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.

When UFC betting champ Brock Lesnar and UFC betting Interim Champ Shane Carwin battle for the belt the eyes of the sports betting world will be watching. And this kind of match is exactly what the UFC needs to raise its profile among non-traditional UFC betting fans.

The past few UFC Main Event betting contest in the run up to the UFC 116 betting competition have been loaded with talent but featured fighters not well known in the main stream sports betting community.

However, this UFC 116 betting match not only features a well known name in popular culture but it also features two giant men trying to beat each other to a pulp. Enough said.

The middleweight and the lightweight UFC betting divisions might be full of better fighting talent but what sports betting fans love most is huge men beating each other up. And for that reason alone this UFC 116 odds event will generate huge buzz among the sports betting public.

Breaking down this UFC odds matchup isn’t all that easy considering that there’s only one common opponent between these two fighters and Lesnar only has 5 MMA betting bouts in his sports betting career.

On paper these fighters are almost clones. Both have terrific wrestling backgrounds. Both have limited skills on their feet but tremendous knockout punching power. And both are highly athletic. And all of that means that this should not only be an even matchup but a very exciting one that is likely to end a knockout blow before the final bell rings.

Lesnar hasn’t fought in a UFC betting event for almost a year which is a handicap. But Carwin has never faced any fighter anywhere near Lesnar raw talent level.

Anyway you look at this upcoming UFC 116 betting event; it’s going to be a great show and hopefully a good fight.

Lesnar is a -170 favorite at SBG Global.

Lesnar is favored in UFC odds but Carwin is very capable of winning this fight. He has the power to knock Lesnar out and not many fighters in the UFC can say that. None of the 12 opponents to fight Carwin has ever made it out of the first round. Lesnar is aware of Carwin’s power and has been training to avoid it. Lesnar has not fought since July of last year because of a serious illness. If the fight was going to be a long one that might be a concern but with the power of these two fighters the bout should end early.

There are five fights on the main card for Saturday night. In addition to the championship bout between Carwin and Lesnar, it will be Yoshihiro Akiyama battling Chris Leben, Matt Brown against Chris Lytle, Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski and Kurt Pellegrino vs. George Sotiropoulos. The fight between Akiyama and Leben is considered a co-feature but in realty it is not since Carwin vs. Lesnar is a standout fight. Leben wasn’t even supposed to be in this bout against Akiyama but Wanderlei Silva got hurt and had to pull out. Akiyama has said he doesn’t really want to be at UFC 116 at all since he can’t fight Silva but money talks so he will be there. A more entertaining bout might be the one between Brown and Lytle. They both love to slug it out so this fight could easily get Fight of the Night honors. The bout between Bonnar and Soszynski is a rematch from UFC 110 betting odds when Bonnar lost due to a cut.

The preliminary card begins with two fights televised on Spike TV. It is Brendan Schaub against Chris Tuchscherer and Ricardo Romero taking on Seth Petruzelli. The other four bouts on the preliminary card have Goran Reljic vs. Kendall Grove, Gerald Harris vs. Dave Branch, Daniel Roberts vs. Forrest Petz and Jon Madsen vs. Karlos Vemola.

Even though there are two titles on the line, the odds are stacked against either challenger to topple the champions and taking home the
Belts as Silva and Penn are both in the top five of pound for pound fighters in the entire MMA. The fact that both are well rounded, highly skilled, dangerous and have been dominant in their divisions is what highlights how big of a task it really is for Maia and Edgar.

Edgar has great wrestling, very technical boxing but BJ Penn has tremendous takedown defense and probably the best boxing in MMA. This situation could be described as grave to say the least for the challengers but if history has taught us anything, in MMA on any giving night anything can happen.

Rounding up the rest of the card, middleweight wreslting powerhouse Mark Munoz takes on the very dangerous but slightly inconsistent Kendall Grove. In the first bout of the main card young British lightweight sensation Terry Etim who is riding a four fight win streak is up against the vastly underrated brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner with solid muay thai skills in Rafael Dos Angos. Both these bouts are hallmarks of excellent match making from Joe Silva as I feel they will be exciting fights fought standing and on the ground at a frantic pace.

Main Card Predictions: Silva Via KO. BJ Penn via Submission. Hughes via Decision. Munoz via TKO. Etim via TKO.