UFC 92 The Ultimate Rematch Wanderlei Silva vs Quinton Jackson

Here are the BetUS UFC betting odds on the fight:

Light Heavyweights

December 27 -- Las Vegas

WANDERLEI SILVA -130

QUINTON JACKSON -110

For betting purposes, let's size up the contestants:

SILVA (32-8, 22 KO's, 4 subs.), the -130 favorite in the BetUS UFC sports betting odds, is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which of course was the specialty of Royce Gracie, the first real UFC champion. He is also very accomplished in kickboxing and Thai boxing. His early days were spent in places like Vale Tudo and the IVC, and he then went back and forth between the UFC and PRIDE. In a UFC event in Japan, he was beaten by Tito Ortiz for the light heavyweight title in 2000, but later chalked up a series of wins, including victories over Dan Henderson, Guy Mezger, and a trio of wins over Kazushi Sakuraba, one of which brought him the PRIDE middleweight title. One of his successful defenses came on a KO over Quinton Jackson, and he later defeated Jackson in a Grand Prix event. He lost his middleweight title in PRIDE in February of 2007 when Dan Henderson nailed him with a picture-perfect left hook for the knockout. Upon joining up with UFC after the merger, he dropped a decision to Chuck Liddell in what was a great fight, but came back on May 24 with a quick KO win over Keith Jardine (36 seconds, in fact) to put himself in position for a third fight with "Rampage."

JACKSON (28-7, 13 KO's, 7 subs.), the -110 underdog at BetUS, has really built himself from the ground up in mixed martial arts, fighting in a lot of small outfits as he honed his craft, then making his move in Japan. He came out of virtually nowhere to become a star in the PRIDE organization, starting ironically with a loss to the legendary Kazushi Sakuraba, who beat him on a rear naked choke. He had six wins in a row at one point in PRIDE, though, advancing to the Middleweight Grand Prix final in 2003, where he lost to his Saturday opponent, Wanderlei Silva, on a TKO on strikes in six minutes and 28 seconds. Jackson got a rematch with Silva about a year later and was KO'd in the second round of a bout that was contested for the PRIDE middleweight title. Jackson later moved to the UFC, and after wins over Matt Lindland and Marvin Eastman, he stopped Chuck Liddell in one round to capture the UFC light heavyweight title. He then defended it with a decision over Dan Henderson, who had earlier knocked out Silva at a PRIDE event in Las Vegas. At UFC 86 this past July, though, Jackson lost his belt when he was beaten on decision by the very popular Forrest Griffin. Then, according to Jackson's account, depression set in, which led to some trouble outside the Octagon that is still not resolved.

Handicapping fights, like anything, is kind of simple on the surface, in that you want to evaluate the percentages and possibilities and weigh them against the odds that are posted. While it is true that Silva has lost three of his last four fights and five of his last ten, the fact is that in many cases, styles make fights, and he has imposed his style on Jackson twice, beating him both times on stoppage. Jackson would be expected to have made adjustments between the first time he lost to Silva, in a middleweight title fight, and the second time, which was in a tournament, but he couldn't avoid Silva's potent knees, which delivered 17 straight blows for the win.