Since the ancient days of gladiators, spectators have enjoyed the thrill of betting on combative sporting contests. Every moment of a fight seems much more exciting when there is money riding on the outcome. Today is no different, as a growing number of people are betting on modern-day gladiatorial contests - mixed martial arts events.

UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva (19-4) vs. Rich Franklin (22-2)

UFC 77 "Hostile Territory" Fight Odds

UFC 77: “Hostile Territory”
Saturday, October 20 at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view (PPV)
U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio

UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva will travel to the hometown of the man he took the title from, Rich “Ace” Franklin, to defend his crown against the popular former title belt holder
in a highly anticipated rematch entitled UFC 77: HOSTILE TERRITORY.

The October 20 showdown at the U.S. Bank Arena will be almost exactly one year to the day that “The Spider” crushed “Ace” en route to championship glory at UFC 64: “Unstoppable” on October 14, 2006.

Silva (19-4), fighting out of Curitiba, Brazil, is an extremely well-rounded fighter with phenomenal striking skills as well as a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. After defeating Chris Leben and Franklin in the first round in his first two UFC fights, “The Spider” took on Travis Lutter in February in what was supposed to be his first title defense, but Lutter fell short of making weight by a half-pound. As a result, their fight was altered to a three-round non-championship bout, but Silva still finished Lutter by submission at 2:11 of the second round. Silva then took on Nathan Marquardt at UFC 73 in July and finally got his first successful title defense under his belt with an impressive first round TKO win.

 Rich Franklin

(24-2) fought a good portion of his career as a light heavyweight before moving to the middleweight division. At UFC 53, he stopped UFC champion Evan Tanner to capture the middleweight crown. He made his first title defense against Nate Quarry at UFC 56, winning by first round KO, and his second defense against Canadian David Loiseau at UFC 58 showed his championship heart as he won a five round decision despite fighting much of the fight with a broken hand. Franklin faced Anderson Silva in his third UFC title defense, but was stopped by the Brazilian in the first round. At UFC 68 in March, he returned to the Octagon™, and in front of his home state crowd, stopped Jason MacDonald at the start of the second round. At UFC 72, Franklin defeated Yushin Okami by unanimous decision to earn a rematch with Silva and a shot at redemption.

This Fight did not happen - Maybe if Ortiz gets his contract right with the MMA. Then we may see if Titto is washed up.

Evans Vs. Ortiz 2, are relatively even money again. Pick 'em. I'll be picking Ortiz because I think he'll be better prepared this time and he wont hold the fence. Back at UFC 73 these two fought to an unanimous draw because Ortiz had been warned about grabbing the fence, yet in the second round did it again to prevent Evans from taking him down to the mat. The one point penalty led to a draw, even though Ortiz should have won two rounds and the fight in all three judges's minds. Don't think that means Ortiz is going to have his way this time. Evans is still a young and inexperienced fighter who will have learned from his first match and should be better this time around. Of course Ortiz still thinks he deserves the limelight and isn't going to get much more of it if he loses to an unproven fighter like Evans. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

UFC 77 Fight Card

Main Event: UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva (19-4) vs. Rich Franklin (22-2)

Undercard:

Hvywt.: Tim Sylvia (23-3) vs. Brandon Vera (8-0)
185 lbs.: Jason MacDonald (19-8) vs. Yushin Okami (20-4)*
170 lbs.: Josh Burkman (8-4) vs. Forrest Petz (13-4)
185 lbs.: Kalib Starnes (8-1-1) vs. Alan Belcher (10-3)
205 lbs.: Stephan Bonnar (10-4) vs. Eric Schafer (7-2-2)*
155 lbs.: Jorge Gurgel (11-2) vs. Alvin Robinson (8-2)*
185 lbs.: Ryan Jensen (11-2) vs. Demian Maia (5-0)*
155 lbs.: Jason Black (21-3-1) vs. Matt Grice (8-1)*

Odds from Gamblerspalace.com

UFC 77 “Hostile Territory” Winner

77 HOSTILE TERRITORY Anderson Silva is 2nd round winner over Rich Franklin. The UFC Middleweight Champion stopped the attack in the Octagon for a second time from the mixed martial arts fighter Rich Franklin from his hometown Cincinnati at the full house U.S. Bank Arena October 20, 2007.

During UFC 64 in October 2006, Silva stopped Franklin during the first round.

Franklin entered the Octagon very confident to the music “Welcome to the Jungle”. The fans were so excited to see him that they let out a roar and gave him the confidence to see the champion enter. The opening song for Silva was “Ain’t no sunshine” by DMX. The reception for Silva wasn’t spectacular as the crowd booed.