UFC 105 Picks - Ross Pearson (+160) vs. Aaron Riley (-200)

Ross Pearson Gets Ugly Welcome to UFC Against Aaron Riley

Congrats to Ross Pearson, the other victor from “The Ultimate Fighter 9”, for a stellar win. Now you get to face a grizzled veteran in Aaron Riley who has a 28-11 SU record at just 28-years of age. Riley got revenge on Shane Nelson by unanimous decision at UFC 101 and looks to build on his momentum after going 2-1 SU since entering the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Experience aside, Pearson is fresh off his reality TV appearances and Riley’s career has taken a serious toll on him. He may be young, but he’s got some serious mileage on his body.

What I love about Ross Pearson is his relentlessness. In the finale of TUF Season 9, he was non stop against Andre Winner and continued to maul his opponent throughout the fight. He’s proven to be a dynamic killer by notching knock-outs and submissions en route to his decision against Winner in Vegas. At home, he’ll feed off the energy of the home crowd and pressure Riley in to a corner for the entire fight.

Aaron Riley is a very good fighter, but I’m not sure he has the tank to keep up with a motivated, 25-year old Pearson. The road to redemption in the UFC has been sweet for Riley. He avenged a controversial TKO against Shane Nelson to outlast him by a unanimous decision and wasted no time in booking his next match so he could better prove himself. But Riley is quickly fading amongst a surge of new UFC talent that are fresher and hungrier than him.

Pearson’s winning strategy will be to pepper Riley throughout the fight and then attack him with feverish abandon to delight the home crowd and take Riley out of his gameplan. The smart UFC betting pick here is Pearson, whose seemingly endless gas tank will prove to be the winner here. If he doesn’t finish it in the final round, he’ll prove to the judges that he wanted to be molesting an exhausted Riley who won’t have the quick step we’re accustomed to seeing from him.

Furious Free Pick: Ross Pearson (+160) over Aaron Riley (-200)