UFC on Fox 5 Predictions

Sam’s Picks

Main Card

Ben Henderson vs. Nate Diaz: This event is absolutely ridiculous. The amount of awesomeness that it exudes is overwhelming and this is the perfect fight to cap it off. Many people believe that Ben Henderson should not be the champion and I am certainly one of those people, I personally felt it was quite obvious that Frankie won that second fight. But anyways, Nate Diaz has looked insanely good in his last three fights, and I mean like he completely changed as a fighter. After the ill-advised trip up to welterweight, Diaz came back down to lightweight and absolutely dominated his next three opponents. But those weren’t just any opponents, he destroyed Takanori Gomi everywhere the fight went, landed the most significant strikes in a three round fight against Cerrone, and became the first ever person to finish Jim Miller after destroying him for one and a half rounds. Henderson is the type of fighter who is almost impossible to finish.  Diaz certainly has the skills to be able to finish him, but the chances are slim. Diaz has the better technique and striking, but the grappling department is hard to choose. Diaz has the much better submissions and Judo while Henderson is extremely strong with very solid wrestling. This is simply Nate Diaz’ time and he will continue to dominate = Diaz via unanimous decision. My 1st pick for FOTN!

Alexander Gustafsson vs. Shogun Rua: This fight is fairly easy to predict in my opinion. Shogun looked horrible in his last fight against Brandon Vera while Gustafsson has barely shown a blemish in his last 5 victories. Shogun’s gas tank has shown to be pretty terrible in his last few fights while Gustafsson hasn’t shown much of a problem in that department. I see Gustafsson picking Shogun apart from the outside while his much longer reach en route to a dominant unanimous decision victory = Gustafsson via unanimous decision.

BJ Penn vs. Rory MacDonald: I am so pumped for this fight. It’s great to see BJ come back for one last fight before calling it quits to one of the greatest careers the MMA world has ever seen. But the main thing I am looking forward to in this fight is how Rory will do against the very best fighter he has ever fought. Many people could argue that the best fighter he has fought is Carlos Condit, but that was the fight before Condit really turned up his game and became a top welterweight. BJ has shown unbelievable motivation for this fight and looks to be in the best shape of his entire career. MacDonald will certainly have his hands full but he will simply be the hungrier, stronger, and larger fighter = MacDonald via unanimous decision.

Mike Swick vs. Matt Brown: BARNBURNER ALERT – Now this is the way to kick off this Fox card. Matt Brown never disappoints in putting on barnburners and Fight of the Night contenders and with a similar fighter in Mike Swick, this will be even better. If this fight stays standing I personally believe that Brown will win this fight, but once it goes to the ground Swick has a significant advantage. Swick’s last performance wasn’t very good for a reason, he had been out for over two years. Now that he has most of his ring rust gone, he will look much better in this fight. This will be a war from the beginning and I see Swick securing a late guillotine for the finish = Mike Swick via 3rd round submission (guillotine). My 2nd pick for FOTN! MY pick for SOTN!

Prelims

Yves Edwards vs. Jeremy Stephens = Stephens via 3rd round KO.

Raphael Assuncao vs. Mike Easton = Easton via unanimous decision.

Ramsey Nijem vs. Joe Proctor = Nijem via unanimous decision.

Daron Cruickshank vs. Henry Martinez = Cruickshank via unanimous decision.

Marcus LeVesseur vs. Abel Trujillo = Trujillo via 3rd round TKO.

Nam Phan vs. Dennis Siver = Siver via 2nd round KO. My pick for KOOTN!

Scott Jorgensen vs. John Albert = Jorgensen via 3rd round submission. My 3rd pick for FOTN!

Dave’s Picks

Main Card

Ben Henderson vs. Nate Diaz: Wow what a fight! I rarely pick against champions. The two most recent times were JDS over Cain and Frankie over Ben Henderson. So I’m 1-1 recently when picking against champions. Here I hope to make it 2-1. I truly think Nate Diaz has perfected his game and has entered into his prime. The way he tore apart Gomi, Cerrone and Miller blew my freaking mind! He made it look easy! He has become an elite killer and I have to pick him here. Diaz’s takedown defense is not great but his grappling skills are ridiculous and I think Henderson will have to be on top of his submission defense. This is how the fight will go: Diaz is beating Henderson on the feet, Henderson gets the takedown and is almost submitted a few times. He decides he rather try and land that one big bomb instead of being submitted. Diaz continues to win on the feet and takes it by a close decision. = Diaz by unanimous decision. 

