UFC 104 Betting Odds, UFC 104 Picks & Predictions: This Saturday night, the STAPLES Center in Downtown Los Angeles will be turned into an Octagon, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship will celebrate its 104th MMA event. UFC 104 will have a terrific MMA fight card in store, which includes fights in every division and an all-Brasileiro championship bout.
In the main event of the evening, UFC light heavyweight champ and sports betting odds favorite, (15-0-0) Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida [-450 ML] faces off against (18-3-0) Mauricio “Shogun” Rua [+325 ML] in a battle of 
contrasting Brazilians styles and the title on the line. “I’ve known him from 2004 or 2005 from the Pride days,” Machida stated. “I was always following him as a fighter because I thought one day we would be opponents.”
The undefeated, 31-year-old Machida from Belem, has gone from being an enigma and being highly criticized for his unorthodox, hybrid-karate style (3rd-dan black belt in Shotokan), to becoming the biggest UFC light heavyweight in the world, but mainly in his native country of Brazil. “Since I won the title, I have a lot of new fans,” Machida said. “The fans sometimes want time. Even though a lot of things have changed, I won’t change.”
This Southpaw exhibits a very rare combination of his own brand of (Machida) Karate, traditional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (black belt) and Sumo. “The difference between Machida karate versus Shotokan is that what most people have been used to and accustomed to watching is more sport karate,” the UFC champ explained. “What we did is brought back some of the strikes that they’ve eliminated from sport karate, the knee strikes, the elbow strikes, having an effective distance and knowing the distance of your opponent.”
Meanwhile 27-year-old Shogun, who’s from the land of champions Curitiba, has been among some of the best light heavyweights in the world for years, dating back to his Grand Prix winning days in PRIDE. Nevertheless, a world title has eluded him due to injuries and close ties to his countryman and former training partner Wanderlei Silva, who was the PRIDE champ at the time.
But now, Shogun gets his chance to perform on the grandest of stages at UFC 104 in Tinsel Town. Rua exhibits a very aggressive style of Muay Thai — having trained in the legendary Chute Boxe Academy in Brazil — has knockout power in both hands, and can also submit opponents from anywhere on the ground, earning a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
“Lyoto is a great fighter and someone that I actually like,” Shogun stated. “However, we are professional fighters and it's my goal to be the champion, so fighting him is a great challenge. I think he is a complete fighter, good standing up and good on the ground, so the ingredients make for a great fight.”
But on Saturday night, only one will walk out of that cage with the UFC championship belt, and the title of undisputed light heavyweight champion of Brazil. “Shogun is a very aggressive fighter with good knees, good punching, but I’ll try to push him into my style,” The Dragon stated. “This is my first title defense and I hope I’ll win.
But that’s not the only big-time fight happening at UFC 104! Check out these UFC 104 Betting Odds, UFC 104 Picks & Predictions:
Cain Velasquez [-300 ML] vs. Ben Rothwell [+220 ML]
Joe Stevenson [-260 ML] vs. Spencer Fisher [+200 ML]
Anthony Johnson [-350] vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida [+250 ML]
Pat Barry [-105 ML] vs. Antoni Hardonk [-125 ML]
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