UFC 96 betting and NBA betting players will see a common theme in a pair of sportsbook matchups coming up. On Saturday, “Rampage” Jackson looks to continue his road of redemption after a crazy couple of years (winning titles, then losing them, then getting arrested and sent to a mental hospital) when he takes on Keith Jardine. Tonight, Dallas will try to do the same when they head to New Orleans to face the Hornets. On Monday, the Mavericks were beaten handily by an Oklahoma team that didn’t have Kevin Durant or Jeff Green in the lineup. Owner Mark Cuban promised changes after watching that game, saying his team had no passion or emotion. Well, they rebounded for a tough win over San Antonio, and they were inspired by their best players, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry, as well as a great game from the inconsistent Josh Howard.

The Mavericks should be online betting underdogs in this contest, given that they’ve lost to the Hornets at home this season, and New Orleans beat Dallas 4-2 in the playoffs last season. While the Mavericks should come up short tonight, if they show some heart, that will be a big improvement from some of their recent outings.

Maybe checking out this week’s UFC 96 betting card in his sportsbook has Shaquille O’Neal in an ornery mood, because the “Big Aristotle” has had some choice words for the future of the league’s big men. First there was his rebuttal to Toronto’s Chris Bosh, who stated that referees were ignoring O’Neal’s three-second violations in the Suns’ 133-113 win over the Raptors in which Shaq dropped 45 points and 11 boards. Shaq responded by calling Bosh the “RuPaul of big men”. Ouch. Bosh better watch out the next time he faces the “Diesel”.

Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with Orlando, Shaq basically said that Dwight Howard is not on his level, because he hasn’t won anything yet. This is actually true, but unnecessary. I think everyone knows this, and if anything, D-12′s been nothing but respectful to Shaq. The behemoths battled to a standstill in a 111-99 win for Orlando, as Howard had 21 points and eight boards, while Shaq had 19 and 11 rebounds in a losing effort. It sounds like Shaq trying to get into the young man’s mind, but it didn’t work as the Magic won the game and they’re miles ahead of the Suns in NBA betting terms. I’m sure the guys are decent friends, or else we wouldn’t get moments like this:

Again, it’s gonna be a sad day when the big fella retires. TNT better have a spot ready for him.