How my betting on UFC 255 went
Well, If I had made straight bets I would have won all of them but as it goes in sport gambling, the more specific you get about what kind of result is going to happen the better the payout is. I was correct in one of my bets but I lost the other two because I got cocky and made very specific bets about how the outcome was going to be and was wrong on both.
My first bet involved Paul Craig and Mauricio Rua and I have been very critical of Rua for quite some time as I believe his days of being an actual contender are well behind him. He only wins fights these days that are rigged so that he can get another "W" and I feel that more often than not he is just a necessary stepping stone for up and comers who want to take on a legend. At this point I really think the man should retire and if he doesn't decide to do so on his own terms Dana White is going to make that choice for him. This fight vs Paul Craig was a completely one-sided affair and Rua tapped out to punches while grounded and it didn't even look as though he was even trying to get up. It looks like he is just trying to milk a few more paychecks out of UFC before they kick him out and he wasn't even paid that much. Paul Craig isn't even that great of a fighter and he completely dismantled Rua in every imaginable way.
My second bet was wrong and my overall feel about how the fight was going to pan out was completely wrong as well. I figured that Shevchenko vs Maia was going to be all action from start to very fast finish as I fully expected Valentina to dispatch Maia in the opening rounds
src
Instead, we were treated to one of the most boring fights of the night as Maia decided to clinch and wrap up the champ over and over again and never really doing much with it once they were on the ground. Perhaps Maia realized that this was her only possible way to victory because there isn't anyone outside of Amanda Nunes that can compete with Shevchenko in a stand-up fight.
Anytime they were standing, the champ battered Maia over and over and thus we spent a great deal of time on the ground as Maia tried in vain to position herself for a submission victory and never go even close to accomplishing that.
The betting odds on a straight bet were so ridiculously in favor of Valentina Shevchenko that it didn't even seem worthwhile. At one point the odds were -2000 in her favor, meaning that you would need to bet $2000 in order to win $100. I found better odds by betting on what type of victory and in how many rounds it would occur. I bet that Shevchenko would finish her opponent by TKO or KO in the first 3 rounds. Even this bet had poor odds but I stood to make $10 on a $20 bet.
The fight went to decision and of course the champ retained her belt but I lost my $20. Oh well. This is why I never bet too much on a fight.
The last fight I bet on was the main event which I thought was going to be really boring because it is the really tiny guys and Demetrius Johnson taught me over the years to never look forward to these. Instead we got one of the most electrifying performances of the evening.
src
The Deiveson Figueiredo and Alex Perez fight had the champion heavily favored but since I have very little faith in the flyweight division to end in anything other than a long drawn out performance I bet on a decision victory for Figueiredo and of course I was very very wrong about that. Instead, the champ finished Perez in less than 2 minutes via submission. Up until that point they were looking like they were going to exchange blows for a long time and Perez was actually holding his own quite well.
A guillotine choke can finish anyone though and when the champ had Perez wrapped up it was a really tight grip and Alex tapped out in a just a few seconds.
So my overall bets for the day were 1 for 3 and I bet $20 on each. Therefore I finished the day at -$28. Oh well, I never bet very much because for me it is just a way to make the matches more interesting. Perhaps next time instead of getting cocky i will just go for straight win bets and see what happens even though it will mean smaller payouts.