UFC 142 Predictions

With UFC 142 this weekend we are starting off an absolutely huge month or so of fights, with one event every week for the next four weeks. Some of these feature bigger names than others, but I expect all the cards to have some moments worth watching. This weekends event features two fights in the main event and co-main event that I find especially exciting, but some of the other bouts could be dark horse contenders. Either way, here are my UFC 142 predictions:

Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim

Both of these fighter have only appeared on my radar fairly recently, mostly due to me not watching preliminary fights for some events. Brazilian lightweight Barboza made his debut in the UFC in 2010, and has an impressive career record of 9-0. British Etim has been in the UFC since 2007, with a career record of 15-3, and a UFC record of 6-3. The biggest impression Barboza left on me was during his Fight of the Night performance against Ross Pearson at UFC 134. Etim is no slouch on the feet, but he has an extremely impressive submission history, with 12 of his 15 career wins coming by submitting his opponent. This should be a great fight if it gets going, but I think it is going to go to the ground and end with Etim getting the win.
Prediction: Terry Etim by submission.

Carlo Prater vs. Erick Silva

I'll keep this brief because I don't know too much about either of these welterweights. Brazilian Silva is coming into his second fight in the UFC, with a 13-1-1 record. Seven of these are by submission, with Silva no doubt helped along by his black belts in Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Prater is coming in for his first fight in the UFC, with a professional record of 29-10-1. Having had quite the ten year career, Prater's most notable fights include losses to Brock Larson and Carlos Condit (2), and a win over Melvin Guillard. Having only seen a little of each of these fighters I am not making the most informed prediction, but with BJJ purple belt Carlos Condit having submitted Prater twice, black belt Silva might just end this fight the same way.
Prediction: Erick Silva by submission.

Mike Massenzio vs. Rousimar Palhares

Both of these fighters have faced some well known opponents, with mixed success. 13-5 Massenzio has losses on his record to such notables as C.B. Dollaway, Brian Stann and Krzysztof Soszynski, and wins over Dan Miller and Steve Cantwell. Palhares has a 13-3 record with losses to Nate Marquardt and Dan Henderson, but wins over Jeremy Horn and Dan Miller. Both these men are BJJ black belts, so unless one of them is far more advanced than the other these may end up cancelling each other out. I expect Palhares to focus on leg kicks and breaking Massenzio down through the bout, and probably win the decision victory.
Prediction: Rousimar Palhares by decision.

Vitor Belfort vs. Anthony Johnson

If you look back over Johnson's six career, it is hard to believe that until now he was fighting as a welterweight. The guy is absolutely huge, and managed a successful 170 pound career despite having to cut roughly 50 pounds to make weight. Used to having a huge size advantage over his opponents, it will be interesting to see how Johnson reacts to Belfort, who is known for his power and striking. An MMA legend, Belfort started out as a heavyweight and light heavyweight, and a successful one at those, so facing a guy Johnson's size is probably going to be no problem for him.

Despite not having faced many big named opponents, the UFC obviously want to give Johnson a real test for his first fight in the middleweight division. With an opponent who has beaten such huge names as Wanderlei Silva, Randy Couture and Rich Franklin, Belfort certainly is this. However, I have to wonder whether Johnson fought at welterweight for so long because he didn't think he could hang with the bigger fighters, and now that the time has finally come for him to pick on someone his own size, I think it could be too much for him. Johnson himself made the observation that Belfort struggles if he fails to finish his opponents within the first few minutes, so the longer the fight goes on the more it could favour Johnson. I don't think it will go the distance though, so I am predicting Belfort to finish Johnson early.
Prediction: Vitor Belfort by KO/TKO.

Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes

After a lackluster decision win over Kenny Florian at UFC 136, Aldo promised the audience that he would deliver fireworks the next time he got in the Octagon, and I expect that to happen for this fight. If you aren't too familiar with Aldo, he is a Brazilian featherweight wrecking machine, and at only 25 is one of the most interesting and dynamic fighters in MMA. With a 20-1 record, Aldo's sole loss came by submission in his lone fight as a lightweight in 2005. He has fought twice in the UFC, beating Florian and Mark Hominick by decision, both in 2011. As a Muay Thai and BJJ expert however, there is speculation that he could have trouble with the wrestling skills of Chad Mendes.

