UFC 102:  “Couture VS. Nogueira” takes place this Saturday, August 29th, at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon.  It’s main event will pit two of the best Heavyweight mixed martial artists in history against each other.  Former UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight champion, Randy Couture, will look to get back into title contention when he squares off against former Pride FC and UFC Interim Heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira.

The UFC 102 card also features what may very well be a Middleweight #1 contender fight between BJJ ace Demian Maia and ex-”King Of Pancrase” Nate Marquardt.  In addition, Keith Jardine, Brandon Vera, Thiago Silva, Krzysztof Soszynski and Chris Leben will also be inside the octagon this weekend in the Pacific Northwest.

There are some very interesting fights on this card from a betting perspective.  Several of the fights on this card have been subjects of passionate debate.  With that being said, there is some money to be made on this UFC event.  Without further adeiu, here are my predictions and betting advice for UFC 102.

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Strikeforce’s possibly cursed “Carano VS. Cyborg” event will be taking place this Saturday, August 15th in San Jose, CA.  It will be headlined by possibly the biggest fight in the history of women’s MMA:  Gina Carano against Cris “Cyborg” Santos.  Strikeforce’s Light Heavyweight championship will also be up for grabs as Renato “Babalu” Sobral defends his title against Gegard Mousasi.  Mitsuhiro Ishida will also be stepping in for an injured Josh Thomson to get a shot at Strikeforce’s interim Lightweight title against Gilbert Melendez.  Here are my predictions for the main card and the Kyle/Werdum fight.

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I have updated the “Pros’ Picks” for this weekend’s “Strikeforce – Carano VS. Cyborg” main card.  In addition, the odds for the event will be continually updated up until fight time.  Thank you to Ben at CagePotato, Zak at WatchKalubRun, Zeus at MiddleEasy and Steve at MMAConvert for the contributions.

Some thoughts on “Strikeforce – Carano VS. Cyborg”:

-After watching Cyborg Santos’ training video for her upcoming fight against Gina Carano, I feel more confident in my pick.  Cyborg will be Carano’s stiffest to date, and I think she has the skill, preparation and camp to cement herself as Strikeforce’s #1 female fighter.  I think Carano is a bit overrated, and while she is a very talented mixed martial artist, Cyborg is otherworldly.

-Mitsuihiro Ishida shouldn’t be that big of an underdog, especially because he’s beaten Gilbert Melendez once.  I know there are concerns because he took this fight on late notice and that this fight is in America instead of Japan, but Ishida shoudn’t be at +200.  Most bloggers seem to agree that Ishida is being undervalued here, seeing as he is 67% to win in MMAMoneyLine’s “Pro’s Picks”.

-Nick Diaz/CSAC let me down.  I think both parties are to blame for Strikeforce’s latest event snafu, but hopefully Jay Hieron and Jesse Taylor still put on a good fight.

-As an MMA bettor, I believe that any fighter over +400 is worth a bet (or at least a thorough analysis).  Mike Kyle is getting no respect from the sportsbooks, even with his victory over Rafael Cavalcante.  Will Fabricio Werdum win?  Probably.  Can Werdum be knocked out?  Absolutely.  Is the Fabricio Werdum in 2009 the same Fabricio Werdum of 2006?  Questionable…at best.

If you are planning on wagering on any fights on this card, be sure to keep watching the betting lines, check over the “Pro’s Picks” and check the fighter profiles either by going to the “MMA Fighters” page or clicking on the name of the fighter in the odds table.