Alexander Gustafsson vs. Shogun Rua: Another amazing fight. This pick has a lot to do with Shogun’s last performance. Shogun barely won a fight against Brandon Vera. Gustafsson is infinitely better than Vera. Gustafsson will use his reach and technically superior striking to stay out of Shogun’s range. But never ever count out Shogun. He has enough power to KO anyone at 205 but I think Gustafsson is going to own this match and take a huge step in his career. = Gustafsson by unanimous decision. 

BJ Penn vs. Rory MacDonald: And another crazy fight! I agree with Sam that this will be Rory’s hardest fight to date. I think he will struggle in this one more than any other fight. I know that BJ’s name alone with scare Rory a little bit but nothing he can’t handle. I think BJ will have the better standup, I really do. But Rory is so rangy and hard to control. I think Rory’s best bet to win is to get the takedown and stay out of trouble. BJ never submits anyone off his back so I think Rory will be ok. Rory is a big welterweight and I think he will be able to get the takedown after a couple attempts. Luckily Rory has great coaching and they will once again find a way for one of their fighters to win against Penn. = MacDonald by unanimous decision. My Pick for Fight of the Night!

Mike Swick vs. Matt Brown: Another fun fight. I think this fight will be crazy close. I think Brown is better on the ground and has more power in the striking department. But Swick is more technical and much faster. He will have to use that speed in a major way but I think Brown can make it an ugly fight and drag Swick to the ground and grind it out. = Brown by unanimous decision.

Prelims

Yves Edwards vs. Jeremy Stephens = Stephens by KO in round 2. My Pick for KO of the Night!

Raphael Assuncao vs. Mike Easton = Assuncao by unanimous decision.

Ramsey Nijem vs. Joe Proctor = Nijem by unanimous decision.

Daron Cruickshank vs. Henry Martinez = Cruickshank by unanimous decision.

Marcus LeVesseur vs. Abel Trujillo = LeVesseur via split decision.

Nam Phan vs. Dennis Siver = Siver by unanimous decision.

Scott Jorgensen vs. John Albert = Jorgensen by unanimous decision.

Official November MMA Rankings

So here is how our rankings are going to work; we are going to re-post them once a month but there will be a link on the side for visitors to click on rather than having to dig through our posting history to find them. We will consistently edit the rankings whenever it is needed. Because these are still a work in progress, there will probably be mistakes and changes in the coming days.

Heavyweight: 1) Cain Velazquez
2) Junior dos Santos
3) Alistair Overeem
4) Fabricio Werdum
5) Daniel Cormier
6) Frank Mir
7) Antonio Silva
8) Stefan Struve
9) Big Nog
10) Josh Barnett

Contenders: Mark Hunt, Roy Nelson, Cheick Kongo, Mike Russow, Shane Carwin.
Name(s) to Watch: Stipe Miocic, Travis Browne, Alexander Volkov

Light Heavyweight: 1) Jon Jones
2) Rashad Evans
3) Dan Henderson
4) Lyoto Machida
5) Alexander Gustafsson
6) Shogun Rua
7) Phil Davis
8) Vitor Belfort
9) Ryan Bader
10) Lil Nog

Contenders: Rampage Jackson, Gegard Mousasi, Glover Teixeira, Anthony Johnson, Forrest Griffin.
Name(s) to Watch: James Te Huna

Middleweight: 1) Anderson Silva
2) Chris Weidman
3) Chael Sonnen
4) Michael Bisping
5) Luke Rockhold

6)Mark Munoz

7) Yushin Okami
8) Brian Stann
9) Alan Belcher
10) Costa Philippou

Contenders: Tim Boetsch, Hector Lombard, Jake Shields, Cung Le, Ronaldo Souza, Mamed Khalidov.
Name(s) to Watch: Ronny Markes

Welterweight: 1) GSP
2) Johny Hendricks
3) Carlos Condit
4) Nick Diaz
5) Rory MacDonald
6) Jon Fitch
7) Martin Kampmann
8) Jake Ellenberger
9) Nate Marquardt
10) Ben Askren

Contenders: Demian Maia, Josh Koscheck, Siyar Bahadurzada, Mike Pierce, Matt Brown.
Name(s) to Watch: Karl Amoussou, Tarec Saffiedine, Erick Silva.

