But if you’re limited on time or funds and can only focus on a few of the many mind-blowing UFC 117 betting matchups, here’s a couple to consider.

Obviously, you’d have to have brain damage to miss out on the Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen Main Event. On paper this fight may not look all that interesting considering that Silva should clean the Octagon mat with Sonnen. Silva hasn’t lost a UFC odds bout since 2006 and has won his last 12 bouts. Sonnen is a middleweight punching bag and with a 24-10 career MMA record he’s no match for arguably the greatest MMA fighter of the past decade. But what makes this UFC 117 betting matchup so intriguing is the fact that Silva might just throw the fight or at least refuse to fight and walk away from the UFC odds competition once and for all. At least that’s one of many rumors on the online wagering blogosphere so you don’t want to miss this.

Another matchup that could open people’s eyes is the dos Santos vs. Nelson fight. Dos Santos has all the makings of the next big star in the UFC odds fighting but he’ll need a convincing win against Nelson to make a serious case for a shot at the title against heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar.

Also check out the Clay Guida vs. Rafael dos Anjos fight in the UFC 117 betting main card. Dos Anjos is a fighter on the rise and could become a serious contender in the lightweight class. Guida isn’t much of a talent but he’s a fighter and his matches are always entertaining. There should be plenty of blows exchanged in this UFC odds matchup and the veteran Guida should give dos Anjos all he can handle.

The headlining bout for the UFC 117 action is obviously the Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen bout. This Main Event has been hyped up as much as any other UFC betting matchup and fans are dying to see what happens when Silva gets back into the Octagon.

As most UFC betting fans know, this will be the first time that Silva will be stepping into the Octagon to defend his title after one of the most bizarre MMA betting matches in history. Silva, the top pound for pound fighter in sports betting and arguably one of the most talented MMA fighters in history perplexed the sports betting public in his last match by failing to engage a much lesser ranked opponent.

Not only did Silva fail to engage his opponent but he ran from him in the Octagon for most of the match and hurling insults and acting crazy. He won the match by decision quite easily after landing some early shots but he impressed no one and infuriated many UFC betting fans.

And to say that UFC president Dana White was furious would be a major understatement. That’s why there’s so much for this UFC 117 betting match featuring the champ and an obviously inferior opponent in Sonnen.

All things being equal, Silva should make mince-meat of Sonnen and on fighting skills alone the UFC 117 betting odds for this fight should provoke little interest. But there are many sports betting fans that are predicting all kinds of wild results including an outcome in which Silva acts crazy again in the Octagon to earn a dismissal from White (which he already declared would happen) in order to get out of his UFC contract.

But nobody knows for sure what will go down in the UFC 117 betting action and that’s exactly what makes it all so interesting.

But the meat and potatoes of any UFC odds contest are always the Preliminary Card. This is where the up and coming superstars of MMA betting, the fighters that will one day be featured in the Main Events, are given the chance to showcase their talents and let the sports betting world know what they’re all about.

In the UFC 117 betting prelim card there are a number of intriguing fighters trying to fight their way onto the Main Card. What stands out among this crew of MMA betting combatants is the fact that there are so many Welterweight bouts. In fact, if you like to wager on welterweights than this is the UFC odds event for you.

Three of the six prelim fights at the UFC 117 betting event are all welterweight matchups. Dustin Hazelett vs. Rick Story leads off the event followed by another all American matchup between Charlie Brenneman and Johny Hendricks and the third and final fight is another spar between Americans Ben Saunders and Dennis Hallman.

Granted these six fighters from the US aren’t exactly the most intriguing bunch of welterweights in the history of the UFC betting action but between these three UFC 117 betting matchups MMA fans are in for a real treat.

Rick Story is a talented fighter and with a win would not only be bumped back to UFC Main Card status but could also be back in the mix for a UFC title shot with another win or two. But the most exciting of this bunch of welterweights in no doubt Johny Hendricks. This Oklahoma native is an exciting young fighter that like most Americans in MMA has a wrestling background. SO far through eight MMA betting bouts he’s a perfect 8-0, including his three most recent UFC odds events.

It might not be that farfetched to see Hendricks headlining his own UFC betting event in the near future.

Silva is considered one of the best fighters in the UFC but in recent bouts he has not been very impressive and has drawn the wrath of UFC president Dana White.  Silva should have no trouble getting motivated for this fight with White on his case and with Sonnen running his mouth.  This will be Silva’s record seventh defense of his middleweight title. Sonnen has ripped into Silva in recent weeks criticizing his style, his record and even calling him a “dummy.” When Silva is motivated he is one of the best fighters that the UFC has ever seen and he should be highly motivated on Saturday night. Silva has won 12 straight fights and looks to be in a different class than Sonnen both in the ring and out of the ring.

The main card in UFC 117 also includes what should be an excellent fight between Thiago Alves and Jon Fitch.  The two are a notch below Georges St. Pierre but then again so is every other fighter. Alves is -130 in this bout against Fitch.

