Surprises are guaranteed in the UFC. If someone told you two years ago that BJ Penn would be run out of the UFC, Strikeforce would be bought and would subsequently fold you may have questioned the individual’s sanity.
So what will happen in the MMA in 2013?
Heavyweight
Three people will hold the title this year. Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem. It will be the best year for this division and once again Lesnar will flirt with MMA fans about a return to the UFC.
Mark Hunt will be a big fan favourite (once again) after coming back from knee surgery late in the year. Can he continue to impress with his huge hitting with next to zero ground game?
Light Heavyweight
Jon Jones will defend his title at least twice and toy with the idea of challenging for the heavyweight title in early 2014. Once he sees Overeem nearly gas against JDS the rumours with flourish for the Super Bowl weekend of 2014.
Rampage Jackson will get another car and stay in the UFC.
Middleweight
Anderson Silva will dominate, again. He will defend his title three times. The last time he will be stepping up to save another fightcard in Brazil because of injuries.
The much anticipated ‘Super Fight’ with GSP will not eventuate in 2013 but maybe in 2014. Jacare Souza will challenge the old guard in the UFC.
Welterweight
Georges St-Pierre will be pushed much harder than he thought in 2013. He will defeat Nick Diaz via decision and then again win against Johnny Hendricks and make people wonder about the Greg Jackson camp and their fight strategy.
GSP will then be forced to pick either a rematch with Carlos Condit or Rory MacDonald. Thus he will look for a new challenge in 2014 and move up a weight class.
Lightweight
Benson Henderson will have the toughest year of all the UFC champions. He will be fighting in major wars three times and will be the first fighter to be considered, as recording back to back Fighter of the Year honours by the fans.
First he’ll win against Melendez, then Jim Miller and finally the Anthony Pettis on the NYE fightcard.
Featherweight
Aldo will make Frankie Edgar move back up to light weight by demolishing him within two rounds.
Once again the injury curse will strike and Dana White will consider Edgar and Diego Nunes for an interim. title match. It will be epic and a rematch will occur after the first title fight.
It will all be for naught though as Jose Aldo returns and smashes whichever fighter was dumb enough to think they were a champion at 145.
Bantamweight
Renan Barao will hold the title until Dominick Cruz returns. By then Urijah Faber will have gotten enough wins to be credible enough for another shot at the title. However, it won’t work out for him.
He will retire in the ring and everybody will gloss over that he struggled once the WEC and the UFC merged. Eddie Wineland and Brad Pickett will have a rematch mid-year that will catapult Wineland into title contention.
Flyweight
A tough division with little or no stability. Demetrious Johnson will lose his title, and it will happen very soon. No slight on him, he is a very good fighter but Ian McCall will emerge victorious.
From there, Johnson will be injured and out for the rest of the year. By the end of the year the title will change hands again to either Darrel Montague or Jussier Da Sliva.
Fight camp winner
Much to Josh Koscheck’s distaste, the American Kickboxing Academy is going to reign supreme in 2013. While Cain Velasquez will struggle in the heavyweights, Todd Duffee and Daniel Cormier won’t.
Both will record three wins (Cormier will actually drop to Light Heavy after two fights). Along with a few high profile fighters jumping ship to AKA, Fitch will actually close the door on Koscheck’s MMA career with a brutal KO at the end of the year. Then Dana will smile.
Fight camp losers
The Cesar Gracie camp is going to struggle. After the Diaz brothers are exposed to losses via the same game plan (their opponent is going the thigh kick their front legs into oblivion), Jake Shields will struggle coming back for his suspension with two losses in a row and Gilbert will lose in his challenge for the Lightweight Championship belt.
The only saving grace they will have is Ronda Rousey arm-baring two more women on her way to becoming one of the most media savvy fighters in UFC history.
She will actually make Dana jealous as she outgrows her MMA role and into something bigger.
Plenty of injuries, plenty of suspensions (a few will deny knowing they took the banned substance, again) but the main play will be the UFC buying Invicata FC rather than building their own Female MMA cards.
Cyborg will drop to 135 and fight Ronda by the end of the year.
Not sure how it will end exactly but cardio will prove to be the biggest skill-set advantage in 2013. More than one fighter will struggle with the pace of a fight and be left gasping for air as they get smashed by a rival.
2013 will be a big year for MMA.
Ronnie Liddle
Roar Rookie
If Cain got put down with a lucky punch it can happen again. hate to say it but it's true. yep, hates the excuses after the fight loss. takes away the win from the victor. reminded me of tito and his 'back' after every loss or draw. i'll be interested in the HW this year. think a lot of people will be. Will the UFC give Overeem or JDS first crack at Cain is going to be the big question. i think Overeem is stronger in the clinch then JDS and harder to take down. he is stronger and has knees. that said, Overeem his struggle with the pace that Cain brings (anyone would). for me it could very well be Overeem beats Cain, JDS beats Overeem because he is quicker but Cain can beat JDS via cardio. hence what i said as the last point.