Lightweight: 1) Ben Henderson
2) Frankie Edgar
3) Gray Maynard
4) Nate Diaz
5) Gilbert Melendez
6) Donald Cerrone
7) Anthony Pettis
8) Jim Miller
9) Clay Guida
10) Michael Chandler

Contenders: Joe Lauzon, Jamie Varner, Rafael dos Anjos, Eddie Alvarez, TJ Grant, Matt Wiman, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Name(s) to Watch: Tim Means, Marcin Held.

Featherweight: 1) Jose Aldo
2) Chad Mendes
3) Pat Curran
4) Ricardo Lamas
5) Chan Sung Jung
6) Dennis Siver
7) Hatsu Hioki
8) Diego Nunes
9) Cub Swanson
10) Erik Koch

Contenders: Dustin Poirier, Hacran Dias, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Daniel Straus, Darren Elkins, Patricio Freire.
Name(s) to Watch: Marcus Brimage, Dennis Bermudez.

Bantamweight: 1) Dominick Cruz
2) Renan Barao
3) Urijah Faber
4) Michael McDonald
5) Eddie Wineland
6) Brian Bowles
7) Brad Pickett
8) Bibiano Fernandes
9) Scott Jorgensen
10) Raphael Assuncao

Contenders: Tyson Nam, Mike Easton, Eduardo Dantas, Marcos Galvao, Takeya Mizugaki.
Name(s) to Watch: Erik Perez, Francisco Rivera, Alex Caceres.

Flyweight: 1) Demetrious Johnson
2) Joseph Benavidez
3) John Dodson
4) Ian McCall
5) Darrel Montague
6) John Moraga
7) Jussier Formiga
8) John Lineker
9) Chris Cariaso
10) Darren Uyenoyama

Contenders: Louis Gaudinot, Mitsuhisa Sunabe, Mamoru Yamaguchi, Will Campuano, Yasuhiro Urushitani, Kentaro Watanabe.
Name(s) to Watch: Sean Santella, Josh Sampo, Tim Elliot, Sergio Pettis.

Women's Featherweight: 1) Cris Cyborg
2) Marloes Coenen
3) Milana Dudieva
4) Germaine de Randamie
5)  Elaina Maxwell
6) Julia Budd
7) Ediene Gomes
8) Hiroko Yamanaka
9) Yana Kunitskaya
10) Romy Ruyssen

Contenders: Lauren Taylor, Ashley Sanchez, Fiona Maxwell.
Name(s) to Watch: Randi Miller, Veronica Rothenhausler.

Women's Bantamweight: 1) Ronda Rousey
2) Miesha Tate
3) Sara McMann
4) Sarah Kaufman
5) Shayna Baszler
6) Alexis Davis
7) Liz Carmouche
8) Cat Zingano
9) Amanda Nunes
10) Rin Nakai

Contenders: Hitomi Akano, Sarah D’Alelio, Leslie Smith, Shana Nelson.
Name(s) to Watch: Jessamyn Duke, Holly Holm

Women's Flyweight: 1) Rosi Sexton
2) Jessica Eye
3) Vanessa Porto
4)  Barb Honchak
5) Zoila Gurgel
6) Sheila Gaff
7) Michelle Ould
8) Tara LaRosa
9) Aisling Daly
10) Munah Holland

Contenders: Tonya Evinger, Reyna Cordoba, Takayo Hashi, Kalindra Carvalho Faria.
Name(s) to Watch: Jocelyn Lybarger, Sarah Maloy.

Women's Strawweight: 1) Jessica Aguilar
2) Megumi Fujii
3) Ayaka Hamasaki
4) Carla Esparza
5) Katjan Kankaanpaa
6) Seo Hee Ham
7) Joanne Calderwood
8) Mei Yamaguchi
9) Claudia Gadelha
10) Felice Herrig

Contenders: Yuki Tsuji, Ashley Cummins, Patricia Vidonic, Alex Chambers.
Name(s) to Watch: Paige VanZant, Tecia Torres.

