Joseph Benavidez vs. Ian McCall
Plenty of the fights on this card involved big favourites
and sizeable underdogs, and while this bout wasn’t quite that lopsided, most
oddsmakers gave the nod to Benavidez. I thought McCall would take this one,
simply because he hasn’t yet won a bout in the UFC and all of his previous
fights have been so close that he seemed about due. It wasn’t to be however,
and even though I think a decent case for him winning the first two rounds
could have been made, he will have to wait another little while for his next
chance at a UFC victory.
Prediction: Ian McCall by split decision
Result: Joseph Benavidez by unanimous decision
Jon Fitch vs. Demian Maia
I have been pretty impressed with Maia since he moved down
to welterweight, especially with how effectively he has used his middleweight
size against smaller opposition. I knew Fitch would be a tougher test than Kim
or Story provided for Maia, but his size and momentum so far at welterweight
have been too impressive for me to think he wouldn’t get past Fitch. Fitch just
doesn’t have the power to control Maia for three rounds as he likes to do, and
I thought once the momentum shifted that Maia would be use his high level BJJ
to finally submit Fitch. This wasn’t to be, but that seemed like far more of a
testament to Fitch’s submission defence than anything that Maia did wrong.
Prediction: Demian Maia by submission
Result: Demian Maia by unanimous decision
Alistair Overeem vs. Bigfoot Silva
It is fights like these that make me glad I don’t really bet
on MMA. If I was going to have a go, I would have bet the house on Overeem,
because there seemed like no way he wasn’t going to go into this fight and
absolutely destroy Silva. Overeem made no secret of his disdain for Bigfoot’s
abilities on the feet, and not for a second did I consider that an upset might
be possible. As we all saw it was however, and Silva’s giant fists got us all
thinking that maybe Overeem isn’t all that he’s cracked up to be.
Prediction: Alistair Overeem by KO
Result: Antonio Silva by TKO
Rashad Evans vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Similar to the last fight, I thought this one was an easy
pick. Rashad would pick Lil Nog apart on the feet and take him down whenever he
felt like it, as easy as that. It didn’t turn out that way, and Lil Nog didn’t
so much pull off a big upset as let Rashad just stand there and make us wonder
why he was such a big betting favourite. The fact is that Rashad hasn’t really
looked that impressive in any bout since getting KO’d by Lyoto Machida and
losing the light heavyweight championship. I had a little too much faith in
him, and so did the odds makers in a bout that surely made a fortune for some
lucky gambler out there.
Prediction: Rashad Evans by TKO
Result: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira by unanimous decision
Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar
One of the two fights I got right, this one turned out to be the closest, as Edgar went to the judges yet again for another hotly
contested decision. This one wasn’t quite as controversial as his last
lightweight title match against Ben Henderson, but it still seems like judges
don’t have that much time for Edgar. I scored it 48-47 Aldo, though the third
round was extremely close and I mostly gave it to Aldo because of damage done.
Edgar had his customary battered look by the end of the fight, largely thanks
to a front kick by Aldo in the third round that busted open his already
bleeding nose. While I did think Aldo won the fight, it was ridiculous that two
out of three judges only gave Edgar one round, after he clearly won the last
two. It is a sad sign that we are used to seeing this with Edgar however, and
he is going to have to go back to the drawing board and start coming up with
ways to convincingly win fights. For the moment he is going to have to go to
the back of the line at featherweight, and leave Aldo for what will surely be a fight of the
year candidate in August with lightweight contender Anthony “Showtime” Pettis.
Prediction: Jose Aldo by TKO
Result: Jose Aldo by unanimous decision
