Let’s take a break from the insanity of the NBA offseason and check out this weekend’s UFC 100 odds, shall we?

Brock Lesnar (3-1) vs Frank Mir (12-3): Heavyweight Unification Bout

Lesnar is a -225 favorite this weekend to avenge his only loss of his career, but Mir shouldn’t be counted out when making your sports picks. He showed his experience as Lesnar bullied him around for for the majority of the first round, before Mir caught him in a kneebar. Lesnar has learned so much more since that fight, as he rolled over Randy Couture, who many consider to be one of the legends of the heavyweight division. Mir won’t end this fight early, so he’ll try to drag it out as long as he can. Still, Lesnar is an absolute monster with revenge on his mind, and Mir won’t be so lucky this time.

Georges St. Pierre (18-2) vs Thiago Alves (16-3): Welterweight Championship Bout

According to betting services, GSP is a -300 favorite against Alves, who will be aiming to take the belt away from one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. GSP has improved his striking ability, which goes well with his wicked takedowns. He’s completed 77% of his attempted takedowns this year.  Alves will try to stop this with his fierce array of strikes, which is something that GSP has had problems with in the past. Alves also had some problems making weight in this contest, which could hurt him in the long run as GSP’s conditioning is brilliant. The longer this fight goes, the better chance GSP has, so go with him in your offshore sportsbook.

Word filtered down that Anderson Varejao has signed a six-year deal with Cleveland, reported to be around $42.5 million, with incentives to push it over $50 million. Shoot, I’m in the business of making sports picks, I should probably stretch myself out and grow stupid hair, right?

Now, Sideshow Bob is one of those dudes that you love him if he’s on your team, and hate him when he’s not. But he had amazing career highs of 8.6 points and 7.2 assists last year, and you pay $7 mil a year for that? Everyone says, “oh, he does stuff that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet”, and that’s all fine and good. But it Anderson Varejao really improving Cleveland’s betting odds this year. More importantly, if they had let him walk, how much better would another team be without him?

What he needs to do is take some of that money, and put it on UFC betting underdog Frank Mir on Saturday, spread some of that luck around. It’s either luck, or his agent game is tight.

Well, they did everything but give him a ticker-tape parade, but Rasheed Wallace signed with Boston today, giving the Celtics another piece of the puzzle to try and get their championship back. Had he not signed with the Celtics, it would have been a bigger surprise than if Frank Mir scored an MMA betting upset over Brock Lesnar (which I persoanlly guarantee won’t happen).

Now, the interesting part begins: will ‘Sheed take being a bench player? How does this affect Kendrick Perkins and Glen “Big Baby” Davis, who made a number of clutch shots for the Celtics in these playoffs? I’m betting management figures that Kevin Garnett will be able to talk to Wallace, who was picked one team ahead of Garnett in the 1995 draft. This obviously makes the Celtics one of the top sports picks going into the season, as Wallace brings a big body, great three-point shooting, and championship experience from his win with Detroit in 2004.

Offshore sportsbook odds on ‘Sheed’s technicals next year? They’d be fun to come up with.

I think I would rather be in a UFC betting match with Brock Lesnar this weekend than talk about the 2010 free agents again. But here we go:

-Dwayne Wade says he’ll stay in Miami if they’re contending for a title….

No, really? You think D-Wade will up and leave a team that could win again? Come on now. The problem is for D-Wade, or better yet, the Heat, is that Miami looks nowhere near a contending team, so they’re not worth wasting one of your sports picks on them. They only got as far as they did last year because D-Wade went absolutely insane, and he would have been the MVP if not for that LeBron James fella. Oh, speaking of which:

-LeBron James didn’t talk to Trevor Ariza about staying in Cleveland….

James apparently told Ariza that he was planning to stay with the Cavs in a recruitment ploy to get him to come there (which didn’t work, for either side, really). First, Ariza: why would you not go to a team that betting services are favoring to win the East, and instead stay with a team that could be losing Yao Ming for the season (and possibly his career), and Ron Artest just bolted to take your spot in L.A.? Second, James’ handlers were quick to come out and say that Bron didn’t talk to Ariza, which begs the question: what are the sports betting odds of him staying in Cleveland? This is the biggest season in the history of the Cavaliers.

