Chael Sonnen, Gray Maynard, Forrest Griffin, Phil Davis and Chris Weidman. It is quite incredible that a UFC card could lose these quality fighters and still be one of the most anticipated in recent memory.
Luckily for us, Sunday’s UFC 155 event in Las Vegas is chock full of some of the most exciting knockout and submission artists. If you’re new to the world of Mixed Martial Arts or just a casual fan, this is a card you definitely do not want to miss.
The main event is of course a heavyweight title rematch between the champion Junior dos Santos and former champion Cain Velasquez. Dos Santos took Velasquez’s belt in stunning fashion in December last year, knocking out the Mexican American in just 64 seconds at the UFC’s first ever FOX event.
Since then dos Santos defended the strap against another former champion in Frank Mir while an extremely motivated Velasquez absolutely smashed Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva.
The Bigfoot fight certainly shows that Cain Velasquez will stop at nothing to regain his title and expect him to try to get the fight to the ground to negate the Brazilian’s stand-up advantage.
However, as much as a Velasquez win and subsequent match is an enticing thought, dos Santos is one of the best strikers in the history of Heavyweight MMA and he will be good enough to knockout Velasquez again.
Here’s some other thoughts, predictions and tidbits:
– With an incredible combined 30 submission wins from 43 career victories, either Joe Lauzon or Jim Miller will tap out in Las Vegas. The victor will also take home the submission of the night bonus. My money’s on Lauzon.
– Melvin Guillard will no longer be a UFC fighter after a loss to Jamie Varner. Or he will beat Jamie Varner, say something stupid and no longer be a UFC fighter.
– Costa Philippou will show how lucky Tim Boetsch has been in 2012. Boetsch was dominated by Yushin Okami for two rounds before a come from behind TKO win in February and then narrowly beat an uncharacteristically timid Hector Lombard in July. He is a long way from being a title contender, despite what he may believe, and would be easy fodder for Anderson Silva. Philippou will prove this on Sunday.
– Do not miss the prelim fights. This card runs extremely deep and there will be plenty of highlights on the undercard.
– The battle for knockout and fight of the night will be extremely fierce. Expect the main event, Lauzon v Miller, Yushin Okami v Alan Belcher, Max Holloway v Leonard Garcia and Chris Leben to feature.
– Alan Belcher will beat Yushin Okami, but his smeared, bloated Johnny Cash is still the worst tattoo in MMA.
What are your predictions for UFC 155?
Joel Smith
Roar Rookie
Yeah Ive stuck my neck out on a few here that could come back to bite, but we'll find out soon enough I guess. It may not be Costa today but I just think Boetsch will be in for a reality check once he faces Silva, Bisping, Weidman or even Vitor. He's a tough guy but I don't think he has the class to match it with the best. I also somehow forgot about Wineland v Pickett for FOTN contention. Very good chance it will win it, should be a slugfest.
Sam Brown
Roar Guru
Wow, some interesting thoughts here. No love for Guillard at all on this site judging by this and some of the other comments. I guess his arrogance can get under people's skin quite easily but the man is walking talent. His biggest weakness is himself though as he always seems to get cocky at just the wrong moment. The fight with Varner is a grudge March so I expect him to be motivated and ready to pull out one of his famous knockouts. I also completely disagree with you about Boetsch and Costa. Costa is a defensive boxer who sits back and picks his spots, however he hasn't shown any talent for kicking so to make contact he will have to get within Boetsch's clinch and takedown range, where I think he will be beaten up badly. funny thing though is that MMA is so dynamic that either of us could be proven right or both if us wrong once the fights get under way today.