Sports

BEST BETS: UFC 157

The day before every major event, The Post’s MMA expert Marc Raimondi breaks down what you should know in order to intelligently wager on the fights.

On Saturday, the UFC is in Anaheim as Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche square off in the first women’s fight in company history. It’ll be for the women’s bantamweight title at the Honda Center. Lyoto Machida meets Dan Henderson in a light heavyweight No. 1 contender bout in the co-main event and Urijah Faber and Josh Koscheck are both also on the card.

Here are the lines from 5dimes:

MAIN CARD (PPV, 10 p.m.)

Ronda Rousey (-1275) vs. Liz Carmouche (+825)

Lyoto Machida (-250) vs. Dan Henderson (+210)

Urijah Faber (-380) vs. Ivan Menjivar (+315)

Court McGee (-290) vs. Josh Neer (+245)

Josh Koscheck (-450) vs. Robbie Lawler (+360)

PRELIMS (FX, 8 p.m.)

Brendan Schaub (-150) vs. Lavar Johnson (+130)

Mike Chiesa (-190) vs. Anton Kuivanen (+165)

Dennis Bermudez (-400) vs. Matt Grice (+325)

Caros Fodor (-155) vs. Sam Stout (+135)

Brock Jardine (-160) vs. Kenny Robertson (+140)

Neil Magny (-160) vs. Jon Manley (+140)

Yuri Villefort (-115) vs. Nah-Shon Burrell (-105)

Rousey is one of the biggest locks you’re going to get. No opponent has even gotten out of the first round with her, let alone challenged her. You can feel safer than you ever have about putting her in your parlay. Nothing in Carmouche’s past makes you think she’ll be able to defeat the former Olympic medalist in judo.

Machida-Henderson is not nearly as easy to figure out. Machida is much quicker and much more athletic. But Henderson is Henderson – a grizzled vet who knows how to win fights. His right hand has put many a formidable opponent on their butts. This is Henderson’s last chance. He’s 42 years old and a win gets him a title shot. I think he’ll figure out a way to win even if it’s on sheer toughness alone and the odds are too high in Machida’s favor. I like this for the upset special.

Faber and Koscheck are the two next most well-known guys on the main card and it’s no surprise that both are a heavy favorite. Faber is still a top contender in the bantamweight division and Menjivar is little more than a gatekeeper. Lawler was little more than a middling Strikeforce welterweight, so Koscheck should be able to handle him. Stick both Koscheck and Faber in your parlay.

On the prelims, there’s great odds for Schaub, who should be a heavier favorite against Johnson. I understand why – both guys are sluggers and there’s a high percentage for a knockout – but Schaub is simply better. He’s a good straight bet, as is Fodor, who is more versatile than a sliding Stout.

BEST BETS

POT: 708.75 (-275.00)

(Original pot: $1,000)

Parlay

Rousey, Faber, Koscheck, Bermudez

$150 to win $162.18

Straight bets

Schaub over Johnson

$45 to win $30

Fodor over Stout

$46.50 to win $30

Upset special

Henderson over Machida

$20 to win $42

LOOKING BACK

Ice cold. That’s that the Best Bets have been lately. UFC on Fuel TV was our second straight 0-fer.

Ulysses Gomez and Terry Etim, two of our parlay choices, both lost. So did Dustin Poirier, Paul Sass and upset special Jorge Santiago. We’re taking a licking right now, but plan to come back strong for this event.

mraimondi@nypost.com