UFC Betting News - UFC 114 Jackson vs Evans

Rampage Jackson vs. Evans UFC 114-May 29^th, 2010 by Nick Spear

The main event at UFC 114 pits recent rivals and former heavyweight champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (30-7) vs. “Suga” Rashad Evans (14-1-1) against each for the first time. After intense verbal sparing on the 10^th season of Ultimate Fighter, Jackson and Evans were originally going to fight in August 2009 but postponed it due to a conflict with Jackson’s role in the upcoming “A-Team.” The fighters are considered extremely well-matched and there is no clear favorite going in to the fighter. The betting lines generally give Jackson a slight advantage, but there is a lot of talk that Jackson is in less than perfect shape and may be more focused on his budding movie career. This may give the quicker Evans the chance to overcome Jackson’s brute force. This will be a very close fight making UFC betting a tough call for this matchup.

Jackson is a PRIDE and UFC legend who has transcended the sport to achieve mainstream popularity. He won the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in May 2007 from Chuck Liddell and held it for a year until he lost to Forrest Griffin in June 2008. Since then he has beaten Wanderlei Silva December 2008, an old nemesis who had bested him in their first two fights, and Keith Jardine in March 2009, but has not fought since then. He has spent the last year filming the new “A-Team” movie and coaching on Ultimate Fighter Season 10. This has led to worries that he may not be in the best shape and may be rusty after a year off from fighting, made especially worrisome by reports that he has done things like retaken up smoking. Still, Jackson is a devastatingly strong puncher and an excellent wrestler who can beat almost anyone when he fighting his best.

Evans also has created a significant name for himself in with UFC bettors. He holds victories over Chuck Liddell, Thiago Silva and Forrest Griffin, which gave him the light heavyweight title that Jackson lost. He lost the title to Lyoto Machiada in May 2009, but won his next and most recent bout against Silva in January of this year. He took time off between the Machiada fight and the Silva fight to appear as a coach on Ultimate Fighter Season 10. Like Jackson, Evans is a strong puncher and a great wrestler and is considered to be in excellent shape for the match, something to keep in mind when betting on UFC fights like this. That scrape of information could be the difference in a win and a loss.

The variables surrounding this match make it extremely difficult to predict and also make for a very exciting and close match. Jackson on paper may look to be the better fighter, and if he comes out with his best he could be too much for Evans to handle. However, the worry that he won’t be in this form and that his movie career and recent issues with UFC president Dana White have him looking beyond his MMA career are a cause for concern. Evans quickness and recently shown take-down skills could be a problem for Jackson even in the best of circumstances. The bookies may favor Jackson, but this is definitely a fight that could go either way. Get over to www.sportsbook.com where everybody bets.