In an event that more than lived up to expectations, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) put on a very entertaining show in Sao Paulo, Brazil, last night (Saturday, November 7, 2015) for UFC Fight Night 77, which was headlined by a middleweight trilogy match between Dan Henderson and Vitor Belfort. Overall, on the night 10 betting favorites were victorious while three underdogs picked up wins based on Several Bookmakers‘s closing odds. UFC Fight Night 77 Favorites That Won In the main event of the evening, middleweights Dan Henderson and Vitor Belfort met for the third and final time and it was a near repeat of their last bout. Both men stared at each other for a couple minutes before Belfort dropped Henderson with the first strike he committed to in the fight, another head kick. Henderson wasn’t able to recover and the ref jumped in slightly early to put a halt to the proceeding and save the 45-year old from further punishment. Belfort was victorious as a -315 favorite (Bet $315 to win $100) while Henderson couldn’t win the rubber match as a +285 (Bet $100 to win $285) underdog. In the co-main event of the evening, former light heavyweight title challenger Glover Teixeira continued his resurgence by hammering Patrick Cummins. Cummins wasn’t able to hang with Teixeira on the feet and he couldn’t keep Teixeira on the ground with his wrestling, eventually getting overwhelmed by combinations from the Brazilian along the fence in the second round. Teixeira was victorious at -500 while Cummins lost as a +435 underdog. In a bantamweight battle, top prospect Thomas Almeida lived up to all the hype by absolutely destroying Anthony Birchak with a brutal knockout along the fence at the end of the first round. Birchak tried to get into a firefight with the dangerous Brazilian striker and he ultimately paid the price. Almeida closed at -475 while Birchak was +420. Lightweight Alex Oliveira looked very impressive, scoring a thunderous second round knockout of an overmatched Piotr Hallmann. Hallmann couldn’t get his ground game going and was a sitting duck on the feet against a superior striker with a longer reach. Eventually, Oliveira connected and put Hallmann down for the count. Oliveira was a -270 betting favorite while Hallmann was a +248 underdog. In a lightweight bout, Rashid Magomedov continued his impressive run in the UFC by handing Gilbert Burns his first career loss. Magomedov had his way with Burns on the feet and avoiding staying on the ground for any serious amount of time en route to picking up a decision victory. Magomedov was a -170 favorite to Burns’ +160. In the opening bout of the main card, Corey Anderson dominated an overmatched Fabio Maldonado, repeatedly taking the Brazilian down and even outstriking him on the feet over the course of three one-sided rounds to win a decision. Anderson lived up to his massive -605 favorite status while Maldonado was +505. In a controversial lightweight scrap, Gleison Tibau took Abel Trujillo down quickly and seemed to have a choke locked in, but the ref stepped in and stopped the fight before Trujillo ever tapped or went unconscious, which put a halt the the bout and awarded Tibau the victory. Tibau was a slight -125 favorite while Trujillo was a +115 underdog. In a lightweight bout, Johnny Case squeaked out a controversial unanimous decision victory over Yan Cabral. Both men traded the first and second rounds, but Cabral was in control of the final frame four nearly four minutes on the ground, although he didn’t do much with it, but the judges awarded the unanimous decision to Case anyways. Case eked one out despite being a -190 favorite while Cabral was +175. In a featherweight battle, Chas Skelly took Kevin Souza’s best shot and despite seeming exhausted, he managed to take Souza’s back in the second round and finish the Brazilian with a rear naked choke/neck crank. Skelly pulled it out as a -175 favorite while Souza lost as a +165 dog. In the opening bout of the evening in the bantamweight division, Matheus Nicolau engaged in a fun scrap against Bruno Rodrigues. Both men dropped each other, but it was Nicolau who was on the better end of the punishment dished out overall, eventually finishing Rodrigues with a third round submission. Nicolau came through as a -185 betting favorite while Rodrigues was overwhelmed as a +170 underdog. UFC Fight Night 77 Underdogs that Won In a feathereight bout, Thiago Tavares made extremely quick work of Clay Guida, latching on a guillotine choke in the first 30 seconds and then tightening it enough to force the tap just moments later. Tavares won as a +160 underdog while Guida was a -170 favorite. In a welterweight contest, Viscardi Andrade won a lackluster decision over Gusam Umalatov. There wasn’t much to say about this bout as Umalatov was content to sit back and hardly do anything for three rounds and Andrade was able to outwork him to win a unanimous decision. Andrade earned the nod as a +115 dog while Umalatov was -125. In a bantamweight scrap, prospects Jimmie Rivera and Pedro Munhoz put on what was the most competitive and entertaining bout of the evening. Both men hurt each other badly in a wild second frame, but it was Rivera who did just enough with superior combinations to edge out a split decision and pick up the upset. Rivera was a +155 underdog while Munhoz lost as a -165 betting favorite.
