UFC 106 Welterweight Battle - Marcus Davis vs. Ben Saunders

While Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade”  Davis' true standing as an Irishman has been debated, one things' for sure: the former pro boxer sure can fight like one.
Davis is coming off of a tough decision loss to Dan Hardy, but that was a close, hard-fought fight against a title contender in the UFC Welterweight Division and Davis learned a lot from the loss.

Davis is no spring chicken but he still has the reflexes and explosion of a much younger man. The former Ultimate Fighter contestant will take on a fellow TUF alum at UFC 106 against Ben “Killa B” Saunders, a long, rangy welterweight who is coming off of a tough loss to Mike Swick in which he looked outclassed.

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The gravity of the moment seemed to be too much for Saunders in that Swick fight as an underdog, but we should be a more well-rounded and confident Saunders in this fight against Davis if all goes according to plan in the Octagon in Las Vegas.

The oddsmakers have Saunders listed as a +180 underdog to -230 for Davis, based mainly on the fact that the favorite Davis has the knockout power to put Saunders down for good at any point.

But Saunders will have a height advantage and maybe a slight advantage in the clinch and on the ground as the underdog, giving him myriad ways to finish the fight as well in his arsenal.

Davis is no slouch on the ground either, however, and while he doesn't have the smoothest transitions or the most incredible flexibility, he has been known to slap a submission on a battered opponent at a moment's notice.

The betting community might struggle with this one because you never know when a guy like Davis' advanced age will catch up to him as the favorite, and while the underdog Saunders has a chance to pull the betting upset, the judges might not favor him in a close match with the popular striker Davis.

Putting all that aside, however, and going on instinct as a bettor, it seems like Saunders is a good upset pick here because of his size, versatility, and the lessons he learned in losing to a similar fighter in Mike Swick in his previous fight as an underdog in the UFC.

With that in mind, the prediction here for this fight is that Saunders controls things from the clinch, landing a few knees and also using the jab to keep Davis at a distance before pulling out a win.

The pick: Ben Saunders (-180) by split decision.