If there ever was a fight where any of the two contenders would actually be facing themselves in the mirror, it’s this one. Typically, this would not be quite accurate for Jim Miller and Gabriel Benitez. Nevertheless, we have two very experienced UFCers, of the same height and the same weight, differing only on their fighting styles. Not to mention that they both defeated their last opponents via (T)KOs.
So, for UFC Las Vegas 84, at the usual APEX, on January 13, the American will face the Mexican. And it is indeed so tight that at this time the odds of @1.980 for Miller and @2.038 for Benitez, do not tell us much. In fact, the only thing that they do, is that A-10 has the tiniest of advantages over Moggly.
Jim «A-10» Miller
It’s not a daily thing to see a 40-year-old still entering the octagon and compete at the highest levels. This will be the 43rd time he steps in and he hopes to extend both the record of appearances and the record of 25 wins even further. In fact, for Las Vegas 74, on Jun 4 2023, he defeated Jesse Butler by KO in 23 seconds flat!
His fighting style is wrestling and he presents a record of 36 wins, 17 losses, 7 to 2 (T)KOs, 19 to 3 submissions and 2 title fights against C. Liguori back in 2007 and 2008 for ROC 17 and 18. On a piece of critical news, he has suffered a traumatic cataract injury, but he intends to fight anyway.
Gabriel «Moggly» Benitez
The Mexican is not that far behind the American. He is 35, with a total of 13 appearances in the octagon for his UFC career, another 20 before that, and a total record of 23 wins and 11 losses. (T)KOS are 9 for and 4 against, while 10 and 2 are for submissions. His last victory was on Aug 13 2022 when he defeated C. Ontiveros by a KO after 3 minutes and 33 seconds.
Basically, his style is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. However, he has also studied kickboxing. Just like his opponent his stance is southpaw. For the uninitiated, it means that they are both placing the right hand and foot forward and making their left side strong by default. Usually this is the standard for left-handed fighters, however, it is also used by right-handed people to offset their opponents.
It couldn’t be tighter
@1.952 for Miller, @1.980 for Benitez. Usually, this is how the bookmakers say that it could go either way. Perhaps with something like a 0,1% probability in favor of the American. Probably because he is a bit more experienced than his opponent and he does have a significant achievement to go for. And that’s always a strong motive to win. Unfortunately, at this time we have no other markets to look into yet.
In earnest, we don’t know what to expect. They are both quite experienced to be cautious and look for the split-second weakness to exploit. The possibility of either a (T)KO or a submission win is rather small, which means that, in all likelihood, this one will be decided by a majority decision from the judges. We believe that it would take either a lucky shot, or a major distraction of attention from either side for a different result.
Update
Since we last discussed about the bout, Miller disclosed the plans that he has for UFC 84. In fact, he admitted that the fight that he is interested the most is UFC 300, since he has already appeared on UFC 100 and UFC 200. Probably, these plans have resulted in a huge switch in the prices! Suddenly, the @1.980 dropped to @1.724. At the same time, the offers for Benitez from @2.038 rose to @2.254. In our book, this translates to a wider advantage for the American.
A-10 disclosed that he intends to take the fight to the mat, where, according to him, he has the decisive advantage over the Mexican. Furthermore, the sum of his latest statements reveals that he doesn’t feel pressure for this specific confrontation. Most likely, this is one of the reasons that he now enjoys the title of the favorite. On the other hand, Benitez admitted that he doesn’t know much about his opponent. And that would probably be the second reason that he is considered as the underdog.
All things considered, we decided not to go for who will win. Instead, we will opt for an Asian Under 1.5 at @2.098. It’s going to be a close fight and whoever wins will do so marginally. So, it’s the option with the less risk and a decent payout. Now that you have our proposal, you might as well open an account at the best betting platform and take advantage of it!