(Pink polo shirt or gray hooded sweatshirt: who should you trust with your money? Ordinarily there’s no good answer.)

Patrick Cote says all his friends are putting money on him this weekend “so they will be a lot richer after the fight.” Something tells me that while his friends may go along with this when Cote is around, once he leaves the room they’re whispering to one another, ‘We’re not really doing that, right?’ Friendship is one thing, but sentimental gambling is quite another in bleak economic times.

If any of Cote’s friends are reading this, we’d like to alert you to some better prospects that might be available on Saturday night. No disrespect to your buddy, but the line on him won’t make you as rich as you think and if you bet on someone else you can not only actually make some money but also keep up appearances when you place a bet before the fight. See? Everybody wins!

Odds today come courtesy of BestFightOdds.com, which has thankfully compiled all the internet’s juiciest lines.

Anderson Silva (-600) vs. Patrick Cote (+505)
Sean Sherk (-230) vs. Tyson Griffin (+212)
Josh Koscheck (-150) vs. Thiago Alves (+135)
Gray Maynard (-220) vs. Rich Clementi (+210)
Fabricio Werdum (-850) vs. Junior Dos Santos (+600)
Thales Leites (-445) vs. Drew McFedries (+365)
Spencer Fisher (-345) vs. Shannon Gugerty (+299)
Hermes Franca (-180) vs. Josh Burkman (-197) vs. Pete Sell (+200)
Dan Miller (-325) vs. Matt Horwich (+305)

Thoughts…

Underdog Comparison: The only bigger underdog than Patrick Cote is Junior Dos Santos, who has been plucked out of obscurity just to give Fabricio Werdum something to do. That should tell us something about Cote’s chances.

Best Bet: Aside from Silva and Werdum, obviously, one of the sturdier locks is Thales Leites. McFedries did not look good against Mike Massezio at Fight Night 15, and Massenzio doesn’t even have the submissions game that Leites does. Gray Maynard is also a good pick to grind out a boring decision over Rich Clementi, and at least there the odds are a little more profitable.

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Closer: Alves/Koscheck should really be even. Koscheck is a great athlete and great wrestler, but he’s not a finisher and his chances of doing just enough ground-and-pound to win (and that’s pretty much always his game plan) aren’t as good against the bulky Alves. He might still deserve a meager edge, but Alves is not a bad pick at all, especially considering the short-notice for Kos.

Absolutely Don’t Bet On: Sean Sherk. He’s a favorite. He’ll probably win. It will probably be boring to watch. You’ll feel bad about yourself afterwards, like that time you pretended to be into swing-dancing because you thought that girl would go home with you. Even when it works, it still isn’t worth it.