Also on the main card it is Junior Dos Santos trying to take his UFC betting record to 6-0 as he faces Roy Nelson.  This bout should be exciting for as long as it lasts with each fighter throwing big punches. Nelson may not want to trade punches with Dos Santos. Nelson has strong wrestling skills but he has been talking about mixing it up with Dos Santos and that would be a mistake. All but one of Dos Santo’s career fights have ended in the first round. The winner of this bout could get a title shot against Brock Lesnar or Cain Velasquez. Dos Santos is more than a 3-1 favorite vs. Nelson.

Also on the main card it will be Matt Hughes facing Ricardo Almeida and Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Clay Guida.  The UFC odds favor Almeida who has won four of his last five bouts while the bout between Dos Anjos and Guida is basically a pick.

The preliminary card at UFC 117 has Rick Story vs. Dustin Hazelett, Phil Davis vs. Rodney Wallace, Todd Brown vs. Tim Boetsch, Johny Hendricks vs. Charlie Brenneman, Christian Morecraft vs. Stefan Struve and Ben Saunders vs. Dennis Hallman.

But it’s not the quality of the fighters or the competition in the UFC odds action that has so many MMA fans juiced up about the upcoming UFC 117 betting event.

The reason why the MMA universe is focused on the UFC 117 Main Event is middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Silva usually attracts a huge audience and many UFC odds fans every time he fights, but this time it’s different. Silva is arguably the greatest MMA fighter in history. He has dominated the middleweight class since winning the title going 12 fights without a loss and it’s been years since he’s even been challenged.

And, of course, sports fans love a winner and this guy is as close to perfection in the Octagon as any fighter has ever been.

But the fans aren’t watching to see Silva whip up on another tomato UFC tomato can.

No sir.

Fans want to see if Silva will get completely nuts again and lose his mind as he faces has-been Chael Sonnen. Sonnen poses no challenge whatsoever to Silva but based on the champs antics the last time he was in the Octagon it’s hard to say exactly what will happen once the UFC 117 betting action gets underway.

Back in April, the last time Silva set foot in the Octagon he whipped up on Brazilian opponent Demian Maia for a round or two and then refused to engage the fighter, choosing to hurl insults instead of blows and run around the ring like a decapitated chicken.

He still won the fight, with ease, but in doing so he earned the ire of UFC president Dana White who threatened to toss him out of the UFC is he acted that way again.

What’s interesting about White’s threat is that it may be exactly what Silva wants and so the whole world waits to see how Silva responds to White’s words and the interest level in the UFC 117 action continues to rise.

Silva has been the best fighter in the UFC odds for several years now and since claiming the middleweight division as his own personal MMA betting kingdom has yet to lose a UFC odds matchup. That’s a reign spanning 12 matches an nearly five years. In fact, you would have to all the way back January of 2006 to find a blemish on this phenomenal fighter’s MMA betting résumé and for the record, he has never lost a UFC odds fight.

Clearly there is no one else like Silva in the sport right now, and that could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how look at it, but what every MMA betting fan wants to know is: Who will be the next big MMA betting star in the UFC odds action?

There’s two up and coming fighters in the UFC 117 betting action that are still a long way off from becoming the next Anderson Silva and perhaps even a long way off from getting a UFC title shot, but have all the potential in the world.

The first fighter is heavyweight Junior do Santos (18-0) who coincidentally trains with Silva. He’s a huge man who at 6’4” fights in the heavyweight class at a relatively light 265 lbs. But the lack of bulk adds to his quickness and fitness and in contrast to the top heavyweights at the moment (Lesnar, Mir, and Carwin) dos Santos is a skilled martial artist, not a brawler. With a win over Roy Nelson in the UFC 117 betting action he could be right around the corner from a shot at the UFC odds champ Lesnar for the heavyweight title.

The second fighter is relatively unknown welterweight named Johny Hendricks but with a perfect professional MMA record of 8-0 and wrestling champion pedigree this guy could be one of the main players in the welterweight odds for years to come.

Akiyama is relatively new to the MMA betting scene and at age 34 has a rather small body of MMA betting work to look over. He has a record of 13-1 in his MMA career which he only took up in 2004. He suffered his only loss in 2005 and since then he’s been undefeated at various levels of the MMA betting world including a UFC betting matchup against Alan Belcher in the UFC 110 competition.

But while his body of work might be small this is a fighter with huge potential. His background in the martial arts is second to none and he’s won two gold medals in the Asian Games and Asian Championships in Judo. He’s also honed his mat skills over the past few years fighting in Japan and the US.

His opponent in the upcoming UFC 116 betting competition is Chris “the Crippler” Leben who’s just 5-5 over his past 10 UFC betting matches and is 0-4 in his UFC Main Event fights. He is at best a prelim card fighter and Akiyama should have his way with him when they meet up in the UFC 116 competition.

