UFC 135 Odds: Why Bookmakers Aren't Giving Rampage Enough Credit

The main event of the UFC 135 fight card is not lacking for intrigue or drama.

You have Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, a veteran fighter who has been through countless battles on the UFC circuit. He is clearly not the fighter he once was, but he has been there and done that several times over.

Jon "Bones" Jones awaits the battle-tested Jackson. Jones very well might be "the man" in UFC right now. He is a young, athletic, innovative fighter that most feel Jackson won't be able to keep up with.

For evidence of that sentiment, look no further than the odds the bookmakers have put on the fight.

Jones opened up in many places as a -525 favorite over Rampage. Now, that has widened to -600. I think that at this point it's clear that Jones should be the favorite, but those odds are borderline disrespectful to a fighter as accomplished as Jackson.

Those odds are essentially giving Rampage little more than a puncher's chance against Jones, no pun intended.

There's no real way to quantify experience and that's where I think the odds really miss the mark. Rampage Jackson has 40 fights under his belt, winning 32 of them.

He has gone toe-to-toe with the likes of Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin. He is a former UFC light heavyweight champion and he has been one of the more prominent faces in UFC over the last several years.

Jones is the younger fighter. Jones is also the quicker and more athletic fighter at this stage of the pair's careers. But that doesn't mean that Rampage is done.

He knows that his chances are running short to prove that he is still an elite fighter. That makes him a very dangerous man. Much more dangerous than the oddsmakers are giving him credit for.