Edgar leads the undercard charge below Silva at UFC 162
Published:Anderson Silva against Chris Weidman is a worthy headline act at UFC 162 with the UFC middleweight title on the line, but there are some appealing bouts also taking place on the undercard.
Three of these undercard fights are below and Frankie Edgar’s quest to get back among the champions is particularly interesting.
Frankie Edgar to beat Charles Oliviera @ 2/9
Frankie Edgar may well be coming into this on the back of a three-fight losing streak, but it is worth noting that these were all in title bouts and with different judges scoring them, he could have easily won all three.
Edgar can sometimes start slowly and he will have to avoid doing this here now that he is back over three rounds for the first time since 2009, but he still looks the most likely winner.
Oliviera simply has to get the fight to the ground if he is to triumph and given that he hasn’t previously looked the most resourceful when hit, there is a possibility that he could fold tamely.
Roger Gracie to beat Tim Kennedy @ 13/10
The legacy of the Gracie family is based around winning by submission in the Octogon and Roger is bidding to become the fourth member of the family to succeed in this way.
Like Gracie, Tim Kennedy is also making his UFC debut here despite spending over a decade in MMA and it will be interesting to see the strategy he employs. Naturally he would prefer to utilise his wrestling, but against Gracie’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he could come unstuck.
Dennis Siver to beat Cub Swanson @ 19/10
Unlike the above bout, this featherweight clash will almost certainly not go to ground, as Cub Swanson and Dennis Siver are among the best strikers in the division.
The winner could well jump to the head of the queue for a title shot against reigning champ Jose Aldo and the key will be whether Siver can keep a wide distance to land his superior kicks.
Picking the winner is a tough call and Siver is the clear value pick at the prices, especially as he is naturally the bigger man.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
