UFC 116 Betting Picks – Overzealous Leben Faces Akiyama
Showing grit and desire is sometimes a lot different than showing tempered measures of sanity and intelligence.
Chris Leben throttled Aaron Simpson just over two weeks ago at the TUF11 Finale and has thrust himself back in to the octagon to fight Yashihiro Akiyama with almost no time to spare.
Good decision or dumb one?
Akiyama isn’t a big name on this side of the world in UFC and MMA betting, as he’s spent the majority of his career fighting in Japan.
The 34-year old is an accomplished Judo champion, but has also registered 5 knockouts in his MMA career. He won a split decision over Alan Belcher at UFC 100, a bout which took home “Fight of the Night” bonuses.
Wanderlei Silva was supposed to be the main man in the cage against the Japanese judo specialist.
Akiyama has held out on the UFC, basically forcing Dana White to force the fight. However, Wanderlei suffered fractured ribs during training and the UFC scrambled to find a replacement so late in the game.
Luckily, Chris Leben isn’t exactly the brightest guy on the block. Thankfully, he’s also the most desperate guy in the middleweight division.
Yashihiro Akiyama (13-1, 2NC) vs. Chris Leben (20-6)
Saturday, July 3rd — MGM Grand — 9:00pm EST
UFC Betting Lines: Akiyama -235 / Leben +185
Leben peaked two weeks ago against Simpson, and his body is used to having at least six weeks of prep time to fight.
There all sorts of biomechanical factors going against Leben at UFC 116, but the fact that he has never been a polished ground assault defender has led to a lopsided betting line.
Always willing to prove that he’s worthy of a presence on the main card, Leben was the only guy that threw his name in to the hat with such a tight window of time to prepare for the fight.
I’m not sure if that makes him the most opportunistic guy, but I’m pretty sure it solidifies his place as the most idiotic. He probably forget to look up the fact that Yashihiro Akiyama’s wrestling is better than anything that Leben can defend against.
Akiyama also possesses a definitive 5-inch reach advantage in this fight, and while Leben is usually an impossible guy to knockout, blows to the head have started to catch up to him. In any phase of this fight, Leben is going to be fighting for his life.
The favorite gets the win and Leben gets sent back down to purgatory, which is a damn shame because if he had just been patient enough he would’ve lined up a better matchup down the road revitalizing his staggered career.
Instead, it’s over and out for Leben this weekend.
Furious UFC 116 Betting Picks – Akiyama -235 via Submission
Comments
Tell me what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
Best SportBook
