Latest UFC 154 odds and betting guide for 'St. Pierre vs Condit' in Montreal

He's back, baby.

Repaired, re-armed, and ready to lay down the hurt, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon this Saturday (Nov. 17, 2012) at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, as one-half of the UFC 154 main event.

Welcoming the five-year unbeaten kingpin will be 170-pound interim champion Carlos Condit, who is riding high on his defeat of Nick Diaz to earn the strap.

In addition to the marquee mixed martial arts (MMA) match up, Johny Hendricks will look to bring the left hand that felled Jon Fitch to bear once more as he faces the unflappable Martin Kampmann in a likely number one contender eliminator showdown.

We've got a title fight, plenty of local talent, some high-octane scraps, and some fine opportunities to prep your wallets for Black Friday.

Follow me for a closer look at the odds behind UFC 154: "St. Pierre vs. Condit:"

UFC 154 Odds For The Under Card:

Matt Riddle (-220) vs. John Maguire (+170)
Patrick Cote (-250) vs. Alessio Sakara (+190)
Antonio Carvalho (-250) vs. Rodrigo Damm (+190)
Rafael dos Anjos (-115) vs. Mark Bocek (-115)
Ivan Menjivar (-450) vs. Azamat Gashimov (+300)
Chad Griggs (-150) vs. Cyrille Diabate
Sam Stout (-340) vs. John Makdessi (+260)
Steven Siler (-125) vs. Darren Elkins (-105)

Thoughts: Again, I think your best shot here is to play favorites with the exception of Diabate, who is just a bit too fragile for my tastes. I don’t see many good underdog bets. The two guys you’re going to want to play in some combination of straight-up or parlay are Riddle and dos Anjos.

Betting on a Riddle fight is always a gamble, however, since there seem to be two distinct Matt Riddles, one of whom is a solid, powerful grappler and the other of whom is a pillock. Still, with how limited Maguire’s stand up is and how impotent he was against the size and strength of John Hathaway, I think even the pillock can edge this one out.

This is just a bad stylistic matchup overall for Maguire -- bet on "Deep Waters" and hope he doesn’t go "Deep Purple" before the fight and get another win removed.

Bocek may have a grappling advantage over most of the division, but dos Anjos has looked nothing less than excellent lately and poses a solid ground game of his own. Plus, he is by far the better of the two on the feet and has successfully denied takedowns from Clay Guida and Gleison Tibau. While I don’t doubt that the Canuck’s top game is superior to the Brazilian’s bottom game, I have confidence that RDA’s takedown defense will make that inconsequential

UFC 154 Odds For The Main Card:

Constantinos Philippou (-250) vs. Nick Ring (+190)
Mark Hominick (-340) vs. Pablo Garza (+260)
Francis Carmont (-260) vs. Tom Lawlor (+200)
Johny Hendricks (-160) vs. Martin Kampmann (+130)
Georges St. Pierre (-300) vs. Carlos Condit (+240)

Thoughts: Once again, I’m not seeing any appealing underdogs. If Kampmann drops closer to the +200 range, he might be worth something, but Hendricks hits too damn hard and "Hitman" is too damn vulnerable in the opening round for me to have any confidence in him.

The best bet on either the main or "Prelims" card is, in my opinion, is Philippou.

Yes, he’s at -250, but frankly, what does Ring possibly do to win this fight? He is completely and utterly outmatched on the feet and, considering how unsuccessful Fukuda was when trying to get it to the ground, I can’t imagine Ring doing any better.

Make "Costa" the cornerstone of your parlays.

The rest of the fights just have too many questions -- St. Pierre’s knee is an enigma wrapped in a riddle, Lawlor is incredibly inconsistent, and Hominick is blindingly superior to Garza, but incredibly fragile. Just stick with the favorites I’ve mentioned and save yourselves the migraines.

UFC 154 Best Bets:

• Parlay: Matt Riddle and Constantinos Philippou -- Bet $50 to make $51.50
• Parlay: Rafael dos Anjos and Constantinos Philippou -- Bet $40 to make $64.80
• Single Bet: Rafael dos Anjos -- Bet $50 to make $43.48

Two champions unifying one title and another pair of top division contenders vying for the one opportunity to fight for it next in 2013 ... sounds like meaningful MMA in Montreal to me.

See you Saturday, Maniacs.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver live UFC 154: "St. Pierre vs. Condit" results this Saturday night, 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.