Thiago ‘Pitbull’ AlvesThis is a big fight for both of these welterweight fighters, Matt Hughes is coming into this fight off of a loss after being dominated by current champion Georges St-Pierre and has announced several times that he only plans to have a couple of fights left before retiring. Hughes was forced to submit in his loss to Georges St-Pierre after being outclassed in the stand-up battle and having his takedowns stopped by St Pierre, the loss was probably the worst that Hughes has suffered in his career and this could very well affect him psychologically in his fight against Alves. Thiago on the other hand is currently on a 5 fight win streak and his confidence is growing fight by fight as he looks to earn himself a title shot against GSP. Thiago’s best chance of winning this fight will be to keep the fight standing, even though Hughes has improved his stand-up considerably in the last few years, his striking is still nowhere near as good as his wrestling & ground and pound. Even though 8 out of Alves’ 13 wins have come by way of KO, demonstrating his KO power, Hughes has never actually been knocked out, even in his loss to GSP he was still conscious at the end of the fight, so Thiago will need to be patient and not get frustrated if he finds out that Hughes can handle his punches. Hughes’ best strategy to win this fight is to go back to basics and do what he does best, which means taking Alves down and using his ground and pound to earn a stoppage. If Hughes can get the takedown then I can see him winning this fight in the 2nd or 3rd round via TKO (strikes). However if Thiago can stop the takedown and keep the fight on the feet then I can see The Pitbull taking a unanimous decision.
My Prediction: Matt Hughes via TKO (strikes)
Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping
Jason ‘Dooms’ Day
Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping will be looking to take another step up the Middleweight rankings in this fight as he takes on Jason ‘Dooms’ Day. Day will be making his second appearance in the UFC after stopping Alan Belcher in his debut via TKO. Bisping is coming off of an impressive debut fight at Middleweight, defeating Charles McCarthy, after suffering a controversial first defeat to Rashad Evans, after cutting down from 205lbs Bisping is now one of the bigger fighters in the Middleweight division which could be an advantage in future fights in the division. With 10 of his 15 wins coming by way of KO Bisping should be looking to keep this one standing where he has the advantage in this fight. Day should not be underestimated however, having recently won a split decision over former UFC middleweight title contender David ‘The Crow’ Loiseau. Just as comfortable standing as he is on the ground, Day is one of the few practitioners of Eddie Bravo’s ‘Rubber Guard’ technique, which could be crucial if he manages to get this fight to the ground. If this fight stays standing then I see Bisping winning this one by KO and taking another step closer to the title. Day’s best chance at pulling out a win in this fight is on the ground where I’d give him a slight advantage. However I can’t see Day getting the takedown on the bigger Bisping and I think The Count will ultimately prove too much for him.
My Prediction : Michael Bisping via KO
Marcus ‘Irish Hand Grenade' Davis
Mike ‘Quick’ Swick
Marcus Davis is coming into this fight on an 11-fight win streak, so the momentum will definitely be with ‘The Irish hand Grenade’ in this fight. Swick on the other hand has lost some of his momentum recently, after having a 4 fight win streak during which he stopped all of his opponents in the 1st round, he has gone to the judge’s decision in 3 of his last fights losing 1 to Yushin Okami. Both of these fighters have KO power and are pretty evenly matched standing. On the ground however I’d have to give the edge to Marcus Davis, who has won 7 of his fights by submission. Even though Davis has the advantage on the ground I can’t see him taking Swick down unless he gets badly hurt while exchanging strikes with Mike. Swick definitely has the tools to stop Marcus in this fight but I can see Davis using his powerful strikes and the confidence gained from his last several fights to pull out the KO against Swick.
My Prediction: Marcus Davis by KO
Nate ‘The Great’ Marquardt
Thales Leites
This fight will finally take place at UFC 85 after being cancelled on two previous occasions, these two were first scheduled to fight on the undercard of Ortiz vs Shamrock 3 before Leites’ visa issues meant that the fight was pushed back until UFC 81 but a broken hand suffered by Leites once again forced the match to be re-scheduled. Leites will be coming into this fight looking to get his 4th straight win and in the process get into title contention. Marquardt however will be looking to gain back some of the momentum that he had built up before being TKO’d by Middleweight champion Anderson Silva. With both fighters being so accomplished on the ground, this fight could very well be decided by who has the edge on the feet, which I would give to Marquardt. Nate’s tactics in this fight should be to try and keep the fight standing and use his superior striking to either KO Thales or take him to a decision. Thales’ however should look to take Nate down, but even then he’s in danger of being caught by Nate when trying to get the takedown. I think Marquardt will prove to be too well-rounded for Leites and end up getting the judge’s decision.
My Prediction: Nate Marquardt via Unanimous decision
Fabricio ‘Vai Cavalo ‘Werdum
Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera
BJJ specialist Fabricio Werdum will be taking on Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera in the main heavyweight contest of the night. Now that both Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovksi have left the UFC, this fight could very well decide who becomes the number one contender for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s heavyweight title. Thus far in his UFC career ‘The Truth’ hasn’t really had a chance to show how just good he is on the ground, apart from a submission victory against Assuerio Silva, all of his fights have ended either by KO or decision. Against BJJ black belt Werdum however we could finally get to see Vera’s submission skills tested. Werdum is one of the best submission fighters in the heavyweight division and if he can get this fight to the ground Vera could be in serious trouble. There’s no question that Vera will want to keep this fight standing where he possesses the advantage, although Fabricio’s striking is gradually improving match by match, Vera’s striking is on another level and if Werdum tries to trade with Vera he could end up getting KO’d early in the fight. This fight all rests on whether Fabricio can get the takedown, if he does indeed get Vera down then I see Werdum winning this fight by submission, however if Vera blocks the takedown attempts then I think Vera will get the KO.
My Prediction: Brandon Vera via KO