Women's Atomweight: 1) Jessica Penne
2) Naho Sugiyama
3) Kikuyo Ishiwaka
4) Yasuko Tamada
5) Michelle Waterson
6) Lisa Ellis
7) Lacey Schuckman
8) Misaki Takimoto
9) Stephanie Frausto
10) Nicdali Rivera-Calonic

Contenders: Satomi Akano, Liz McCarthy, Cassie Rodish, Amy Davis.
Name(s) to Watch: Laura Marcusse.

Let us know what you guys think. Tell us in the comments or on Twitter @Champion_Rounds.

MMA Lightweight Rankings: September Edition

As we at CR continue our rankings, we now head into the most stacked division in MMA, and possibly combat sports, history: lightweight.

There are so many fighters that you could argue to be top-10 guys like Joe Lauzon, Eddie Alvarez, or even guys like Rick Hawn. The division is so unbelievably stacked that there are UFC cards that have 3 or even more fights that either feature lightweights, or former lightweight fighters. Fortunately, they are also extremely entertaining so there is no shortage of Fight of the Night performances.

Let’s try and sort out the standings of this chaotic division:

10. Michael Chandler – Many people wouldn’t exactly consider Chandler a prospect considering he is the champion in the 3^rd largest MMA promotion, but Michael arguably has the promising future out of everyone on this list. At only 26 years old, he already has wins over some of Bellator’s biggest names like Lloyd Woodard, Patricky Freire, Akihiro Gono, and Eddie Alvarez. The biggest fight of note is the win over Alvarez. That fight was a back-and-forth brawl that ended with a Chandler win via 4^th round RNC. With powerful wrestling and striking, the sky is the limit.

9. Jim Miller – Jim Miller is, in a nutshell, a tough SOB. “Jimmy Redbeard” is the type of fighter that I love. He always puts on a good fight and always figures out a way to win. His ground game is very solid, one of the best at 155, and it shows in his wins over Charles Oliveira, Melvin Guillard, and Duane Ludwig. His only “glaring” weakness is his standup. It’s good, but not good enough to hang with guys like Nate Diaz and Ben Henderson. If he can get his standup up to par with his ground game, or at least closely up to par, then he can be right back in there in the title picture.

Photo via MMAJunkie.com

8. Anthony Pettis – Anthony Pettis is one of the most dynamic strikers in the UFC today. His kicks are absolutely nuts. And I’m not just talking about his wild crazy spinning kicks, I’m talking about simply his technique. Watch his wins over Danny Castillo and Joe Lauzon. He is a master at the KO (head kick and punches) finish. The main reason that he is this low though is because his loss to Guida and lackluster win over Jeremy Stephens didn’t do him any favors. But if he can beat Cerrone in his next fight, he will undeniably be top-5.

Photo via MMAJunkie.com

7. Clay Guida – Say all you want about his last fight with Gray Maynard, but Guida is still one of the most entertaining fighters in UFC history. Go back and watch his fights with Benson Henderson, Rafael dos Anjos, Diego Sanchez, and Roger Huerta and tell me he’s not. He even arguably beat Gray Maynard, which most likely would have earned him a title shot. I see his next fight possibly being with Jim Miller.

6. Donald Cerrone – Cowboy is a badass. Seriously, he fought Jeremy Stephens, dominated him, and then came out saying that he had some horrible intestinal issue going into the fight (and during) that felt like he was being stabbed in the gut. My lord. I would be incapacitated and he fights in the UFC against a solid fights and destroyed him for 3 rounds. And he is one of the only people who could win Fight of the Night with a fight that only lasted 76 seconds. His Muay Thai is one of the best in the lightweight division. I cannot wait for his fight with Pettis.

Photo via MMAJunkie.com

5. Gilbert Melendez – I have always personally felt that Melendez is overrated. His last two wins over Jorge Masvidal and Josh Thomson are further proving my point. Now how can wins prove something negatively? Watch the fights and think about what I said. They are both guys that he should have not only beaten but finished. Especially Jorge Masvidal, it almost seemed like he wasn’t motivated for the fight. You’re the champion; you should be motivated for every fight. With that being said, I still can’t wait to see him come to the UFC and finally fight the best in the world.

