Joe Lauzon will be coming into this fight off of an extremely dominant performance over Gabe Rudediger at UFC 118 where he won via submission in the very first round. Sotiropoulos on the other hand is currently riding a 7 fight win streak and is undefeated since debuting in the UFC and another win will surely put him into the number 1 contender spot. Both of these fighters possess similar skill sets, their main strengths are their submissions, however they’ve both developed solid striking & grappling to go along with this. If I had to give the edge to someone in this fight it would have to be Sotiropoulos, his ground game seems to be on another level to many guys in the division and even though Lauzon is very good on the ground I don’t think it would be wise for him to risk taking the fight there against George. For Joe to win this fight he is going to need to keep it standing and then attempt to out-strike the Australian. However even if this happens it’s not a guarantee that he will be able to successfully do this, with the way that George has been running through people I can see him continuing his streak and taking another step closer to a title shot.My Prediction: George Sotiropoulos via decision.
Top light heavyweight prospect Phil Davies will make his main card debut and put his undefeated record on the line when he takes on Tim Boetsch. Davies has put together a 7-0 record thus far into his MMA career with 3 of those 7 wins taking place inside the UFC, an out-standing wrestler with an ever improving game, Davies has been slowly stepping up his competition as he looks to make an impact in the talent filled 205lbs division. This will be a good test to see whether Davies is ready to take on some of the top fighters in the division, if he is able to stop Boetsch decisively then he would be sending out a big message. Boetsch is currently on a 4 fight win streak and a win over Davies will definitely boost him up the rankings, however if you look at the losses on his record Tim has had difficulty with guys who possess excellent wrestling credentials which just happens to be Davies’ main strength. I think Tim will need to stuff the takedowns and engage Phil in a brawl if he wants to get the win and keep his streak going. Unfortunately it’s going to be very difficult to stop Davies’ takedowns and at the end of the night I think we’ll see Davies land numerous takedown attempts and then use his ground and pound to get the decision win.My Prediction: Phil Davies via decision.
In the co-main event of the evening BJ Penn and Matt Hughes will look to settle an old score as they prepare to fight each other one last time. This will be Penn’s first fight back at welterweight since 2009 where he lost his re-match to Georges St-Pierre, since then Penn went on to dominate the Lightweight division where he was considered unstoppable until Frankie Edgar stepped up and took Penn’s lightweight title before defeating him again in the re-match. Now Penn will move up in weight and take on Matt Hughes for the 3rd time, Hughes has had somewhat of resurgence in his last few fights, putting together a 3 fight win streak to put himself back into the mix in the division. If Hughes is able to win this fight then he will be in a strong position to get another shot at the Welterweight title so his motivation should be sky high. BJ will also be training hard for this fight as 3 losses in a row for a fighter of his calibre is simply unacceptable. It’ll be interesting to see how each fighter approaches this bout, having already faced each other twice they should be very familiar with each other’s strengths & weaknesses. Hughes has improved his stand-up over the past few years but I think BJ still holds the advantage in this area, however Hughes will probably still stand & trade with Penn in the first round as if he takes him down early on in the fight then he becomes vulnerable to a submission especially while Penn is fresh, as evidenced in the first fight. For Hughes to win this fight he will need to wear Penn down over the course of the fight, eventually taking him down & inflicting his trademark ground and pound in the later rounds. Penn on the other hand will want to end the fight as quickly as possible, I think the longer the fight goes the more it will favour Hughes. So a quick TKO or submission will be on the agenda for ‘the Prodigy’, even though Matt will be the in-form fighter coming into this and Penn hasn't been living upto his potential recently I still think BJ will have enough in him to pull off the victory on Saturday night.My Prediction: BJ Penn via submission.
In the main event of the night Quinton Jackson and Lyoto Machida will both be looking to get back to winning ways when they battle in the light heavyweight division. Rampage has made it well known that Machida isn’t exactly his favourite fighter to watch in the build-up to this fight and you can understand where he’s coming from. Lyoto’s style is based on moving quickly in & out of range aiming to land his punches before jumping out of danger to avoid any damage. At times it can be very frustrating to watch so I can’t imagine how frustrating it would be to be his opponent. There’s a reason that Machida uses this karate style though and that’s because it is very effective, prior to his last fight you rarely saw him take much damage in his fights. Machida also has excellent takedowns and takedown defence so most of the time he is able to dictate where the fight takes place, there are weaknesses to Machida’s game though and they were exposed by Shogun Rua, who pressurised him relentlessly and used his leg kicks to take some of Machida’s elusiveness away from him. After the disappointing loss to Rashad Evans, Rampage will want to set the record straight in this fight and he has the power to take Machida out if he lands. I also think that he’d be able to get Lyoto to the ground if he chooses to go for the takedown, however if this fight stays standing like a few of his previous fights then I think Machida’s style may prove to be a problem. At then end of the night I think Rampage definately has the power to KO Machida, but with the superior movement & speed that Machida has I can see him fighting very cautiously and taking a points victory.My Prediction: Lyoto Machida via decision.
