Brendan 'The Hybrid' Schaub vs. Antonio Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira
Brendan Schaub will be looking to continue his climb up the heavyweight ranks as he gets ready to take on the returning Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on Saturday night. Both Schaub and Nogueira really need the W in this fight, for Schaub he needs this victory to prove that he is one of the top heavyweights in the UFC and this will surely get him a step closer to that number 1 contender spot. For Nogueira he desperately wants to come back and make a statement after getting stopped for the first time in his career against Cain Velasquez at UFC 110. It’s been a year & a half since that fight with Nogueira taking the time out to get surgeries to heal some of the injuries that have plagued him throughout the last couple of years. With Nogueira now claiming to be back to full health it’ll be interesting to see whether he still has enough left to compete at the top level or whether the sport has passed him by. Schaub is a very dangerous opponent and has some excellent striking with KO power to go with it. I think the only way Nogueira wins this fight is if it goes to the ground, however with him coming back after such a long lay-off I think it will be incredibly tough for the Brazilian to get a result in this fight so i’m going with Schaub via TKO.
My Prediction: Brendan Schaub via TKO.
Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua vs. Forrest Griffin
In the co-main event of the evening Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua will be looking to get revenge for his UFC 76 loss to Forrest Griffin when they meet in a re-match. Shogun will also be motivated to make up for his poor showing against Jon Jones & in his training videos he looks to be in excellent shape which was one of his big problems in the first match against Griffin. In the initial meeting between the two, Shogun gassed badly and was unable to keep up with the relentless pace that Forrest set. If he is able to fix this problem then I think he stands an excellent chance of getting the win this time around. We all know that Forrest has conditioning for days and he is also one of the biggest light heavyweights in the division. This is a tough fight to call after Shogun’s recent performances however I think with this fight taking place in his home country he will be extremely motivated to put on a performance for his fans. He also holds a significant advantage with his striking so taking all of this into consideration I think we’ll see Shogun make a statement on Saturday with a TKO victory.
My Prediction: Shogun via TKO.
Anderson 'The Spider' Silva vs. Yushin 'Thunder' Okami
In the main event of the evening Anderson Silva will once again defend his middleweight title against the last man to defeat him in his MMA career, Yushin Okami. In the first fight Okami won via DQ after an illegal kick by Silva caused Okami to withdraw from the fight as he was unable to continue. Since that fight both fighters have evolved considerably and this should be a very interesting re-match. Anderson Silva had looked unstoppable in his UFC career until his fight against Chael Sonnen where he gave hope to some of the other fighters in the middleweight division after Chael controlled Silva for most of the fight. Despite this Silva still came away with the victory though after locking in a submission in the final round to prove just why he’s the number 1 pound for pound fighter in MMA today. He also followed this with an amazing first round KO of Vitor Belfort to remind everyone of just how dangerous he can be. Okami is one of Sonnen’s main training partners so it’s pretty safe to say that Chael would have passed on any tips and will have been giving Okami as much advice as possible in the build-up to this title fight. Okami is very strong in the clinch and if he is able to get past Silva’s strikes & close the distance he may just be able to get the champ down. This is where I think he needs the fight to take place if he stands any chance of winning, he will still need to be cautious of the champion’s ground game however I think it would be a lot more dangerous to stand with Silva. We all know Anderson’s strengths by now and if he is able to maintain the distance & avoid the inevitable takedown attempts then I think this fight is his for the taking. Not many people can match his striking and I think if this fight stays standing then it’ll be over within 3 rounds.
My Prediction: Anderson Silva via TKO.