Leben is actually nothing more than a body to fill in for Wanderlei Silva who was originally supposed to fight Akiyama in the Main Event. However broken ribs prevented his participation in this UFC odds event so now Akiyama will get to use Leben as punching bag.

Already a huge star in Japan, Akiyama should be a hugely marketable star for the UFC on an international level and could become the next great Middleweight contender in the UFC betting action. And his rise to the top will start with his UFC 116 betting matchup in Las Vegas.

There should be little doubt after Liddell’s disappointing loss to Rich Franklin the recent UFC Main Event that his days as a competitor in the UFC odds competition are numbered. How else do you make sense of what happened in Vancouver? One loss alone doesn’t necessarily spell the end for an MMA betting contender and many big names have bounced back from a loss to have terrific careers.

But Liddell is different. He’s already has about as much success as any fighter in UFC betting history. But he’s now a 40-year old man and his skills are no longer good enough to fight in a UFC betting Main Event, or even an undercard for that matter.

Franklin, no spring chicken himself at 36 years of age, made mincemeat of ‘Ice Man’ defeating him in the first round of their much-hyped UFC 115 betting matchup. And it wasn’t just any defeat, but a KO 4:52 into the first round. And it was a very familiar result for the once unbeatable Liddell as he’s had very limited success in the past few years of his UFC betting career.

When you start getting embarrassed by the likes of Rich Franklin it’s time to hang up the trunks. And no offense to Franklin, who seemed to be in excellent shape, the most recent loss by Liddell is simply the latest defeat in a long list.

Over his past 6 fights Liddell has just one win. And that was hardly any masterpiece. It was a unanimous decision over UFC betting punching bag Wanderlei Silva, who at one point in his UFC betting career was a legitimate fighter, but now has turned into an easy win for almost any opponent.

The 5 losses over that three-year span have not been pretty either. Aside from a split decision loss to Keith Jardine all the other UFC betting losses have been by Knock Out.

Liddell is no longer a viable UFC fighter and for his own sake it’s time for him to retire.

In the history of UFC betting there have been any numbers of great heavyweight champions that have enjoyed success in the ring and acclaim by critics. Some have even been inducted into the UFC betting Hall of Fame.

But none of them have had the potential to become as big a superstar or as dominant a fighter as Lesnar will have if successful in his UFC 116 odds event. Lesnar is bigger, stronger, faster and better athlete than any of the great UFC betting heavyweight champions of the past.

And he’s also got a lot more name recognition than even the most successful of UFC odds champs in this weight division have ever had. A well known figure around thanks to his days as a performer in the WWE circus he brings a level of celebrity into the Octagon that no heavyweight fighter ever has.

Right now the only thing that stands between Lesnar and total domination of the UFC odds competition in the heavyweight class is Shane Carwin. Carwin is a good looking fighter in his own right and has a perfect 12-0 record in the MMA betting up to this point in his career. But he’s never faced the level of competition that Lesnar has in his previous UFC betting matches and he’s never faced a fighter like Lesnar.

The thing about Lesnar that’s so scary for UFC betting opponents and so intriguing for MMA betting fans is the fact that he hasn’t even scratched the surface of his talent or his capabilities as cage fighter.

He’s only fought in 5 MMA betting matches to this point and already he’s picked up the world heavyweight title belt. Granted his 4-1 lifetime record doesn’t seem all that impressive on paper, but consider that his wins have come against the likes of seasoned veterans and legends like Frank Mir and Randy Couture and it’s not difficult to see why everyone has such high hopes for this fighter.

Carwin, the Interim heavyweight UFC betting champ, and Lesnar, the current UFC betting heavyweight champ, are two of most intimidating men on the planet and both are built like brick houses. They are both well over 6 feet tall and both weigh over 265 lbs. Huge, sure, but what’s even scarier is that bulk is almost all muscle and the two combined have body fat distribution of what seems to be .000005 percent. These huge men and they are very fit men; in essence perfect fighting machines that are built to knock UFC betting opponents out.

But more than just the raw power it’s also the fighting style of these men that makes a KO likely in the UFC 116 betting main event. Both of these men are highly decorated wrestlers (national champions in college) and can battle each other on the mat with aplomb. What wrestling points are not going to win this UFC betting matchup and it’s very likely that these men will the keep the MMA betting title fight upright just as they’ve done in most of their other MMA betting matchups.

Lesnar has just 4 career UFC betting events under his belt, 3 of them victories; two of the 3 UFC betting victories have come by KO. Carwin has 12 career MMA betting bouts under his belt and has never lost a match. Seven of those 12 victories have come from knockout. Further, 6 of his last 7 MMA betting victories have been won by knockout and all for of his UFC betting wins have been by knockout.

The numbers simply don’t lie and there’s a very good chance we’ll see a knock out in the UFC 116 betting Main Event.