UFC August Fight Cards: Tito Ortiz, Rashad Evans and Anderson Silva Predictions

After what seemed like an endless string of UFC activity and events in May and June, the promotion did have a bit of a summer cool during the month of July. Strikeforce Fedor vs. Hendo takes place this Saturday and should be a nice event to end the July lull and kick start us into a solid three event August.

UFC 133 goes down from Philadelphia on August 6th, UFC Live 5 goes the following Sunday the 14th and then the epic UFC 134 Rio will round out the month's scheduled fight cards on August 27th.

There are some great match ups to look forward to this month including Tito Ortiz trying to keep his renewed win train going against Rashad Evans to Anderson Silva defending his title on home soil against Yushin Okami.

As always there will be stories and highlights that pop up constantly and unexpectedly on a variety of people and issues that will only stoke our fire for MMA.  

Here are my Top Ten Predictions for the month of August

There Will Be a Judging Controversy and an Injury Pull out in August

These two issue will rear their ugly heads again in this coming month that you can be sure of.

The injury/pullouts and replacements are just an unavoidable part of the business when training and combat are concerned and the judging issue is not yet ready to rectify itself until judging education catches up to the growth of the sport.

I'm not going out on a limb and picking out which card and fights this will happen in, I just know that is likely to happen every month in mixed martial arts. Let's hope it doesn't happen in Nam Phan vs. Mike Brown. Phan has been a victim once already.

The Dancing Spider Will Rear Its Ugly Head in Rio

Anderson Silva wants to showcase his many talents when he fights in his homeland in the first UFC event held in Brazil in history. If Silva goes out and knocks out opponent Yushin Okami in mere seconds I believe he and the fans will feel unsatisfied as they leave for the evening.

Okami is not going to push forward or engage first so Silva will be left to be the one to entertain and put on a show for fans in attendance on this epic night. Don't be surprised if that forces Silva to dance around again and feel like he needs to something anything, when Okami stays away.

I hope I am way wrong on this one, but who really knows what Anderson Silva is thinking half the time?

Brendan Schaub Will Beat Big Nog into Irrelevancy

Antonio Minotauro Nogueira is a great legend in this sport and I will always appreciate the wars he has brought us from the Pride years right on into his fight with Randy Couture in the UFC. But aren't you getting as tired as I am of seeing Big Nog get beat up?

If young up and comer Brendan Shaub puts a beating down on Minotauro, then I would suggest he would find himself in the same boat that fellow Brazilian great Wanderlei Silva finds himself in. How relevant will he be?

Forrest Griffin Will Lose Against Shogun and Will Not Run Away

Forrest Griffin has a weird habit of doing emotional, unsettling things after he gets beat sometimes in the UFC cage. He runs out of the ring at high speeds, sometimes sheds a tear and then he goes on long book tours never to be seen again.

He already has a win against Mauricio Rua, but I believe that in that one Forrest had the element of surprise on his side. This time Shogun will be at home and hungry to avenge that awful debut in the UFC.

Rua will beat Forrest this time on damage, and this time Forrest will stick around and lose like a man.

Overall UFC 134 Rio Will Be a Disappointing Event

I am never one to be critical of an event before it happens but I believe that for UFC 134 Rio, the hype of it being a first time event will over match what the fights actually deliver in Brazil.

I think I feel this only because I think Anderson Silva will walk over Yushin Okami, and also because I am not too jacked up about the rest of the fights on the card either.

Are they using home grown ring girls?

Rory MacDonald Will Continue His Rise Against Mike Pyle

Rory MacDonald seems to be the next big thing at welterweight and rightly so. he is coming off of two very impressive fights in the UFC with a beautiful beat down of Nate Diaz back in April and his valiant and entertaining loss to Carlos Condit before that.

I don't think it will be easy for MacDonald that's for sure, but I don't see Pyle beating him anywhere in that cage and Rory will look to go for a finish before this one is done.

It will be technical and brutal, and in the end MacDonald will pass Pyle on the food chain and solidify his legitimate arrival among the contenders of the division.

Yoshihiro Akiyama Will Lose and Be Released by the UFC

Yoshihiro Akiyama is an excellent fighter in his own right and country. He just isn't good, big or strong enough to defeat the elite in the UFC. I have seen it already and we will see it again against Vitor Belfort.

This is going out on a long shot because the UFC needs Japanese fighters for their foray into the Asian island, but Akiyama is just on the brink of contender and pretender in the division.

I predict that he will have trouble with Belfort's hand speed and will get beat up, taking damage to his eyes and nose at UFC 133.

Jim Miller Will Beat Ben Henderson and Will Still Not Get a Title Shot

Jim Miller will show once again that he belongs in the elite of the lightweight division when he fights Ben Henderson in a fantastc match up at UFC Live 5 on August 14th.

Both of these fighters are skilled and hungry and that means that we could have ourselves a Fight Of The Year candidate. Miller is a wear you down type of fighter and Henderson is very hard to wear down so a war of attrition will ensue.

I believe in the end it will be MIller hand raise based on offense and ring control, and Henderson will be left confused like so many of Miller's other victims before.

Dan Hardy vs. Chris Lytle Will Be Epic and Hardy Will Come out on Top

There are certain match ups that happen at a certain space and time and Dan Hardy vs. Chris Lytle is one of those fights. Neither one of these guys will win a title soon but it is their styles that will make this clash one to remember when the dust settles on the year.

Hardy is close to losing his spot and Lytle doesn't know any other way but broke and I think in the end it will be decided by the advantage of Hardy's technical skill. Lytle will be looping and throwing and Hardy will be jabbing and straighting his way to victory.

Tito Ortiz Will Lose and Mention the Quick Turn Around as Why

Tito Ortiz's surprise win over Ryan Bader certainly launched him back into the consciousness of America again. He also won with a little class and grace and at the same time showed refreshing jubilance after his win over Bader, but why can't guys do the same when they lose?

Rashad Evans will be a tougher test for Tito come August 6th in Philly and when he dominates Tito with wrestling and body position, Tito will look for excuses and answers to replace the dull of his shine of the past month.

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Feature Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA (also a correspondent for MMACanada.net).

Catch him on Twitter @wakafightermma .