The UFC makes their first trip to Australia for UFC 110 which will bring us at least one very compelling matchup between heavyweights Cain Velasquez and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira amid the over the hill war horses and mismatches that have predominated on UFC PPVs of late.  I honestly don’t have any new revelations on the main event since I wrote this preview a few days ago.  Velasquez is now a -120 or thereabouts favorite at most sportsbooks, but my handicap on the fight hasn’t changed.  It literally could go either way.  His staph infection addled loss to Frank Mir notwithstanding, Big Nog has never been stopped inside the distance despite facing an ungodly level of competition with names like Fedor, Cro Cop (in his prime) and Josh Barnett that are certainly capable of knocking people out.  That makes a Velasquez stoppage very unlikely.  My initial thinking is that Velasquez would control Nogueira on the ground en route to a decision, but a few of my MMA cronies have suggested that I’m nuts thinking he can do that without getting submitted by his vastly more experienced opponent.

Anyway, the best MMA betting proposition on the card isn’t in this fight but on the undercard as Ryan ‘Darth’ Bader takes on Keith Jardine:

UFC 110–RYAN BADER VS. KEITH JARDINE:

Classic example of a matchup pitting a young, highly touted prospect against a proven veteran very likely on the downside of his UFC career.  Whether or not he likes it, Jardine is little more than a ‘gatekeeper’ at this point and he could very well find himself cut from his contract with a loss here.  Jardine has lost three of his last four fights and four of his last six.  They’ve been to very good opponents, of course, including Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, Thiago Silva and Houston Alexander but the fact that 3 of the 4 were via KO doesn’t help his case.

Ryan ‘Darth’ Bader has been touted as a future superstar at light heavyweight and enters this fight with an undefeated record of 10-0.  He was the winner of ‘The Ultimate Fighter 8′ and the fight against Jardine will constitute a definite step up in class from his previous level of opposition.  Still, Jardine doesn’t look to have much left in the tank.  He’s got a very unorthodox style that works against standup specialists unable to deal with it (Chuck Liddell).  Jardine doesn’t have much KO power, and using his leg kicks to pull out a decision is a much tougher task against a powerful opponent with a solid wrestling background like Bader.

PLAY RYAN BADER -150 OVER KEITH JARDINE