Think of all your favorite Super Bowl traditions. Great football teams battling it out. Hour-long halftime shows and wardrobe malfunctions. Blatant consumerism and commercials. And mixed martial arts. Wait, mixed martial arts? That’s right – MMA has quickly become one of our most treasured Super Bowl traditions. The Ultimate Fighting Championship typically holds an event on the Saturday before the Super Bowl in order to cash in on the excitement and strong betting atmosphere that surrounds the big game weekend every year. Over the years, UFC 67, 81, 94, and 109 have all been held on Super Bowl weekend.
UFC 126 sportsbook
And 2011 will not be any different, with UFC 126 being held this coming Saturday. While some of these bouts have been a little lackluster over the years, UFC 126 will finally give us the Silva-Belfort title fight, a match MMA fans have been looking forward to for way too long. Silva is coming off of an astounding win against Chael Sonnen, while Belfort has not been competing in UFC fights since UFC 109. Various injuries have kept the match from happening, but Super Bowl weekend 2011 will be when the stars align for the much-anticipated fight.
Although Silva-Belfort will be the main event, UFC 126 will have a number of other fights worth watching. Rich Franklin will take on Forrest Griffin in a light heavyweight fight that could have an impact on future title considerations. It will be a bout worth keeping a close eye on. Griffin has not competed since November 2009, so will ring rust affect his performance?
Steelers bets
Two up-and-comers in the world of MMA, Jon “Bones” Jones and Ryan Bader will also be competing next weekend. Jones is undefeated (discounting a disqualification) and is one of the more promising fighters to come along in some time, and it is worth watching his athletic abilities and dynamic strike style. Bader is similarly undefeated and has won bouts against better opponents than Jones has faced thus far in his career.
So when Super Bowl weekend comes along in a few days, it will be worth taking a break from all of the Packers-Steelers betting to take a look at a few established MMA fighters, as well as some rising stars in the sport. With some of the betting excitement of the Super Bowl spilling over into UFC 126 gambling, payouts should be higher than usual for some possibly overlooked matches.
There are a few updates to articles we posted earlier this week. A couple of them involve the upcoming Super Bowl, with injury drama from both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers. Another story involves the partial sale of the New York Mets due to fallout from the owners’ involvement with Bernie Madoff. And the final update is related to Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo.
First of all, the news from the Pittsburgh Steelers is that their rookie center Maurkice Pouncey will not be playing in the Super Bowl game next weekend. He had been questionable but mostly out of the game due to an ankle injury he sustained during the AFC championship game against the New York Jets. Now it is known that Pouncey has a fractured ankle, as well as a high ankle sprain, which will keep him out of the big game.
Green Bay wagers
Moving on to the Green Bay Packers, everyone remembers the side show with the injured reserve players not being in the Super Bowl team picture. Everything seemed to be ironed out when the photo was rescheduled to include all the players. But then quarterback Aaron Rodgers made some controversial statements to the press about the injured players choice of rehab locations. Linebacker Nick Barnett seemed a bit offended. Now it is reported that Rodgers called Barnett to clear the air, and now everything seems to be better between the two.
In baseball news, the New York Mets’ owners may put a portion of the team for sale. Martin Luther King III has expressed interested in buying a share of the team. He is part of a group of interested parties who may want to purchase partial ownership of the Mets from Fred Wilpon and his son Jeff Wilpon. The Wilpons have been considering offering 20-25% of the team for sale, and King has expressed interest in being a 50% owner. So obviously, some details need to be ironed out.
Super Bowl bets
Finally, after O.J. Mayo of the Memphis Grizzlies tested positive for DHEA, a steroid banned by the NBA, he was suspended for 10 games. Mayo now states that he picked up an energy drink from a local gas station, which caused him to test positive for the substance. Unfortunately, Mayo’s third season in the NBA has been filled with drama and controversy. He has lost his starting position, gotten into a fight with a teammate over a card game, and his father was charged with attempted murder this past December. The suspension is only the latest problem for him.
Can the Indiana Pacers do any worse than they have done over the past few years? The owners and management don’t seem to think so, as they are expected to fire head coach Jim O’Brien later this afternoon. After the head coach’s dismal record at the helm of the Indiana basketball team, it is probably no wonder that the Pacers and O’Brien will part ways. The Indiana Pacers have called a press conference for 4:00 PM this afternoon to make some major announcements about the future of the team.
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After coming off of their seventh loss in eight games against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night, the team has racked up the less-than-impressive record of 17-27 this season. O’Brien’s overall record with the Pacers has been a slightly more impressive 121-169, but that is only in relative terms. In absolute terms, O’Brien has been a disappointment for Indiana basketball fans, never having won more than 36 games in any of the four seasons he has been head coach.
And this dismal coaching performance is not for lack of talent. The Indiana Pacers came to the 2010-2011 season with higher hopes than in previous years. Center Roy Hibbert is considered one of the most improved players in the league right now, and the team picked up Darren Collison, a point guard from New Orleans. This year, the expectations were higher for the Indiana Pacers, who are ten games back from being .500.
Super Bowl sportsbook
Plenty of changes may be coming to the Pacers in the next few months. Assistant head coach Frank Vogel is expected to take over the head coaching duties until a permanent replacement is found. And team president Larry Bird has also hinted that he may not return after his current contract expires this year. But after so many disappointments over the past few years, do Indiana basketball fans really want any of these team leaders to return?
It is hard to argue that two of the most exciting teams in the NFL made it to the Super Bowl this year. After all, if the Chicago Bears had come back from their loss to the Green Bay Packers, would anyone really have any doubts that the Steelers would crush them? But with a Steelers versus Packers Super Bowl XLV, fans of the game have an almost perfect matchup.
The Steelers come to the big game as six-time champions on the AFC side, while the Packers have their own record of success with 3 Super Bowl victories and more wins before there even was a game called the “Super” Bowl. In past decades, both teams have proven they can play under the most difficult of situations and still elevate their play to a championship level.
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Both teams have amazing quarterbacks and offensive squads, but the real test of a Super Bowl winner is its defense. And in this regard, both Green Bay and Pittsburgh outshine much of the rest of the NFL. The Packers have allowed just 15.0 points per game, which is second in the league, while the Steelers come in at number one, having allowed only 14.5 points per game. Defense has allowed both teams to make it this far, and will determine who will win the 2011 Super Bowl.
As good as each of the team’s quarterbacks have performed over the regular season and playoffs, neither have really played against such a similar powerhouse in terms of defensive strength. If one of the football teams’ offenses can break through, we may end up with a high-scoring Super Bowl game. But if not, we may witness a war of attrition between two of the best teams playing in the NFL right now.
Packers Super Bowl wager
In any event, there is no mismatch between the teams playing in the Super Bowl this year. It is highly unlikely that we will see a blowout one way or the other, barring some unforeseen freak occurrence. But as with most championship games, victory will rely on the higher performance of the defensive teams to stop the other quarterback’s drive down the field.