Finally.
After a painfully underwhelming pair of middleweight and light heavyweight tournaments, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 19 Finale is upon us this Sunday night (July 6, 2014) inside the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring both finals and the clash of coaches.
In the main event, Frankie Edgar faces B.J. Penn for the third time, this time at 145 pounds. Meanwhile, Team Edgar fighters will duke it out for the TUF crown as Dhiego Lima takes on Eddie Gordon (185 pounds) and Corey Anderson faces Matt Van Buren (205 pounds).
They say Sunday's the holy day and that gambling's a sin, so the obvious solution is to do the latter on the former, thus canceling out all karma. Let's get to it before anyone starts thinking too hard about the logic of that.
TUF 19 Finale Odds For The Under Card:
Kevin Lee (-215) vs. Jesse Ronson (+165)
Jumabieke Tuerxun (-150) vs. Leandro Issa (+110)
Adriano Martins (-400) vs. Juan Manuel Puig (+280)
Dan Spohn (-195) vs. Patrick Walsh (+155)
Alexis Dufresne (-190) vs. Sarah Moras (+150)
Robert Drysdale (-855) vs. Keith Berish (+485)
Thoughts: You know what? Let’s just go with favorites this week. I think Martins and Dufresne are close enough to "locks" to warrant a hefty parlay.
There is, simply put, no area of MMA in which Puig exceeds Martins. Martins is the bigger man, the more technical striker, the more powerful puncher, the better wrestler, and the better grappler. I will be stunned if Martins doesn't absolutely wipe the floor with Puig. The Brazilian at -400, while hefty, should add just a bit of zest to a parlay.
Though I haven’t watched much footage, I am extremely impressed with what I have seen out of Dufresne. While Moras has the advantage of having spent a bit of time in the spotlight on TUF, it would take a severe case of Octagon jitters to make this anything but a Dufresne grappling showcase. Bet on the new girl to stop Moras in a hurry.
TUF 19 Finale Odds For The Main Card:
Frankie Edgar (-550) vs. B.J. Penn (+425)
Corey Anderson (-190) vs. Matt Van Buren (+150)
Dhiego Lima (-165) vs. Eddie Gordon (+125)
Derrick Lewis (-210) vs. Guto Inocente (+160)
Justin Scoggins (-350) vs. Dustin Ortiz (+250)
Thoughts: To be perfectly honest, I’m not seeing much here. I was hoping Scoggins vs. Ortiz would be a little closer so I could profit from it, Inocente’s got too many questions around him, and I’ve learned not to bet on B.J. Penn. Just leave the main card alone. We dug deep into Saturday’s card, so make this a bit of a reprieve.
Best Bet For The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale:
- Single bet -- Parlay Adriano Martins and Alexis Dufresne: $80 to make $72.72
It's... well, what the hell else are you going to do on Sunday? Better than nothing, Maniacs.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver live TUF 19 Finale: "Edgar vs. Penn 3" results on fight night RIGHT HERE, which is as good a place as any to talk about all the action inside the Octagon, as well as what you've got riding on the sportsbook.
Running Profit For 2014 Based On This Column: -$381.00