UFC 133 Fight Card: Randy Couture Gives His Picks

UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture recently ran afoul of Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson due to Couture (incorrectly) picking Matt Hamill over Jackson at UFC 130. The pick seemed to get under Jackson's skin, and he took to twitter to air his grievances with Couture.

Jackson's comments did not dissuade Couture from offering his opinion on the upcoming UFC 133 fight card.

UFC 133 will take place on August 6 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The card will be headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Rashad Evans and Tito Ortiz.

To say that this card has had its share of injury issues would be a huge understatement. For now, the official card looks like this:

 

Main Card: Pay-Per-View

Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Vitor Belfort
Brian Ebersole vs. Dennis Hallman
Constantinos Philippou vs. Jorge Rivera
Rory MacDonald vs. Mike Pyle 

 

Preliminary Card: Spike TV

Alexander Gustafsson vs. Matt Hamill
Chad Mendes vs. Rani Yahya 

 

Preliminary Card: UFC  Facebook Stream

Ivan Menjivar vs. Nick Pace
Johny Hendricks vs. Mike Pierce
Mike Brown vs. Nam Phan
Paul Bradley vs. Rafael "Sapo" Natal

On to Couture's picks...

Chad Mendes vs. Rani Yahya

Randy Couture and Affliction's Tom Atencio sit down for another go at picking select fights from the upcoming UFC 133 fight card.

The pair start off with a look at a preliminary card bout, Chad Mendes versus Rani Yahya.

The highly ranked Mendes brings a perfect 10-0 record into this featherweight bout.

Yahya, a BJJ black belt, is coming into this bout with a win over former WEC champion Mike Brown.

BetOnFighting.com has Mendes as a HUGE favorite going into this bout:

Mendes: -615

Yahya: +415

Mike Pyle vs. Rory MacDonald

Couture and Atencio take a look at an interesting welterweight bout between Mike Pyle and Rory MacDonald.

MacDonald is a young, up-and-coming fighter in the welterweight division. He has only one loss in his career, a 2010 TKO to Carlos Condit.

In his last bout, MacDonald walked through Nate Diaz on his way to an impressive unanimous decision victory.

Pyle, an MMA veteran, made his debut back in 1999, dropping a unanimous decision to Quinton Jackson. Since then he has accumulated a record of 21-7-1 and is currently riding a three-fight winning streak.

BetOnFighting.com has MacDonald coming in as the favorite:

MacDonald: -275

Pyle: +215

Vitor Belfort vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama

Couture and Atencio next take a look at the middleweight bout between Vitor Belfort and Yoshihiro Akiyama.

Belfort is coming off a brutal knockout loss to Anderson Silva in his last bout. Silva delivered a devastating front kick in the first round of that bout, putting Belfort away and extending his UFC-record winning streak and title-defense streak.

'Sexyama' may be feeling some pressure going into this bout as he is currently riding a two-fight losing streak, falling to Chris Leben via submission and Michael Bisping via unanimous decision.

Akiyama has fought three times in the UFC and has captured 'Fight of the Night' bonuses on all three occasions.

BetOnFighting.com has the odds on this one in Belfort's favor:

Belfort: -300

Akiyama: +240

Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz

Couture and Atencio take a look at the main event. 

Rashad Evans comes into the fight off a long layoff, with his last fight taking place on May 29, 2010, when he defeated 'Rampage' Jackson via unanimous decision.

Tito Ortiz comes into the fight riding the momentum from a career-saving submission victory over Ryan Bader at UFC 132, which took place on July 2.

BetOnFighting.com has Evans coming in as a heavy favorite over Ortiz:

Evans: -420

Ortiz: +320