SILVA (21-4, 12 KO's), the -500 favorite in the BetUS mixed martial arts betting odds, was a champion in the PRIDE organization before coming to the UFC. He has also fought in Cage Rage and was the Shooto middleweight champion. His UFC debut was in June of 2006 with a devastating KO of Chris Leben. Immediately after that there were plans to insert him into a middleweight match, and he made good against Rich Franklin, stopping the double-tough Franklin on strikes in less than three minutes. He has defended that title three times (one scheduled title match was a non-title affair when Travis Lutter couldn't make weight), including a rematch with Franklin which went into the second round before Franklin was stopped. Last time out (March 1), Silva competed in a genuine "superfight" with former PRIDE welterweight and middleweight champion Dan Henderson and scored a submission via rear naked choke in the second round. Silva is a fighter who can take opponents out with blows, and can also subdue them on the ground with his expertise in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He belongs to a star-studded stable that includes the Nogueira brothers, Vitor Belfort and undefeated Lyoto Machida. There are many credible sources who rank Silva the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world today.

IRVIN (14-4, 1 ND, 10 KO's), the +350 underdog at BetUS Sportsbook, is another one of those wild men from Huntington Beach, California, which has also produced the likes of Tito Ortiz and Tank Abbott. The 29-year-old currently fights out of Sacramento. He made his mixed martial arts debut in the Gladiator Challenge in 2003 with a first-round TKO of Bo Cantrell, and won his first seven bouts, all inside the distance. One of those fights was a TKO of the capable Scott Smith. Perhaps Irvin's most memorable fight came in his last bout - an eight-second knockout of Houston Alexander, who had previously knocked out Keith Jardine. Irvin's last defeat was at UFC 71 (May of last year), where he suffered a knee injury about a minute into the fight. Irvin is known to have engaged in more than a few donnybrooks in his career.

What makes this matchup intriguing, among other things, is that Silva is moving up in weight for this bout. Irvin is naturally bigger, and is in fact the former WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) champion. And with that size he brings power.

Someone like me is always looking for some kind of boxing analogy, and in this case it would be kind of like the puncher versus the boxer-puncher. Irvin is generally regarded as a one-dimensional fighter, although that single dimension - his ability to punch - can not be discounted. If he hits an opponent, he can do a lot of damage. His KO over Alexander was achieved with a "Superman punch," in which he cocked his right leg back, as if to wind up for a kick, only to come with a big right cross. Game over. And in August of 2005 he took Terry Martin out in nine seconds of the second round with a flying knee that landed right on the button. He is unpredictable, and potentially devastating. Obviously his best chance here will be to keep the bout in stand-up mode, and hope that he can catch Silva making a mistake.

But Silva is enough of a veteran to avoid that mistake. In addition, he is arguably the most versatile mixed martial arts fighter alive. There are many in the MMA community who believe he is as dangerous with his striking capabilities as anyone, having bested plenty of world-class fighters in that fashion (as he did twice with Franklin). And he has the added strength of being able to use his Jiu-Jitsu abilities to be a deadly ground fighter. He is much more well-rounded than his opponent. And ultimately that, together with a considerable edge in experience will be the difference here. Irvin is a dangerous underdog, but we're not getting a good enough price on him. We'll take Silva, the -500 favorite in the BetUS mixed martial arts betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: SILVA TO WIN (-500) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

Do you like to bet boxing and mixed martial arts? Well, you have come to the right place! With the BetUS Sportsbook, you won't get "boxed in" when it comes to betting on combat sports. Whether it's boxing action or mixed martial arts mayhem, when you join up with us at BetUS, you'll never find yourself down for the count!

(Charles Jay of www.ebookies.com is a former manager, matchmaker and color commentator in professional boxing. He currently pulls no punches in the BetUS Locker Room)