Chuck Liddell - Tito Ortiz Fight Has Gamblers at Edge of Their Seats
Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz are listed with near even odds
Most of the recent "main event" boxing matches have featured favorites not worth the price (a la -600 or a wager of $600 would pay out $100 - whoopie!). The Liddell-Ortiz fight is different.....and it's not even boxing.
BetUS.com (see website here), known for offering controversial entertainment betting propositions, is one of the first to jump on board the UFC betting bandwagon. In many ways, UFC is replacing boxing as the fight-related sports of choice for online gamblers looking for true value.
The Chuck Liddell - Tito Ortiz fight had Chuck Liddell favored by only -200 (you would have to wager $200 to win $100 plus your initial $200 bet). Ortiz would pay out $160 on a $100 bet as the underdog. This main event is part of the widely anticipated UFC 66 taking place Saturday evening, December 30, 2006.
Every great fight needs some drama, and the rich subject of a scorned friendship is what makes tonight's Ultimate Fighting Championship light-heavyweight title showdown between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell so compelling, according to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times.
"The fight was never supposed to happen," Ortiz said of a 2004 clash that former training partner Liddell won in a second-round technical knockout. "I'd shown him things when we trained. We agreed that we were not going to fight each other. I wanted to wait. But he was jealous. He wanted the fame and the limelight like me.
"Now, Chuck Liddell's going to get the best of me."
Liddell-Ortiz II, to be fought at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is poised to stand as the most lucrative event in UFC history, with a live gate expected to exceed $4 million.
Ortiz, known as "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy," is a loudmouth. Not just a loudmouth, but one who has a rep for picking fights with easy opponents and finding excuses not to meet the best, according to Dave Doyle of Fox Sports.
"Liddell, known as "The Iceman," is the type who sends bullies home crying to their mommy. The plain-talking San Luis Obispo native lets his fists do the talking, and in doing so, has gained the aura of invincibility that used to be reserved for the heavyweight boxing champion.
"But there's more than meets the eye when it comes to the appeal of the UFC and the sport of mixed martial arts, which combines combat disciplines like boxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, taekwondo and judo.
"Cable insiders predict between 1.3 and 1.6 million buys for Saturday night's show. Just 12 months ago, the company was a fringe player that never topped 200,000 buys for a pay-per-view show."
Doyle offers up eight theories as to how the UFC has blown up into a full-fledged phenomenon in such a short period of time. Among the reasons: Honor and respect reign supreme, celebs everywhere and....UFC delivers where boxing fails.
"Remember when marquee boxing matches were among the most anticipated sporting events on any given year's calendar? From Jack Dempsey through Muhammad Ali through Marvelous Marvin Hagler, a big fight was something the sporting world anticipated for weeks, and an excuse for guys to spend a night hanging out and drinking with groups of friends.
"As boxing flounders, UFC has wrested away the big-fight atmosphere, to the point that both boxing stalwarts HBO and Showtime are getting into the game. This is in large part because UFC controls its championships and keeps its fighters under exclusive contracts, which has its downsides, but does enable the company to regularly deliver the matchups fans crave, like Ortiz-Liddell."
