Free Betting Picks – Strikeforce: Houston

Added on Aug 20, 2010 by Bill Jackson in

UFC & MMA

Tomorrow night on Showtime, Strikeforce will feature four intriguing bouts including light heavyweight and middleweight title fights. In the main event, new light heavyweight champ Muhammed Lawal makes his first defense against Rafael Cavalcante, and in the co-main event, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza meets Tim Kennedy for the vacant middleweight title.

SportsBettingWorld has Lawal at -550, which is about where he belongs. Lawal has proven his mettle and shown all around skills highlighted by his tremendous wrestling. While Cavalcante is certainly a tough challenge for anyone, he was knocked out just three fights ago and has at times looked very ordinary. Lawal is out of his league, at least at the moment, and the odds reflect that. However, a straight bet on Lawal at -550 is much too risky, so save it for the parlay.

The co-main event is a very even matchup, but the odds have Souza at -275 and Kennedy at +190. I keep going back and forth on who wins this fight, but I keep finding myself leaning towards Kennedy. Either way, it is an even fight. In that case you always put a few bucks on the underdog. I think Kennedy is just too well-conditioned and motivated to fall to Souza.

In the opening two bouts, former WWE wrestler Bobby Lashley continues his MMA campaign against unheralded Chad Griggs, and former EliteXC champion K.J. Noons meets UFC veteran Jorge Gurgel in a lightweight bout. Both favorites are very solid here and the odds show that with Lashley at -600 and Noons at -300.

There is not a lot known about Griggs, but this is one of those times when you have to believe in the way Lashley is being handled and realize they are not putting him in there with a threat at this point in his career. They are the ones in the know about Griggs, and they have been extremely careful up to this point. Of course, anything can happen in MMA, but Lashley looks like a lock.

In the featured lightweight bout, Noons is simply too big and strong for Gurgel. If you saw the way Gurgel was out-powered by Aaron Riley back at UFC 91, then you can imagine how this bout will look, but worst for Gurgel. Noons is hard to take down and his boxing is on another level from Gurgel’s.

My advice: Parlay Lawal, Lashley, and Noons. Small straight bet on Kennedy.