Oh yeah, it’s that time again where a UFC title belt is on
the line. UFC 159 should prove to have a few exciting bouts between some big
names and a possibility of Jon Jones surrendering the belt to Chael Sonnen.
We will get into that here in a minute, but first let’s take
a look into the main card of the night and breakdown the fighters by weight
class, bout and you will see my predictions will become factual once again.
Jim Miller VS Pat Healy - Lightweight
Starting off the main card is Miller VS Healy, to say the
least, this fight should be awesome. Both fighters should stand with each other
and bang it out. Healy, who hasn’t lost a single bout since 2010, has pulled
out six wins in the last three years, all of which pushed a third round. Miller
on the other hand, has lost two of his last five in the last three years.
Miller’s most recent win was over Joe Lauzon in UFC 155 where the judges
declared Miller the winner by unanimous decision. As mentioned above, these two
fighters will probably stand toe to toe and bang it out, should prove to be a
good fight.
Prediction: Miller wins in Round 3 by TKO
Phil Davis VS Vinny Magalhaes - Light Heavyweight
I don’t know too much about Vinny Magalhaes other than he is
a Brazil
native and this is his second fight in the UFC. He debuted back in September of
last year and was victorious over Igor Pokrajac by arm-bar. On the other hand,
Phil Davis has fought in the UFC eight times, this will be his ninth. We have
seen wins from Davis
of top condendars such as Alexander Gustasson, Brian Stann and Antonio
Nogueira. This should be a good stand up brawl as well but could go to the
ground if Magalhaes can get Davis
down.
Prediction: Davis
wins in Round 2 by TKO
Roy Nelson VS Cheick Kongo - Heavyweight
Four years ago, you would have never thought you would see
Big Country Roy Nelson still alive and making moves in the UFC. Surprisingly
not indorsed by KFC, Nelson is returning to the octagon against Cheick Kongo
who has a significant reach and height advantage. Although Nelson is on the
shorter and fatter side, he can still pack a punch against guys who are taller
than him. Lets look back to 2010 when Nelson fought skyscraper Stefan Struve,
he jumped right in front of him with some dirty boxing, closed Struve’s range
and BAM, knocked Struve out. Coming off of a win in UFC 149 back in July of
2012, Kongo has had time to recover from any damage, illness or injury he may
have suffered. If Kongo can keep Roy
on the edge of his gloves and not in his personal space, he may just defeat the
colonel sanders kid, Big Country Nelson.
Prediction: Roy Nelson wins in Round 2 by KO
Michael Bisping VS Alan Belcher - Middleweight
Okay, I have never really been a big fan of Bisping, nor do I
understand why he is fighting again so soon after his recent loss to Vitor
Belfort only three months ago. Alan Belcher on the other hand has a decent
record coming into this fight despite his most recent loss over Yushin Okami in
UFC 155 in 2012. Belcher has wins over top contenders such as Jason MacDonald,
Patrick Cote, Wilson Gouveia and Dennis Kang; I’m going to make this one short
and sweet, just like Belcher is going to do tomorrow.
Prediction: Belcher wins in Round 3 by Rear Naked Choke
Jon Jones (Champion) VS Chael Sonnen - Light Heavyweight
Championship
Now that the undercard is through, it is time for the main
event of the evening. Current reining and defending champion Jon Jones is
finally going to step into the ring with top contender Chael Sonnen. If many of
you remember, UFC 151 was cancelled because champion Jon Jones turned down the
fight with Chael after Dan Henderson suffered a torn medial collateral ligament
in his right knee only days before the scheduled title bout. Now that Jones and
Sonnen have gone head to head in the TUF series and coaches challenges, we wait
no longer and they will be going toe to toe in the octagon tomorrow night.
As we all know, Jones is very explosive. Jones has nasty
elbows and a sick reach advantage over most opponents. Jones has defended his
light heavyweight title four times now and is looking down at Chael to be
number five. However, Sonnen has different plans. Having lost to Anderson Silva
twice in his last seven fights, Jones is the next best man to beat. Once Sonnen
beats him, he gets the belt too, it’s a WIN WIN for Sonnen, if he wins.
Side note, Angel Hesseltine and I have been watching the
Ultimate Fighter series religiously over the last eight weeks and before she
saw the first episode, I told her straight up, “after watching these, you are
going to love Chael Sonnen.” My prediction came true later that night. Chael is
a good guy. He is a good coach and truly cared about his team. I’m not saying
that Jones didn’t care but it was blatantly obvious in season 10 with Rampage,
he was just going for the W’s. I’m pretty sure he didn’t even show up to one of
the TUF fights due to previous engagements – go act in another movie guy..
Now that I am done ranting a bit; to say the least, tomorrow’s
fights will be good. I am looking forward to Chael taking the belt.
Prediction: Sonnen in Round 2 by TKO (he is going to catch Jones
with some dirty boxing and capitalize with ground n pound)
