UFC Fight Night Rockhold vs Philippou is set to take place one week from today on January 15th in Duluth, Georgia. It’s not exactly a stacked card, with something to be desired even for a Fight Night card. Rockhold vs Phillippou will be an interesting middleweight bout with the winner moving up the ladder in that division, but other than this main event there isn’t a whole lot of high ranking action taking place on this card.
Luke Rockhold vs Constantinos Philippou
Rockhold is the big -370 favorite heading into this fight and rightfully so. He was riding a 9 fight winning streak that included big Strikeforce victories over both Keith Jardine and Tim Kennedy in 2012 before the UFC decided to welcome Rockhold to the promotion by matching him up against Vitor Belfort. Vitor ended up making quick work of Rockhold, finishing him with an amazing knockout midway through the first round. We all know that Vitor is now getting ready to take on Chris Weidman for the Middleweight title in his next fight, and he also defeated Dan Henderson in even faster time at light heavyweight, so this loss cannot take too much away from Rockhold.
Phillippou may not be as big of a propect in the sport as Rockhold, but he has defeated some decent names such as Uriah Hall, Court McGee and Tim Boetch, although he did lose his last fight to Francis Carmont back in September.
Philippou is going to look to bang in this fight, but he will have to be wary of Rockhold’s submission attacks. I expect Rockhold’s overall MMA game to take over in this one. He is the more accurate striker and technically better on the ground. As long as this doesn’t just turn into an all out brawl Rockhold should be able to win.
Take Rockhold at -370 (5Dimes)
Lorenz Larkin vs Brad Tavares
Larkin beat Robbie Lawler, who is now getting a title shot in the Welterweight division, just over a year ago and recently beat Chris Camozzi. His only loss is to Francis Carmont, who we just talked about having defeated Philippou. He is a Strikeforce standout and has gone 1-1 so far in the UFC. Tavares has won his four recent UFC fights, but they are all over far lesser known opponents and each have been via decision. He is able to push the pace, but his inability to finish fights have kept him from garnering a ton of attention in the UFC. Now that doesn’t mean he won’t win this fight too. His only loss was via a decision to Aaron Simpson at UFC 132.
My favorite bet for this fight is the over 2.5 rounds. Tavares has never been finished and he doesn’t have the ability to finish very easily either. Lorenz has also had his last 3 fights finish by decision, and 5 of his last 6. I expect these guys to bang it out, but for the fight to go the distance.
Take Over 2.5 -175 (5Dimes)
Mike Easton vs T.J. Dillashaw
Mike Easton has lost two straight, although the last loss was a split decision, so he needs to get in the win column tonight. Unfortunately for him he is up against a strong bantamweight propect in T.J. Dillashaw who is also coming off a split decision loss. Dillashaw’s only other loss was to John Dodson in the TUF 14 Finale, and as we all know Dodson is now one of the top dogs in the bantamweight division. Even though he’s a big favorite I have to give the edge to Dillashaw in this one. Team Alpha Male has done extremely well lately and I expect another win for that team in a weeks time.
Take Dillashaw -300 (5Dimes)
Constantinos Philippou betting • Luke Rockhold betting • ufc • UFC Fight Night betting