The big online betting news out of the NBA this weekend was Hedo Turkoglu’s change of heart. Sources had him all but gone to Portland as of Friday, but over the weekend, Turkey-doo (shout out to Fiyastarter) reneged and signed with Toronto, of all teams, for over $10 mil a season.

So how does this impact the NBA landscape? Well, first of all, the Raptors getting Turkey-doo is similar to Frank Mir pulling out the UFC betting upset over Brock Lesnar this weekend. The Raptors were awful last year, but a lot of that was due to injury, and they needed a player who could create for himself and his teammates off the dribble. However, you have to wonder how smart it is to give a 30-year-old a five year contract when his best days are surely behind him. On the defensive end, he doesn’t help the Raptors that much, but they play in the low-scoring East. Turkey-doo also said he wanted to play in Toronto because of the Turkish population, and that could rise the price per head of tickets at the ACC.

All in all, though, this was done to show Chris Bosh that the Raptors are serious about being a contender, as he can leave in next year’s free-agent bonanza. How much of a difference can Turkey-doo make for the Raptors to those who make sports picks? Stay tuned.

So, here is a rundown of today’s top stories that will surely affect next year’s sports picks. Man, it’s been an insane beginning to the offseason, and we’re only three days in.

-Turkoglu agrees to go to Portland: well, it was due to happen after the Magic picked up Vince Carter (how crappy are the Nets gonna be next year). Portland, on the other hand, will be a force, like, a “Roger Federer Wimbledon betting” kinda force.

-Ron Artest to the Lakers: Betting software says that Ron Ron and Kobe don’t make it to the season without at least one fight in practice.

-Trevor Ariza to Houston: why didn’t these two teams just trade? And how much money does Ariza really think he’ll get? And how bummy is Houston lookin’ right about now? No Yao? Ewwwwwwwwwww.

-Phil Jackson will be back: keeping Kobe and Ron Ron from killing each other every day should get him an award in itself.

-Stephon Marbury says he probably won’t go back to Boston: so he’ll end up somewhere else to ruin another team’s NBA odds.

It’s been more exciting than the UFC 100 Fight Card during the offseason (okay, not really, but it’s been close). So far we have, including trades:

-Ben Gordon and Charlie Villaneuva to Detroit for around $90 million
-Vince Carter to Orlando
-Richard Jefferson to San Antonio
-Zach Randolph to Memphis
-Carlos Boozer defies the offshore sportsbook odds and stays with Utah

And New York is still trying to get Jason Kidd out of Dallas….The Lakers are planning (tentatively) to keep Lamar Odom and let Trevor Ariza hit the market….Hedo Turkoglu probably won’t be in Orlando next year….Cleveland are now chasing Ron Artest and Ariza….Oh yeah, Minnesota drafted 37 point guards in the draft, and may only end up with one. Sports betting software wouldn’t have even seen that coming, but I mean, it is the Timberwolves.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO………..it’s gonna be fun to make sports picks this year!

The UFC 100 fight card is out at the best online sportsbook in the industry, even though the event isn’t until July 11th in Las Vegas. The highlights of the card? The main event, of course, but since it’s the 100th UFC card, there are not one, but TWO big fights lined up.

Lesnar Mir Odds: Lesnar (-225)

Brock Lesnar is looking to avenge his lone UFC loss, and he’s much better prepared to take on Frank Mir now. He was actually dominating that fight before his inexperience allowed him to give up his leg, which Mir used to perform a kneebar to end the fight. This will be for the undisputed UFC heavyweight championship, and those who make sports picks will have a big (heavyweight, as it were) decision to make.

St. Pierre Alves odds (GSP -260)

This is for GSP’s welterweight title, and the champion hasn’t lost in his last five bouts.  But Alves is no slouch, and hasn’t lost in his last seven outings. This fight should make the price per head be worth it alone, as neither man will back down willingly.