Efren Schwarz
Guest
How can you even THINK Cain is going to lose his title? ESPECIALLY against JDS.. he proved that his gameplan would have worked had he not get caught with that big punch.. never mind had he been healthy AND he didn't complain like a little girl with every dumb excuse imaginable.. (i was getting a divorce.. my creatine was too high...). JDS has NO ground game whatsoever and Cain will take Ovreem down just like he's done with EVERYONE, more recently Bigfoot and JDS himself... And Fitch might beat Kos but he's not a KO speciallist and Koscheck is not an easy guy to put out so saying that is a maaayor asumption..
Ronnie Liddle
Roar Rookie
cool, its all good. ii understand its part of writing for MMA that you should expert critisim more than any other sport writer. we are passionate fans and defend our favourite fighters and our own opinions whenever and wherever we can and to the utmost level. enough said. sure Fitch has said this and that so too did Penn before his last fight - i get it. iv'e been around the block once or twice too. i just think fitch is older, not sitting on a million dollars in Hawaii and is looking at being another coach of MMA (and there are a million out there) or a media compentator and realised he has very limited options so he needs to change up his game if he's to continue in the sport. what else is fitch going to do after MMA? Drive a taxi? he's smart enough to realise he needs to cash in on his opportunity while he still has them. so he's goijng to try and finsih when he can. that said - money put on him for a KO finish - it wouldn't be alot but i bet the odds would way up there enough to have a crack - that is if i could find a pub that shows the fight and takes bets on the UFC. rising sun in melbourne doesn';t. sorry for the spelling and rambling- half drunk and operating on little sleep.
Kelvaan
Roar Rookie
Every boring fighter says they want to KO their oppenent every fight. It's part of the fighters selling themselves. At no point in his last however many fights have I seen him go for a killer blow, it's just not part of him as a fighter. Not saying their is anything wrong with that, I just think it's a bit of a reach to think he will knock Kos out. Would you honestly lay your hard earned down on Fitch for a KO in any fight? Every fighter is susceptible to a flash KO, they are all still humans and if you hit someone on the button it's lights out. Obviously this is an opinion piece so I apologise for being so negative.
Ronnie Liddle
Roar Rookie
Fitch has said he needs to fight in a more entertain fashion if he hopes be considered for a shot at the title. after watching his last fight Erick Silva (which a few other websites nominated for fight of the year) fi've bought into the hype and believe he will go for a finish whenever he can. i aslo think Kos wont keep his mouth shut about his old team and will build Fitch's motivation pretty high. Kos was KO'd in his last fight (sure it was by a guy that can throw in Hendricks) and while it has only happened once did you see his fight against Paulo Thiago in 2009? while it happened a while ago i believe Kos is susceptible to a flash KO and Fitch wont stop at one punch thus yes a brutal KO. inot sure of the bleacher report reference but i'd be happy to read any article you publish.
Ronnie Liddle
Roar Rookie
'Media savvy' was edited into the arcticle. i didn't write it. i didn't know you spelt savvy with two 'v's until a few minutes ago. sorry if it offended you but i can't help that. Rampage 'gets' car - not 'buys' a car - refers to the last time he and the UFC had a fight about a contract - the UFC bought Rampage a sports car and suddenly the contract issue went away. i'm saying - he will most likely be in the UFC. so ummm maybe it does have something to do with MMA? Dana smiling refers to Jon Fitch and Kos not fighting for years because they were team-mates at AKA. when and if they do fight do you think Dana might feel a little happy about that thorn in his side for the last 3-5 years? just me i suppose but i think he would. Sure, left out Dobson my bad. Jones vs. Gustaffson - did i really need to right that fight down for you? i think Gus get the next shot after Sonnen. H-bomb will get to fight Jones? maybe but I think Machida will win and thus H-bomb will miss his window at the title. i think Dan will have a rematch with shogun is more likely.
kronk
Roar Rookie
"Roar Rookie" sounds about right... MMA Rookie more like it. Half-cocked assumptions based on your personal preferences, coupled with buzz words like "media savvy" made for an infuriating read. Rampage will buy another car? What's that got to do with MMA? Dana smiling? Come on dude. Also, every fighter doesn't suffer year ending injuries in each match. Couple of people you left out.. The biggest (pun intended) being John Dodson. Consensus top 3 Flyweight on the planet and challenging for the title in a week. No mention of Jones and Gustaffson? Or finally a matchup with H-bomb? Back to the Sherdog Forums, bud.
Kelvaan
Roar Rookie
Just when I thought this article couldn't be more off the mark, you say Fitch will brutally KO Koscheck. I don't see how anyone with even a casual interest in MMA could think that. Fitch hasn't knocked out anyone in 6 years (his only KO in his long tenure with the UFC) and Kos has only ever been defeated by KO once, indicating the man has quite a chin! Absolute drivel from start to finish, don't suppose you write for Bleacher Report as well?