4. Gray Maynard – Gray Maynard was just a few punches away from being a UFC champion, twice. How much more heartbreaking can you get? He had Frankie Edgar down and this close to out. He has been one of the best fighters at 155 for some time now in the UFC and now that there is a new champion in the UFC at lightweight, he may receive another title shot against the winner of Henderson and Diaz if he can beat Joe Lauzon.

Photo via MMAJunkie.com

3. Nate Diaz – The younger of the Diaz brothers has become one of my personal favorite fighters lately. His wins over Gomi and Miller really made me realize that he truly has what it takes to become the next champion at 155. His standup is crisp and accurate and his ground game is slick. You can’t get much more well rounded then Nate Diaz. His title fight with Ben Henderson has what it takes to be a Fight of the Century.

2. Frankie Edgar – Despite having lost two in-a-row, Frankie Edgar is still undeniably the second best lightweight in the game in my book. He beat BJ Penn twice when Penn was considered unbeatable. He went to a draw and beat Gray Maynard when he was knocked silly in the 1^st round of both fights. He has more heart than any fighter in MMA. I personally believe that he should be champ still but perhaps a move to featherweight is the best thing for his career.

This picture shows just how apt his nickname is.

1. Ben Henderson – Henderson just absolutely loves to go to war. His last three fights are all stable mates for Fight of the Year. Say all you want about how he shouldn’t be champion and about how Frankie beat him both times. He is the champion of the UFC! He deserves the appreciation, no matter how close the fights were; the fact that he is the champion means that he is the champion. I love Henderson because he fights with all his heart every time. Let’s give him the appreciation he deserves.

So what do you guys think? Let us know in the comments on what you either greed on or disagreed on.

UFC 150: Henderson vs. Edgar II Main Card Recap

Max Holloway finishing Justin Lawrence.
Photo by MMAWeekly.com

This was a solid night of fights that was sadly capped off with controversy. Every fight but one was entertaining and the prelims only had one fight go to a decision. This entire card was stacked from top to bottom with lower weight class fighters, something that has been slowly taking over the UFC with their entertaining fights and incredible speed. Let’s take a look at those fights and give some possible matchups.

Justin Lawrence vs. Max Holloway: This fight was the one that I was looking forward to the most, with the exception of the main event, heading into UFC 150. It lived up to my expectations. They showed some of the more technical striking in the UFC, and they only have a combined age of 42 years old. That’s pretty incredible. The first round was very close as Lawrence pushed forward for the majority of the round but Holloway landed more combinations, utilizing his significant reach advantage. Eventually, Holloway landed a knee to the body that hurt Lawrence and followed it up with a punch to the liver, ala Bas Rutten, which dropped Justin and Holloway finished him with a hectic flurry.

Possible matchups for Holloway: Holloway is the next big thing, and that’s to say the least. At 20 years old, he has some of the best striking at 145 pounds, and arguably the most technical. But he’s not the only 145er to be making a name for himself; Jimy Hettes is also being considered a future title contender as he will be fighting Marcus Brimage at 152. The winner of that fight should face off with Holloway to see who’s truly ready for that title contender status.

Possible matchups for Lawrence: Pablo Garza was on his way to title contention before he lost to both Bermudez and Dustin Poirier. They are now both looking for rebound fights and Garza would be a good test for Lawrence’s ground game.

Yushin Okami vs. Buddy Roberts: I have to say, Roberts’ standup really impressed me in this fight. He started off very solid and was landing great jabs on Okami before Yushin realized he was losing. Okami then dragged him to the ground, not without difficulty at first though. Eventually in the 2^nd round, Okami would finish the fight with strikes in a very lackluster TKO finish.

Possible matchups for Okami: It really seems that Okami’s title contention days are behind him as he was losing the standup to Roberts. Him and Jake Shields both won very lackluster performances Saturday night and a fight between them makes perfect sense and I'm guessing that Okami would like revenge against Shields for their fight several years ago.

Possible matchups for Roberts: I think that Roberts really surprised most of us with his solid striking attack against Okami. Andrew Craig is coming off an amazing comeback KO win over Rafael Natal and even though Roberts is coming off a loss, Roberts looked solid and deserves a move up the rankings despite the 0-1 added to his resume.

