Affliction odds for August 1's "Trilogy" car in Anaheim will feature a big main event in every sense of the world, as heavyweight Josh Barnett will try for one of the biggets upsets in MMA betting history when he takes on champion Fedor Emelianenko, who is currently the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter on the globe.
Affliction Betting - Saturday, August 1, 9:00 PM ET
Emelianenko (30-1-1), who is better known as Fedor, has a single loss on his slate from 2000 in his fifth fight, and even that came under scrunity as he was cut by an illegal elbow. Fedor is a frightening combination of speed, agility, technique and power, and it's going to take a special performance to stop him. Fedor has ended six of his last seven fights in the first round, including a knockout of Andrei Arlovski, which was his second straight win over a former UFC heavyweight champion. This followed a 36-second dismantling of Tim Sylvia, which earned Fedor the WAMMA (World Alliance Mixed Martial Arts) championship.
Barnett (24-5) is also a former UFC champion, but he was stripped of his belt in 2002 due to sterioid use. The man they called the "Babyfaced Assassin" has lost three times to Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic in his career, and he's also lost to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, so that makes four losses to fighters that will go down as legends. Barnett will also be going for his second win over an Emelianenko, as he beat Fedor's younger brother Aleksander in 2006. Still, that isn't enough for gambling software to make him a favorite this time out.
Offshore sportsbook odds for this fight have Fedor as a -500 favorite in this contest, and while many are hoping for a superfight with UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, Fedor first has to get past Barnett, who is a monster in his own right and has lots of skills on the ground. This fight won't be as easy as Fedor fans expect, but their man is just too well rounded, and the only way he'll lose is if he is looking past Barnett to Lesnar, which is unlikely given his ability to focus. Make Fedor Emelianenko one of your sportsbook picks on August 1.
--BetOnline.com
Affliction Betting - Saturday, August 1, 9:00 PM ET
Emelianenko (30-1-1), who is better known as Fedor, has a single loss on his slate from 2000 in his fifth fight, and even that came under scrunity as he was cut by an illegal elbow. Fedor is a frightening combination of speed, agility, technique and power, and it's going to take a special performance to stop him. Fedor has ended six of his last seven fights in the first round, including a knockout of Andrei Arlovski, which was his second straight win over a former UFC heavyweight champion. This followed a 36-second dismantling of Tim Sylvia, which earned Fedor the WAMMA (World Alliance Mixed Martial Arts) championship.
Barnett (24-5) is also a former UFC champion, but he was stripped of his belt in 2002 due to sterioid use. The man they called the "Babyfaced Assassin" has lost three times to Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic in his career, and he's also lost to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, so that makes four losses to fighters that will go down as legends. Barnett will also be going for his second win over an Emelianenko, as he beat Fedor's younger brother Aleksander in 2006. Still, that isn't enough for gambling software to make him a favorite this time out.
Offshore sportsbook odds for this fight have Fedor as a -500 favorite in this contest, and while many are hoping for a superfight with UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, Fedor first has to get past Barnett, who is a monster in his own right and has lots of skills on the ground. This fight won't be as easy as Fedor fans expect, but their man is just too well rounded, and the only way he'll lose is if he is looking past Barnett to Lesnar, which is unlikely given his ability to focus. Make Fedor Emelianenko one of your sportsbook picks on August 1.
--BetOnline.com
