UFC 125 takes place on Saturday from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. The event features five very intriguing and exciting fights, headlined by a battle for the UFC Lightweight Championship. Here are my thoughts on who will win on the main card bouts.
UFC Lightweight Championship – Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard: I look for the champion to retain his belt and avenge a prior loss to Maynard in 2008. Since that time I feel like Edgar has improved greatly as a fighter while Maynard is simply a slightly better version of himself. Maynard will get some takedowns on the champ, but I expect Edgar to bounce back up and use his boxing to tire the challenger before scoring some takedowns in the later rounds to earn a decision victory.
UFC Middleweight Bout – Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann: While this fight doesn’t deserve co-main event status, it still should be exciting. Leben is riding a wave of momentum that will not be stopped on Saturday as his punching power should carry him to a third round TKO of Stann, who will put up a game effort.
UFC Light Heavyweight Bout – Brandon Vera vs. Thiago Silva: This may be Vera’s final UFC fight as I expect Silva to pressure him and not let him set up his kicks. Silva will do a good job of closing the distance and overwhelming Vera with his power and grappling ability. I like Silva to win by unanimous decision.
UFC Welterweight Bout – Nate Diaz vs. Dong Hyun Kim: Kim is a very under-rated fighter as he is kind of like the Yushin Okami of this weight class as is very strong and bigger than anyone else in the weight class. I like Kim to use that size to get Diaz to the ground and keep him from using his boxing. It probably won’t be the most exciting fight, but it will be another decision win for Kim.
UFC Lightweight Bout – Takanori Gomi vs. Clay Guida: I like Guida and the energy he brings to a fight, but his short arms tend to put him in bad spots against strikers. I think Guida will get careless early in the fight and get caught with a big punch by Guida while will lead to a TKO finish in the opening round.
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Yeah, Guida has an uphill battle if he’s gotta duck KO punches from himself!
(I think somebody had a few too minny martoonies last night . . .)
Yeah, my bad there. That would be something to see though. I meant to say that Gomi will catch Guida and win by TKO.
What’s sad is that Leben-Stann is still a major step up from the last co-main event. Struve-McCorkle? Seriously?
….says the guy who still paid $45 for 124.
Seems from the recaps that the show might have been pretty decent. I’ll have to check it out when they release it on Netflix.
Can’t wait for 126, that card looks absolutely stacked.
I thought the fights were all pretty entertaining. I scored the main event a 47-47 draw and I really feel bad for Anthony Pettis, who gets passed over his granted title shot for the rematch between Maynard and Edgar. I think Edgar dictated the fight much more than Maynard, but Maynard obviously had the big first round. I think Edgar will win the third fight.