Most UFC 100 Dogs Got Plenty of Betting Action: Few Win
The bookies, both in Vegas and online, made out great with Brock Lesnar winning as the favorite against Frank Mir. Most of the money was on Mir. In fact, Bookmaker.com had Mir getting the most betting action of any event Saturday. It turned out to be a lopsided bout.
Lesnar closed as a minus-220 favorite at MGM Mirage sports books, according to Matt Youmans of the Las Vegas Review Journal.
"We need Lesnar to win the fight. There has been money on Mir," Mirage sports book manager Jeff Stoneback said.
The main event failed to live up to the hype, but wagering on UFC 100 met high expectations, according to Stoneback.
"It probably has been our biggest handle on the UFC. I was surprised that we didn't get as many large wagers as usual, but the number of bets have been significantly more than we usually take."
Stoneback said action was heavy on all the underdogs, which boded well for all the bookmakers since nine of the eleven fights were won by the favorites.
One of the biggest shockers of the night happened when Dan Henderson knocked out England's Michael Bisping in the second round. Nonetheless, Henderson was still the -200 favorite.
As far as upsets from underdogs go, 44-year old Mark Coleman paid out $300 for every $100 bet at Bookmaker.com. The Mirage had him paying $350.
Tom Lawlor was the other underdog to upset his opponent. He paid around $250 for every $100 bet.
UFC 100 betting inquiries coming into Gambling911.com were a little more than double the norm.
"We didn't see the type of traffic that might come from a major boxing event, but it was much better than anticipated," said Payton O'Brien, Senior Editor of the Gambling911.com website.
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
