UFC Fight Night 66 took place this morning at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Philippines, and the card was pretty solid overall as it featured a number of exciting finishes, but some bad judges’ decisions and an uneventful main event hindered its overall entertainment value. Overall from a betting perspective, seven betting favorites won while five underdogs won based on the closing odds at Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap for each fight. Betting Favorites That Won In the main event of the evening, Frankie Edgar defeated Urijah Faber via unanimous decision (50-45 x 5). Edgar outpointed Faber on the feet in each and every round and controlled the wrestling to cruise to a clear-cut win. This fight wasn’t competitive at all, and Edgar making Faber look so bad should lead to him getting another title shot. Edgar closed at -525 (bet $525 to win $100) while Faber closed at +450 (bet $100 to win $450). In a middleweight bout, Gegard Mousasi defeated Costas Philippou via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3). This was a very easy win for Mousasi. All he did was take down Philippou for three-straight rounds and the Greek offered up nothing on the ground to make the fight even remotely competitive. It wasn’t the most exciting fight to watch as a fan, but overall it was a good win for Mousasi, who cashed at -750. Philippou lost as a big +600 dog. In a welterweight bout, Neil Magny defeated Hyun Gyu Lim via second-round TKO (punches). Lim looked great early in the first round, but he started to gas badly and in the second Magny took over, taking Lim to the floor and then pounding him out for the biggest win of his career to date. Magny was only -120, while Lim was +110. In a featherweight bout, Levan Makashvili defeated Mark Eddiva via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27). Makashvili used his wrestling to take down Eddiva and used his clinch skills to press Eddiva against the fence to win the decision, although for some reason one judge was crazy enough to make this a sweat for bettors. Makashvili was -375 while Eddiva was +335. In a lightweight bout, Jon Tuck defeated Tae Hyun Bang via first-round submission (rear-naked choke). Tuck dropped Bang with a hook and then decided to go for the submission on the mat to finish off his dazed opponent. Tuck, who looked amazing in this fight, cashed as a favorite while Bang lost as a dog. Tuck was -220, Bang +200. In a featherweight bout, Guangyou Ning defeated Royston Wee via second-round TKO (punches). Neither guy did very much for the first 9:50 seconds of the fight, but in the last 10 seconds of round two Ning turned up the volume, connected with some big strikes that hurt Wee badly, and finished him off before the ref stepped in with a second to go. Ning cashed at -135 while Wee hit at +125. In a flyweight bout, Jon delos Reyes defeated Roldan Sangcha-an via second-round submission (rear-naked choke). These two fighters of Filipino descent put on a tremendous show as they went back-and-forth for nearly 10 full minutes before Reyes was able to get the tapout with just a little bit of time left in the second round. Reyes cashed as a -145 favorite while Sangcha-an lost as a +135 dog. Betting Underdogs That Won In a middleweight bout, Mark Munoz defeated Luke Barnatt via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27). This was the best performance of Munoz’ career. He controlled the entire fight from bell to bell with his wrestling and striking and the only reason he didn’t get a finish is because Barnatt is so damn tough. With the win, Munoz cashed at +120 while Barnatt lost at -130. In a featherweight bout, Phillipe Nover defeated Yui Chul Nam via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28). Nover had a very strong opening round, but he gassed and faded badly as Nam was able to outwork him to steal round two and then control the entire third round. While most fans and media thought Nam clearly won the fight, the judges somehow sided with Nover, who stole the decision. Nover surprisingly won as a +140 dog, while Nam lost as a -150 favorite. In a lightweight bout, Kajan Johnson defeated Lipeng Zhang via decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28). Johnson fought smart, choosing to grapple with Zhang where he had success with his takedowns and in the clinch en route to cruising to a decision win. Johnson was a dog while Zhang was a favorite. Johnson was +100 while Zhang was -110. In a welterweight bout, Li Jingliang defeated Dhiego Lima via first-round KO (punches). Jingliang was super aggressive early on and was able to find Lima’s chin and put him out on the mat, where he pounded him off for the knockout win. Jingliang cashed at +130 while Lima lost at -140. In the first fight of the night, Yao Zhikui earned a controversial split decision win over Nolan Ticman to cash a pretty decent underdog in the opening fight of the night. Zhikui didn’t do much in this fight, but neither did Ticman, and when you leave a close fight in the hands of the judges, they are bound to blow it, as they did in this case as most figured Ticman won the decision. Instead, Zhikui won as a +240 dog and Ticman fell as a -260 favorite.
