In one of the most anticipated battles of 2011 the UFC crosses the northern border for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship as Lyoto Machida takes on Jon Jones in Toronto, Canada for UFC 140.

One of the best strikers in the UFC Jones is also dangerous when the fight gets to the ground. Quick on his feet with the front kick Machida is also dangerous on the ground as we have already seen. The fight makes for the match of styles of the year in the UFC and is too close to pick.

The once reputed Huntington Beach Bad Boy, Tito Ortiz, is quickly becoming a fan favourite again. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira will fight Ortiz on the undercard of Machida vs. Jones and should prove to be bout that won’t disappoint.

Not smart enough to stop coming after a fighter once he is hurt Nogueira knows only one speed. Healthy for the first time in five years Ortiz is like a new man in the ring. The fans will get their money’s worth on this one in spite of the fact that this fight will not go the distance.

In the heavyweight battle “Big Nog” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira takes on Frank Mir which could be last fight for the loser. Looking bad in recent fights both Mir and Nogueira will be kicked to the curb by Dan White if one of them puts in a poor performance. Both fighters are under a lot of pressure in this one.

Can’t make this fight? No problem you can still get in on the action at an online sports betting site.

Jon Jones’ odds have dropped, but he is still the favorite at UFC 128 in his Light Heavyweight title fight against the champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua on Saturday.

Jon Jones opened at -215, but he is now down to -185 in UFC 128 odds while Rua is paying +155.

Jon Jones (12-1-0) has taken the UFC by storm going undefeated while knocking off his opponents in both convincing and spectacular fashion. Jones has a freakishly long reach and he uses it to his advantage whether it is dominating stand up, or getting opponents to the ground where his excellent wrestling skills come in to play.

If there is any weakness in Jones’ game it’s that he hasn’t had his chin tested yet and testing chins is something Shogun Rua is pretty good at. The Pride veteran has showcased his power on a number of occasions.

Jones has also never faced a fighter as experienced as Mauricio Rua and Rua has shown that he can execute game-plans against unconventional fighters before. While Jones may be able to use his reach advantage to control stand up, Shogun can take a punch and he is technically the better striker so you have to think that at some point he will hit Jones harder than he’s ever been hit before.

We may not see it very often, but Shogun is also an excellent BJJ fighter. Jones might be able to get this fight to the ground, but he could be in for a big surprise when it happens.

I like Jones as a fighter, but I don’t think it is his time yet. Take the veteran Rua with the better pay day.

Welterweights BJ Penn and Jon Fitch headline UFC 127 at the Acre Arena in Sydney, Australia.

Jon Fitch is the UFC 127 odds favorite at -200 while B.J. Penn is +160 with both of these fighters looking to make a case as the next challenger for the welterweight title.

B.J. Penn (12-6-1 UFC) is a UFC legend being one of only two fighters to hold titles in two different divisions. However, he only has two wins at welterweight both coming against Matt Hughes and hasn’t won two fights in a row since 2009.

Penn returns to welterweight competition after failing to find an answer for the current lightweight champion Frankie Edgar in two tries.

Penn’s last fight was the dismantling of Hughes last November. It took Penn just 21 seconds to win the rubber match by KO.

Jon Fitch (13-1 UFC) has looked pretty impressive since his loss to Georges St. Pierre winning five straight fights looking like a future champion.

Fitch is a very dangerous wrestler so don’t be surprised to see him try to get this fight to the ground where Penn’s striking advantage isn’t so pronounced.

The winner of this fight will likely be first in line for Georges St. Pierre, but the consensus is that GSP will fight Anderson Silva in a catch weight super fight if he gets by Jake Shields, so don’t be surprised to see the winner in the octagon again before sharing it with GSP.

The biggest problem with Fitch is that he is a boring fighter. His last eight fights have gone the distance and B.J. Penn has struggled with his conditioning. If he continues to struggle, this should go to Fitch who knows how to stay out of trouble and do just enough to win.

Jon Fitch and BJ Penn headline UFC 127 in the UFC’s second foray in to Australia at the Acer Arena in Sydney, NSW.

Jon Fitch is looking to not just beat BJ Penn, but finish him. He says in the interview that he plans to keep the pressure up on Penn and focus on fighting his fight rather than reacting to BJ.

BJ Penn is looking to finish Fitch early. He says he thinks Fitch’s camp will advise him to survive the first round and then go after Penn in the second. He does not plan on dragging the fight out because why wait when you can do in the first round exactly the same thing you can do in the second.

The UFC lines at betED have Fitch as the favorite at -200 while Penn is +160.

If both fighters go at each other the way they say they will, this could be a really great fight particularly if it lasts a bit.

The first video shows the UFC Fight Night 23 fighters giving their predictions for the Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort fight at UFC 126. A surprisingly large number of them like Belfort to take the middleweight title even though UFC odds have Silva as a heavy favorite at -265 while Belfort is +205.

The general consensus seems to be that Belfort just needs to land one punch for Silva to look beatable, but Silva has beaten fighters like Belfort before so I don’t really know why they think this fight will go differently.

The second video is the traditional trailer for UFC 126 where Joe Rogan and Dana White talk about the fight and both fighters talk about the fight. They also talk about the Rich Franklin and Forrest Griffin Fight. Franklin is the UFC betting favorite at -170 while Griffin is +140.

UFC 126 goes on Saturday, February 5 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada with Vitor Belfort challenging Anderson Silva‘s dominance of the Middleweight division in a Championship bout.

Considering how long Silva has owned the UFC‘s Middleweight division, it is no surprise that he is a big favorite in UFC 126 odds paying -270 to Belfort’s +210. But, we’ve seen plenty of fighters with better odds lose in recent events and Belfort is a serious contender who has to be respected.

Vitor Belfort talks about Silva’s many strengths and suggests he is going to try to push the pace of the fight even though many fighters have tried exactly this and failed against Silva.

Chris Leben takes on Brian Stann at UFC 125 on New Years Day in a middleweight bought. Leben is the favorite at -160 in UFC 125 odds, but this is a close matchup in a card that is full of close matchups that could go either way.

Chris Leben in his interview warns Stann against standing up against him and usually any fight with Leben in it will feature some pretty serious damage on one side or another.

Brian Stann figures that Leben is underestimating him, but that’s fine with him. This is a big fight for him and a win would establish him as a top tier fighter in the UFC middleweight division.

Really this fight comes to how Stann can deal with Leben’s relentless attack. They both bring power, but Leben’s style seems to challenge many fighters. Regardless of the result, this fight has a good chance at being the FOTN with two brawlers looking for the KO.

UFC 125 goes on January 1 featuring lightweights Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar in a lightweight title bout.

Edgar may be the champion, but the undefeated Maynard already has a victory over Edgar and is the early favorite in UFC 125 Manyard Edgar odds to take the belt.

UFC 124 was okay for me as I picked some big upsets not really planning on being right on every one, just right on enough of them.

I obviously lost on Josh Koscheck at +350, but I was right about Mac Danzig‘s (+250) stand-up being good enough to get the upset against fighters who are primarily known for their ground game.

Thiago Alvez came through for me, although at -280 it’s not like that fight was worth much, and Jim Miller (+100) also came through, but picking Sean McCorkle at +120 obviously wasn’t the best move.

I finished the night up 1.36 units going 3-2 in my picks.

Stefan Struve prepares for his heavyweight bout with Sean McCorkle at UFC 124.