UFC 200 Betting Preview and Odds
There are some cards where you have to work just a little bit harder than usual to get yourself excited. They might have a few decent matchups or a couple of interesting fighters and you can think “Ok, this is watchable.” Then, every once in a great while, you get a card like UFC 200.
UFC 200 is one of the best fight cards in a long time… and maybe even the best ever. This thing is absolutely stacked with all kinds of talent, big comeback stories, rematches and more. If you’re going to watch one card this year, you better go ahead and plan your night around UFC 200 on Saturday, 9 July 2016. Book a jet to Las Vegas if you can. Order the PPV if that’s how they do things where you live or set your TV reminder to turn to BT Sport on that date.
Bet on UFC 200 Online Today at:
June 9th will gift us with a host of matchups that include a matchup between Anderson Silva and Daniel Cormier, the return of Brock Lesnar as he faces Mark Hunt, Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes, Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar, Cain Velasquez vs. Travis Browne, Cat Zingano vs. Julianna Pena, Johnny Hendricks vs. Kelvin Gastelum and more. In total, 9 current or former UFC champions will be fighting in UFC 200.
And don’t overlook the Diego Sanchez vs. Joe Lauzon match. Between the two of them are 13 career Fight of the Night (FOTN) bonuses. Sanchez is tied for 1st in the UFC with seven FOTN bonuses while Lauzon is tied for 2nd with six. These guys will put on a show.
Full UFC 200 Fight Card
- Daniel Cormier vs. Anderson Silva
- Brock Lesnar vs. Mark Hunt
- Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes
- Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar
- Cain Velasquez vs. Travis Browne
- Cat Zingano vs. Julianna Pena
- Johny Hendricks vs. Kelvin Gastelum
- TJ Dillashaw vs. Raphael Assuncao
- Sage Northcutt vs. Enrique Marin
- Gegard Mousasi vs. Derek Brunson
- Diego Sanchez vs. Joe Lauzon
- Jim Miller vs. Takanori Gomi
UFC 200 Update: Daniel Cormier vs. Anderson Silva
The UFC 200 Main Event has been scrapped on the back of news that Jon Jones has failed a USADA drug test. It is unclear at this point what he tested positive for, but a UFC press release states that it stems from an “out of competition sample collected on June 16th.” UFC 200 will have to proceed without Jon Jones.
For a while there, things were looking rather grim for Daniel Cormier without an opponent just days before fight night. No fight, no paycheck and no redemption; all that preparation and anticipation for naught. You can see DC’s reaction the moment he was informed by Dana White here.
Now for the good news: Anderson Silva has stepped up to replace Jon Jones for the light heavyweight bout at UFC 200. Although the Jones/DC fight is irreplaceable, Anderson Silva does make for an interesting matchup versus DC.
Anderson Silva (33-7) is considered by many to be the greatest of all time in MMA. His record includes a 17-fight win streak stretching from 2006 to 2013. At the peak of his career, Anderson Silva amassed sixteen straight wins in the UFC and the best title streak in UFC history with 10 successful title defenses.
During that time, he didn’t just beat the best fighters in the division; he embarrassed them. It’s hard to count the number of times Silva would go into a fight, clown around with his hands down, dodge strikes like someone out of the Matrix and then fold his opponents with laser-guided punches and kicks.
Silva’s winning days came to an end after a pair of fights against Chris Weidman in 2013. Silva got knocked out in the first fight and then broke his shin in the rematch later that year. After a lengthy recovery, Silva made his comeback against Nick Diaz in January of 2015. Silva won that fight, but the victory was overturned after it was later discovered that Silva had failed several drug tests before and after the fight.
Silva served a one-year ban for the failed drug test and returned to fight Michael Bisping in February of this year. Although Silva looked drastically improved over recent outings, he ultimately lost to Bisping in a five-round decision.
That brings us up to the current day. Anderson Silva is an extremely skilled and experienced fighter, but he hasn’t been at his best of late. Furthermore, he’s going to be giving up some weight against the much larger Daniel Cormier. Anderson Silva has spent the vast majority of his career at the 185-pound division. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he has two days to prepare for the current 205-pound champion.
What makes this particularly interesting is the disparity in striking skills between the two. Daniel Cormier is a wrestler first and a striker second. Anderson Silva is just the opposite. His trademark counterstriking game is legendary. If he can get inside DC’s head (and DC does seem susceptible to trash talk), he does have a chance to achieve the upset victory.
With all that said, the bookmakers are giving Anderson Silva major underdog status. UFC betting sites currently have Daniel Cormier priced at 2/9 and Anderson Silva priced at 7/2. This is the first time in over a decade that Silva has entered a fight as the betting underdog.
Daniel Cormier (17-1) is a very dangerous matchup for Anderson Silva. For one, he’s a much bigger man. Second, DC is an Olympic-level wrestler who has tossed around much larger men like rag dolls. DC fights in a bigger weight division and would probably be the best light heavyweight of all time if he hadn’t lost to Jon Jones in 2015.
I don’t believe the last-minute change of opponents will make much of a difference for Daniel Cormier. He was devastated after losing to Jones and most likely trained harder for Sunday’s fight than he ever has in his life. DC was dying for his shot at redemption and had a full fight camp to prepare himself.
Sure, this is a different opponent with a different style, but it’s not like DC was planning to fight someone who is the complete opposite of Anderson Silva. Both opponents are lengthy, skilled in takedown defense, creative in the standup department and great at trash talking. DC has been preparing for all those things for at least a year.
Personally, I’m not liking Anderson Silva’s odds at just 7/2. His insane counterstriking could come into play here and give us yet another crazy upset for 2016, but I’m not sold at those odds. If you want to back Silva, a better option may be to check each sportsbook for odds on the round/method of victory and back Silva to win in one of the first couple rounds. This fight will probably get worse and worse for Silva the longer it goes. You’ll get paid more by picking the round and there’s more value there.
Anderson Silva Highlights
Daniel Cormier Highlights
Brock Lesnar vs. Mark Hunt
WWE icon and athletic freak Brock Lesnar makes his return to the UFC in a heavyweight match against the one and only Mark Hunt. Frankly, I’m beyond surprised that they’re throwing Lesnar in against someone as good as Hunt for his return debut. Mark Hunt is a big, scary dude with victories over some of the greatest in the sport.
But, this is Brock Lesnar we’re talking about…
If you were around back in the 2008-2011 era, you saw Brock Lesnar cross over from professional wrestling and win the UFC heavyweight title out of nowhere. It was crazy watching him at the time because he was just this monstrous guy with little MMA background as far as anyone could tell. While Brock’s MMA skills were rough at the time, he did have a legitimate wrestling background and used that plus his freak athleticism to take the heavyweight belt by sheer force of will.
Lesnar was way too fast for someone so big. He actually got away with charging head first, looking down and just mauling his opponents like a savage. Take that plus his comical resemblance to Ivan Drago and add a little bit of craziness and the guy can really sell a fight.