posted July 6, 2007 at 18:12 EST in UFC / MMA Articles
UFC Betting - UFC 73 at a Glance
by Robby Maddux
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Saturday's UFC 73 is indeed ''Stacked'' which is headlined by three dynamic fights.
Nathan Marquardt vs. Anderson Silva
Anderson “Spider” Silva (-165), opened at -160 against Nate "The Great" Marquardt (+135).
Silva is an expert in muay thai, jiujitsu and boxing and is undefeated in his last four MMA fights. The Brazilian's most impressive victory was a dominating win over Rich ''Ace'' Franklin at UFC 64 to earn the UFC middleweight crown.
Marquardt could be Silva's toughest challenge to date. Marquardt has had much success overseas. He held Japanese promotion Pancrase’s middleweight title multiple times and posts a 28-6-1 professional MMA record.
Marquardt is probably the stronger fighter of the two and has better submissions and takedowns. If Marquardt can set the pace for this bout, he could very well bark as the underdog.
The Huntington Beach Bad Boy, Tito Ortiz, originally opened at -120, but modest action on the undefeated Rashad "Sugar" Evans has both fighters at -115.
Evans, from The Ultimate Fighter series, is 15-0 after knocking out Sean Salmon with a devastating kick to the head in January. Evans has good takedowns backed by a strong takedown defense.
Ortiz last three losses have come against Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture, two of MMA’s top talents. Despite some recent lesser opponents, the former light heavyweight champion is still a very dangerous fighter.
Ortiz has beaten better well-rounded fighters in his career than Evans. This could be the best fight of the night.
Odds for this Saturday’s lightweight title fight between Hermes Franca and current champion Sean "Muscle Shark" Sherk opened at -220, but it has moved above and below its opening number. Sherk is currently list at -280 against Franca, who's +210.
Sherk owns an impressive MMA record of 35-2-1. He uses his overwhelming power and wrestling background to take down his opponents and has the conditioning to go the distance.
Franca is renowned for his ground game and jiujitsu. Most of his victories have come on submissions but his most recent win was a TKO of Spencer Fisher at Fight Night 8.