Ed Herman vs. Jake Shields: This fight was awful. I am personally a huge fan of a ground fight but Shields simply just didn’t do anything when he got there. He almost had a kimura at one point, but he never got it. He ended up winning the unanimous decision, but it didn’t do much to help his status in title talks.

Possible matchups for Herman: One of the more promising middleweights in the UFC, Ronny Markes, does not have his next fight set up yet and I’m sure that Herman wants to put this horrible loss to Shields behind him as quickly as possible.

Donald Cerrone vs. Melvin Guillard: It is very rare to see a Fight of the Night bonus go to a fight that didn’t go to a decision. It’s even more rare for a fight to earn Fight of the Night when it didn’t go past the second round. But for a fight to earn Fight of the Night when it only lasts 76 seconds, that's unheard of. Yes, the fight was only 76 seconds, and it undoubtedly earned Fight of the Night. Guillard landed a solid counter right hand that dropped Cerrone, which was a first in his UFC career. Guillard rushed in, trying to finish the fight with all his might, but was eventually caught with a head kick that clipped the top of his head. Guillard was out on his feet as Cerrone landed the final blow with a right straight that put “The Young Assassin” out.  Back-and-forth action is always the perfect formula for FOTN.

Possible matchups for Cerrone: Before this fight even happened, Cerrone was calling out Anthony Pettis. Joe Silva, it’s time to make this fight happen!

Possible matchups for Guillard: Not only did this loss make him 1-3 in his last four, but it was also his first ever TKO/KO loss in his MMA career. I still believe he is an elite lightweight in the UFC, his standup is incredible, but setbacks are inescapable in the slump he is going through. Danny Castillo and Michael Johnson are fighting at UFC 151 and they are certainly looking for a step up in competition with whoever wins that fight. Guillard could be that exact leap in competition they are looking for.

Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar: This fight was amazing, but it was almost completely overshadowed by its decision. It almost seems like it’s in Henderson’s DNA to not put on a boring fight, and he didn’t fail this time. Edgar and Henderson put on an amazing fight that I, and many other journalists and fans, had scored for Edgar. It was an extremely close fight, but I personally thought that it was a clear-cut decision win for Edgar. A fight can sometimes be razor thin but still clear-cut. I had the last four rounds scored for Edgar with the 3^rd round being the only one I would give to Henderson, if I had to change one. I was very upset with this decision, and luckily, I’m not alone.

Possible matchups for Henderson: Nate Diaz was announced before this fight that he was the next challenger. I truly believe in my heart that Diaz can become the new lightweight champion.

Possible matchups for Edgar: After looking through the UFC’s lightweight roster, there are very few fights that make sense for Frankie. The one that stands out to me the most though, is a fourth fight with Maynard. Gray is coming off a, bizarre to say the least, win over Clay Guida and Frankie is still the second best in the world in my eyes. This would be a great fight to headline a Fox card to finally finish their 1-1-1 record with each other in what could be a number 1 contender's bout.

Click here for the prelim recap!

UFC 150: Henderson vs. Edgar 2 Predictions

Sam’s Picks

Main Card

Ben Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar: Oh, how I've been looking forward to this rematch. The first fight was an absolute war and I don't see this fight being any different. Their first encounter was as close as can be and I personally scored 3 rounds to 2 for the present day champ. Now that being said I thought that Henderson won, if you look at Frankie Edgar's record with rematches, it's 2-0-1 with each performance better than the last. Once you fight Edgar, he figures you out the next time around. Adaptability is one of the most important features in a champion and I see Edgar continuing his rematch rhythm and get his title back in another classic = Edgar by unanimous decision. My 1st pick for FOTN!

Donald Cerrone vs. Melvin Guillard: BARNBURNER ALERT: This fight will undoubtedly produce fireworks in the opening stages. Donald Cerrone needs to take this to the ground if he wants to win this easier. I think Cerrone will open up in the beginning, stalking him down and eventually clinching in for a takedown = Cerrone by 1st round submission (choke). My pick for SOTN and 2nd for FOTN!!

