
(“Is your person Russian, or commonly mistaken for Russian?” Image courtesy of MMAMania)
MiddleEasy passes along the helpful info that at least one online sportsbook, BetDSI.eu, is offering a prop bet on who will win the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, even though only two quarterfinal matches are actually scheduled at this point. Interestingly, some of the numbers have wildly inflated since they were first posted at the beginning of the week. Check out the latest figures below. If you’re an MMA betting noob, the ‘+’ figure means that you would make that many dollars in profit for a $100 wager.
FEDOR EMELIANENKO +160 [opened at +125]
ALISTAIR OVEREEM +200
JOSH BARNETT +400
ANDREI ARLOVSKI +900
FABRICIO WERDUM +1400 [opened at +700]
ANTONIO SILVA +1800 [opened at +900]
SERGEI KHARITONOV +2000 [opened at +1400]
BRETT ROGERS +2200 [opened at +1900]
SHANE DEL ROSARIO +3000 [opened at +2400]
VALENTIJN OVEREEM +3500 [opened at +2600]
LAVAR JOHNSON +4000 [opened at +3200]
RAY SEFO +4500 [opened at +3600]
FIELD (any fighter not listed, which would include Chad Griggs and Gian Villante) +5000
Some thoughts…
- Don’t ask us why Werdum and Silva have suddenly become twice as profitable as they were a few days ago. Either 2betdsi screwed up their math in the beginning (possible, at least in the case of Silva), nobody is betting on those guys (unlikely, at least in the case of Werdum), or they know something we don’t (always a danger with these cutthroat offshore gambling bastards). Maybe they just forgot to factor in that Werdum is coming back from elbow surgery.
- Fedor Emelianenko might be the worst bet of the bunch. He has the lowest return on investment. Injuries to his fragile hands and contract disputes could steal him from the bracket before he reaches the finals. And don’t forget he’ll have a hell of a tough fight in the semi-finals, possibly against the guy who beat him last June.
- A bet on Werdum will multiply your investment by 14; we’d call that the best bargain on the list. If he could catch Fedor with a submission, he could catch anybody. And keep in mind that he already holds wins over the three other guys on his side of the bracket.
- Betting on Josh Barnett is risky because of drug/licensing issues, but he’s certainly the on-paper favorite to make it through the right side of the bracket, and could theoretically score an upset in the finals. I kind of look at him and Alistair Overeem the same way — their chances to win are good, but the betting payoff isn’t. It’s like I always say when it comes to MMA betting: Go stupid or go home. Speaking of which…
- On the last edition of the Bum Rush, Chad half-jokingly (we hope) suggested that Shane Del Rosario will go on to win this tournament — by split-decision in the finals, to be exact — due to all the chaos that could befall the tourney along the way. Del Rosario will have to get past Lavar Johnson before he’s even qualified to be in this tournament, but who knows, maybe he’ll have his Steve Jennum moment when all is said and done. ‘+3000′ means that a $5 spot on SDR would net you $150 in profit. Just saying.


+2000 on Kharitinov ? yes please
I can see him getting past AA and the winner of Rogers / Barnett.
And you never know with injuries beyond that.