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Expect heavy betting on Brock Lesnar this coming Saturday as UFC 87 - Seek and Destroy - is set to take place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is the message being sent out by Gambling911.com as the fight approaches.
Lesnar is listed as a -230 favorite at BetUS.com - one of the top five largest online sports books in terms of overall volume catering to the North American public. Lesnar tends to draw a huge fan base and that's exactly what he did during his debut at UFC 81, the night leading into the 2008 Super Bowl.
The traffic numbers were substantial at Gambling911.com, brought on mostly by legions of Lesnar fans inquiring about payout results.
The UFC is well aware of the Lesnar phenomenon according to Matt Ramsay of 2TheAdvocate.com
After the Ultimate Fighting Championship revealed the Pay-Per-View numbers for UFC 81, the UFC found that close to half of the 600,000 PPV buys had never purchased an UFC event before. Was it a coincidence that this was Brock Lesnar's debut in the UFC? A lot of people including the UFC don't seem to think so.
Lesnar's fan base seems to have followed him from the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
Ramsay further points out that "it is clear with the list of fighters that Lesnar has to face that he is getting no special treatment from the UFC. Lesnar would have it no other way.
With the heavyweight division searching for its star, Lesnar could very well be the next big thing."
In regard to his UFC 87 opponent Heath Herring, Lesnar recently told the Baltimore Sun that Heath is a "credible" opponent compared to say - Mark Coleman - who had to pull out of the fight due to a knee injury and for whom Lesnar called "over the hill".
"Heath (Herring) is a younger guy, he definitely has a lot of experience and he's a tough SOB. He's a brawler and brings to the plate a whole variety of things that we're looking at as a fighter. He's well rounded with hands, feet and it's a challenge for me, and I accepted the challenge when Mark pulled out. I'm looking at this fight where I've got a lot to gain and he has a lot to lose.
"My back is against the wall in this fight too, because I said from the beginning I wanted to fight credible opponents and that's what Dana is handing me in Frank Mir and Heath Herring."
During that same interview, Lesnar also took at shot at Kimbo Slice, another phenom fighter who made his name street brawling and became a hit with the YouTube crowd. Slice has since been signed to EliteXC.
When asked what he thought of "newcomer" Kimbo Slice, Brock Lesnar responded by saying "I don't have a comment on that. It's not worth commenting on it." Ouch!
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Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