Jake Shields vs. Ed Herman: I really, really want to pick Herman. Ever since his return to the UFC, he's looked like a title contender. Jake Shields has not. Shields is still technically an elite fighter though and Herman is right on the tip of that consideration. I simply cannot in my right mind though pick Herman over a guy like Shields = Shields by split decision.

Yushin Okami vs. Buddy Roberts: To say the least, this fight is bizarre. Sure, Roberts has a promising future and Okami is on a two fight losing streak, but let's face it, Roberts isn't going to win this fight. It will be a big learning experience for him and I see him becoming a top-15 or top-20 middleweight but now is too soon = Okami by unanimous decision.

Justin Lawrence vs. Max Holloway: This is the fight that I am looking forward to the most behind the main event. These two will certainly be title contenders in their futures and now is the time for them to prove that point. The major difference for me in this fight is the reach and technique. Holloway is much more technical and taller than Lawrence. Also, Holloway has very good fight IQ which is something that someone his age, and Justin Lawrence, lack. This fight should have some amazing standup = Holloway by unanimous decision. My 3rd pick for FOTN! (For Holloway interview click here)

Prelims
Dennis Bermudez vs. Tom Hayden = Bermudez by 2nd round TKO.

Jared Hamman vs. Michael Kuiper = Hamman by 3rd round TKO. My pick for KOOTN! (For Hamman interview click here)

Nik Lentz vs. Eiji Mitsuoka = Lentz by split decision.

Ken Stone vs. Erik Perez = Perez by 1st round submission.

Dustin Pague vs. Chico Camus = Camus by split decision.

Dave’s Picks

Main Card

Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar: Frankie Edgar is the master of the rematch. He has had rematches with some of the sport’s best. He defeated BJ Penn in their rematch; which I saw live and Edgar won every round. Then Edgar defeated Gray Maynard in their third fight. He won both of those rematch contests even more decisively then the first fights. So, Henderson and Edgar’s first matchup was very close and I see Edgar repeating his usual rematch quality performance. It will be very close again but Edgar’s speed was a huge problem for Henderson and I think it still will be. It will be a close one but I am going with what I believe is the smartest choice. = Edgar by unanimous decision.

Donald Cerrone vs. Melvin Guillard: This fight will be awesome. Cerrone has the more technical striking and a much better ground game but Melvin hits harder than anyone at 155 pounds. I think Melvin’s only chance is to land a huge punch and KO or TKO Cerrone. But Cerrone has an amazing chin and I think he will be too much for Melvin. I think this will go to the ground at some point and Cerrone will finish it there. = Cerrone by submission in round 2. My Pick for Submission of the Night!

Jake Shields vs. Ed Herman: This will be an interesting fight and I think it will end up with who has the better cardio and heart. Neither have real KO power and both prefer the submission game. I think Shields is much more technical and higher level but sometimes can be very slow and lose out on good opportunities. Herman has a ton of heart and grit and decent cardio. This fight will be interesting but Shields has beaten better talent in the past and I think he can take this. = Shields by split decision.

Yushin Okami vs. Buddy Roberts: Roberts has not defeated or even faced a fighter even close to Okami’s level. Okami will be stronger with better grappling and striking. This might be ultra boring as well. The “potty break” fight I guess. = Okami by unanimous decision.

Justin Lawrence vs. Max Holloway: This fight is going to be amazing! Both of these guys are very young and talented athletes that are well rounded and exciting. Both of them also fight smarter than then their age would normally imply. Holloway showed in his last fight against Pat Schilling that his fight IQ and maturity is light years ahead of a lot of the young fighters at 145. His striking is scary good and it is just crazy that he is only 20 years old. Lawrence holds a lot of power and speed but is a little sloppier in his approach. Holloway should have the reach advantage as well. I see Holloway picking Lawrence apart and taking the decision. = Holloway by unanimous decision. My Pick for Fight of the Night! (For Holloway interview click here)

Prelims

Dennis Bermudez vs. Tom Hayden: Bermudez by split decision.

Jared Hamman vs. Michael Kuiper: Hamman by unanimous decision. (For Hamman interview click here)

Ken Stone vs. Erik Perez: Perez by split decision.

Nik Lentz vs. Eiji Mitsuoka: Lentz by unanimous decision.

Dustin Pague vs. Chico Camus: Pague by submission in round 1.