Posted on 4/20/2007 8:03:16 PM

UFC 70 Betting - Bisping Vs. Sinosic

By John A. Edwards

The UFC returns to the UK this Saturday at the MEN Arena in Manchester. UFC 70: Nations Collide has an impressive fight card. The main draw in the Octagon is Mirko Cro Cop Vs. Gabriel Gonzaga. The undercard will not disappoint either; Andrei Arlovski Vs. Fabricio Werdum will be an explosive encounter. BetUS.com have the best odds for UFC 70 so place your bets now for one of the most anticipated battles of the year.

One fight I can't wait to see at UFC70 is Michael Bisping Vs. Elvis Sinosic in a Light-Heavyweight match-up. I became a fan of Michael "The Count" Bisping during Ultimate Fighter 3 (TUF 3). He had the right no-nonsence attitude throughout that show and he rightly won it, earning himself a six-fight UFC contract in the process by beating Josh Haynes in the final.

That was back in June of last year and we haven't seen him fight much since. He was originally scheduled to fight Eric Schafer back in November on the TUF 4 finale card. Apparently "The Count" was refused entry back into the US for the fight due to VISA issues. It wasn't until December 30th at UFC 66 that we got to see Bisping in action again. Bisping disposed of Schafer in 4.29 of round 1. He comes into this bout unbeaten with a 13-0 MMA record.

Bisping was born in Cyprus, but raised in the UK, and now makes his home in Clitheroe, England. Bisping's nickname, "The Count", apparently refers to the fact that his grandfather was a count in Poland before World War 2. Bisping can expect no royal treatment in the Octagon however. His opponent is 36 year-old Australian Elvis "the King of Rock N Rumble" Sinosic.

Sinosic has a 8-9-2 record and recently won at Cage Rage 19 - "Fearless" with an armbar at 2.37 of the first round against Mark Epstein. On Sinosic's own website he claims to have trained in various arts for the last 20 years. Sinosic is an MMA veterean. In 2000, he had a close five round decision loss to Frank Shamrock. He made his UFC debut in 2001, defeating Jeremy Horn by armbar at UFC 30. Sinosic was then offered a match with Tito Ortiz, the then UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion, at UFC 32 but was defeated in the first round via TKO. He has since fought several times in the UFC, with matches against Evan Tanner, Renato Sobral, Forrest Griffin, and recently Alessio Sakara at UFC 57. Despite losses to Sobral at UFC 38 in 2002 and Sakara in 2006, Sinosic will be no walkover. This match-up will possibly be Bisping's toughest test in the UFC so far.

"The Count" trained in jiu-jitsu and kickboxing before taking up full-time training in MMA. His impressive list of titles include: Cage Warriors World Champion, FX3 World Champion, former Cage Rage British Champion, three-time British Super Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion, and Silver medalist in the Jiu-Jitsu World Championships at the age of 16. He claims to have done lots of 'crappy' jobs before quiting his most recent job as an upholsterer, to became a full-time pro fighter.

Bisping has won all but two of his fights via strikes, and will prefer a stand-up fight. Hopefully he will try to knockout Sinosic with a few of those devastating strikes. We might even be lucky enough to see one of those flying-knees which connected with fellow-Brit Ross Pointon in the TUF 3 semi-final. Bisping will fight in front of an expected capacity home crowd of 18,000 at the MEN Arena in Manchester this Saturday.

I for one will be counting on him to knock out Sinosic when the pair do battle at UFC 70.

Bisping is currently the favorite at -600. Get the latest odds for UFC 70 at BetUS.com.

UFC 70  is taking place on Saturday, April 21st and is being aired for free on Spike TV.

John A. Edwards is a freelance writer for BetUS.com and features regularly on Fight News.