Mirko Cro Cop vs. Brendan 'The Hybrid' Schaub
After suffering a devastating KO loss to Frank Mir at UFC 119, Mirko Cro Cop will look to rebound by taking out the up & coming Heavyweight prospect Brendan Schaub. Thus far in his UFC career Cro Cop has failed to re-produce the form that once made him one of the most feared Heavyweight’s in the world and many feel that it is just a matter of time until the Croatian is forced to hang up the gloves. His striking doesn’t seem as effective as it once was & the hunger doesn’t seem to be there anymore, all of this combined with the fact that he will be going up against a hungry young lion such as Schaub could very well mean that this will be the beginning of the end for Mirko. Schaub has looked more impressive every time we see him in the octagon and I expect this to continue on Saturday, his striking is coming along nicely & he has the power to end fights if he connects. Mirko still has a chance to win this fight if he pulls the trigger and becomes more aggressive but I feel at this point in time Schaub will want the W more & he will come away the victor.
My Prediction: Brendan Schaub via TKO.
Urijah 'California Kid' Faber vs. Eddie Wineland
Urijah Faber will finally get to make his UFC debut on Saturday night as he looks to make a big impact in the bantamweight division by taking out Eddie Wineland. Wineland should prove to be a good test for Faber as he is the former WEC Bantamweight champion and currently riding a 4 fight win streak so his confidence will be high going into the fight. I expect Wineland to look to keep the fight standing where he can use his striking & power to try and de-rail Faber’s title dreams and get his 3rd straight KO of the night award. Faber is very well rounded and should be comfortable trading strikes, however I think it would be wise for him to look to take Wineland to the ground in this fight where he has the superior skills. If Faber gets the takedown then I think he’ll be in an excellent position to lock in the submission and get the victory. Even though Wineland will be a dangerous opponent I think that Faber will be too well rounded for him and he will come away with a submission victory.My Prediction: Urijah Faber via submission.
Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua vs. Jon 'Bones' Jones
In the main event of the evening the light heavyweight champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua will make the first defence of his title against the red hot prospect Jon Jones. Jones’ rise to the top of the light heavyweight division has been something to behold, since debuting with the UFC in 2008 he has been on a meteoric rise, destroying every opponent that has been put in front of him. This incredible streak has lead to him being offered a title shot at just 23 years of age after Rashad Evans had to pull out due to injury. Whatever happens in this fight, Jones has a very bright future in this sport and he is only going to get better, the main question that people have been asking is that is this a case of too much, too soon for the young phenom? Shogun will definitely be the toughest opponent of Jones career to date, however, we don’t quite know if Shogun will be 100% coming into this fight. Rua is coming off of a 3rd knee surgery and it will be interesting to see how much of an effect this surgery has had on the champion. If Shogun is 100% then look for him to start very aggressive and pile the pressure onto Jones, Shogun has excellent striking and KO power in his hands so he will want to do his best to keep the fight standing where he can use that Muay-Thai style to really test Jones’ stand-up skills. With the massive reach advantage that Jones will possess, Shogun will need to work on getting on the inside to inflict damage. Jones on the other hand will want to keep the striking exchanges to a minimum, I expect him to use his reach to try & keep Shogun at distance while throwing in some takedown attempts to keep the Brazilian guessing. He will need to be careful when on the ground though as Shogun has some excellent BJJ and is very dangerous off of his back. Whatever happens I think we’ll see an excellent fight & as I mentioned earlier I think that Jones will eventually become the champion however unless Shogun has been seriously affected by the knee surgery then I think he will have too much for Jones at this point in his career.
My Prediction: Shogun via TKO.
