UFC 148 odds: Anderson Silva holding steady as -285 favorite over Chael Sonnen

We're deep into FIGHT WEEK, folks, and that means we're just days away from the biggest Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event of the year, UFC 148: "Silva vs. Sonnen 2" on Sat., July 7, 2012, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

We've seen repeats of the first fight between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen, an epic encounter from Aug. 2010 that the former won in the waning minutes via triangle choke. We've seen the Primetime episode taking us behind-the-scenes in both men's training camps. We've watched the Countdown to UFC 148 special from FUEL TV that showcased both men watching and breaking down their first meeting.

We also heard "The Spider" blow his lid from the pressure on a conference call and get in Sonnen's face at the pre-fight press conference before reportedly telling him, "you're going to die."

It's been a wild and wacky ride and the weigh-ins, not to mention the actual fight, are still to follow.

An interesting aspect to all this is how the public has responded at the sportsbooks. Throughout it all, Silva has remained steadfast as the betting favorite. I asked noted oddsmaker Nick Kalikas of BetonFighting.com about how the lines have shifted and if money is coming in on Sonnen recently and here's what he said:

Most sportsbooks getting a little more action on Silva early on. Action is also coming in steady on Chael but not quite as much so line has shifted to -275 Silva. Going all the way back to last November, my opener was -240. I think we will see strong support come back in on Chael by fight day. Regardless of where line ends up most places will end up with near two way action on this fight.

Since that correspondence, the line moved again to -285 Silva. However, the prevailing thought is still that late money will come in on Sonnen as we get closer and closer to fight time.

The only major event left before the big showdown is the weigh-ins, so perhaps folks are holding back on betting the challenger until they see how that plays out.

Considering his performance in the first fight, it's not terribly out of line to think he could pull a repeat and actually finish the job this time out. That means it may be worth your time to drop a bet on Sonnen, even if you're not entirely confident in his winning.

And according to most of you, Maniacs, that's exactly the case. Our recent poll asking who will win yielded 1,860 votes for Silva and 1,604 votes for Sonnen.

I'm certainly not an expert as far as betting goes, though, so I strongly advise you to check out MMAmania.com's resident odds man, Patrick Stumberg, in his betting guide right here.

Good luck, Maniacs.