UFC 144 Betting Odds – Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson

February 25th, 2012 marks the return of the UFC to the land of the rising sun, 12 years after the Octagon’s last appearance in Japan for UFC 29. ‘UFC 29: Defense of the Belts’ featured two titles fights as Tito Ortiz defended his Light Heavyweight title and Pat Miletich successfully put his Lightweight title on the line. Frankie Edgar will look to mirror the success of Ortiz and Miletich when he faces Ben Henderson with his Lightweight title on the line in the main event of UFC 144. We have the latest live UFC Betting Odds and when they are released we list the latest Betting Odds for Fight, KO and Submission of the Night (UFC Prop Betting Odds) (select the Preview Tab to continue reading and view the video)

Frankie Edgar hopes to begin a new chapter of his career following a decisive win over rival Gray Maynard. With the win Edgar ended, at least for the time being, a three fight series with Maynard, along with bring to a close a near 2 year period that saw the Lightweight title tied up between Edgar, Maynard and former champ B.J. Penn. During this run, Frankie Edgar has defied the odds literally, with odds makers ranking him in as the underdog in both Penn fights, and his first defence against Maynard. Not until the his second title matchup with Gray did Frankie finally move into the role of favourite, and at UFC 144 not much has change with the champ only a slight betting fav over his opponent.

Former WEC Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson lost his original opportunity to challenge for the UFC strap when he dropped his belt to Anthony Pettis at the final WEC event. Since that fight Ben has been on a mission, starting his UFC career with three consecutive wins over Mark Bocek, Jim Miller and finally Clay Guida to solidify his spot at UFC 144.

Edgar and Henderson are two of the most talented fighters in arguably the most competitive division in the UFC and this fight is shaping up to be a five round classic. Bolstering this world class main event will be a start studded card featuring a number of Japanese star and former members of the Japan based Pride Fighting Championships.

UFC 144 Priview and Predictions

In an interesting format change, UFC 144 will feature a seven fight main card. Former Pride superstar Rampage Jackson got his wish to return to Japan and will square off with Ultimate Fighter winner Ryan Bader in the co-main event. Yoshiro Akiyama makes his welterweight debut against former Strikeforce title holder and UFC title challenger Jake Shield in front of what will certainly be a deafeningly pro-Akiyama crowd. Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis and Joe Lauzon will provide a stiff challenge to any other pair of fighters with a desire to earn Fight of the Night Bonus in their Lightweight clash. Hopeful 135 pound contenders Hatsu Hioki and Bart Palaszewski will meet and Tim Boetsch tries to build on a 2-0 start at Middleweight when he takes on top ranked Yushin Okami.

The prelims are highlighted by Japanese superstars Kid Yamamoto, Takanori Gomi, and Takeya Mizugaki. Yamamoto will attempt to grab his first UFC victory in his bout with the talented Vaughn Lee, Gomi meets fellow countryman Eliji Mitsuoka, and in potentially one of the more exciting but lesser talked about fights Mizugaki battles the ultra durable Chris Cariaso.

Top to bottom UFC 144 is a star studded event that even the most casual MMA fan should mark down on their calendar. Edgar/Henderson is almost certainly a classic the making and the rest of the card has a tonne of potential for both MMA action and betting opportunities with a couple of big time underdogs waiting to pay dividends. Do not miss UFC 144 and make sure you check out the latest episode of Kamikaze Overdrive here at mmabettingodds.com and visit kamikazeoverdrive.net for all of your UFC 144 prediction needs.