American Chad Mendes is a standout wrestler, and this is what he bases most of his offense on. With a perfect 12-0 record, this has worked well for Mendes so far. This time however, he will not only have to deal with the phenomenal striking of Aldo, but also the BJJ black belts submission skills. This is if he even manages to take Aldo down however, with Aldo having an absolutely fantastic takedown defense, and having been training with wrestling whiz Gray Maynard in recent weeks.

Mendes is definetly a tough guy, and this fight could end up with him grinding Aldo on the mat or against the cage to eke out a decision win. More likely however, it could go the way of Aldo's bout against Mendes' training partner Urijah Faber, with Aldo managing to keep it standing long enough to inflict punishment on the feet. Now that Aldo is more experienced in the Octagon, I think we can expect him to pull off some of the more high action moves that he has been known for in his pre-UFC career. They have worked for him so far, and I expect this to be no different. Mendes is looking for the decision, but Aldo will be looking for a finish, and the difference is, I expect Aldo to get it.
Prediction: Jose Aldo by KO/TKO.

Worth getting? UFC Rampage Greatest Hits DVD.

I bought this Rampage Jackson DVD for my brother for Christmas, and just thought I'd share what I thought in case anyone was thinking of buying it. While Rampage has fought in a number of promotions worldwide, this DVD contains some of his most well known fights from Pride and the UFC, including those containing the slams that Rampage is most famous for. While the DVD contains some good fights, it also leaves out some of Jackson's better bouts just because he didn't win them. Some fights included are important milestones, but not all that entertaining to watch all the way through. Rampage's UFC debut against Marvin Eastman could have been cut in order to allow one of his Pride Losses against either Shogun Rua or Wanderlei Silva, which were both more entertaining bouts, The Silva fight would make sense to include because the DVD shows Rampage getting his revenge through brutal KO in their third fight in 2008.

Rampage's decision win over Keith Jardine in 2009 could have been cut to show his loss of the Light Heavyweight Championship to Forrest Griffin in 2008, which won Fight of the Year at the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards. Basically, the biggest flaw with the DVD is not acknowledging that sometimes a fight doesn't have to be a win to be great. Rampage has not always come out on top in his fights, and still supporting him through a loss separates bandwagon fans from the genuine ones, those who would be purchasing the DVD anyway. Opponents the DVD shows Rampage against include Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, Keith Jardine, Marvin Eastman and Ricardo Arona. It is unfortunate for the DVD that some of Rampage' greatest moments have come during fights that were a bit lackluster. Overall, its a decent watch, but if a more comprehensive Rampage Jackson DVD comes out in the next few years you would be better off getting that, as it will have the same "best of" moments, and probably more, of which there are plenty. 6/10

Jose Aldo better still be a beast.

With UFC 142 coming up this Saturday, I have been preparing by catching up on old Jose Aldo moments. With Aldo's only two fights in the UFC having gone the full five rounds for successful title defenses, many fans have probably never seen the the brutal knockouts that he has inflicted throughout his career. I was going to post a link to a great Aldo tribute on YouTube, but the soundtrack was removed due to copyright or some nonsense like that, and it just isn't the same without the audio. If anyone wants to see it it is called "Jose Aldo is a beast", and shows highlights of him dismantling Urijah Faber in 2010, as well as some other great moments through his career. My favourite one of those is here, his lightning quick knockout of scrappy featherweight Cub Swanson in 2009.

This is the only time in his career that Swanson has lost by TKO, and it happened to come by the only DOUBLE flying knee that I can remember ever seeing. This is just one of those clips that never gets old, and i'd like to think that Swanson was never the same after this. Chad Mendes better watch out on Saturday, I have a feeling we are going to be looking at a fresh KO clip after UFC 142.