UFC 183 fighter Anderson Silva smiles during an interview after a public workout session on the MGM Grand casino floor, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015.
Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015 | 2 a.m.
Anderson Silva may no longer boast a belt, but his hold on sports bettors remains tight.
Silva, once unanimously and still widely considered the most accomplished fighter in mixed martial arts history, has gotten all the betting action leading up to his first fight in more than a year. Silva returns to the octagon in the main event of UFC 183 against Nick Diaz Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Sports books opened “The Spider” as a modest minus-240 (risking $2.40 to win $1) favorite months ago, but the price has nearly doubled to a consensus minus-450 around town. Diaz, who’s coming out of retirement that lasted nearly two years, is offered at plus-350 (risking $1 to win $3.50) after opening around 2-to-1.
The Sun’s picks panel, which is back for 2015 after a hiatus, can’t criticize the line move. None of the five prognosticators called for Diaz to pull the upset either.
Find picks from the Sun’s Case Keefer and Ray Brewer, ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto, ESPN Radio’s Steve Cofield and KSNV’s Randy Howe below.
Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy