UFC 144: Predictions You Can BANK on

Hello world!

It is I, the prediction master—or what my mother calls me, Brian. It has been a long time since I have had time to write for the wonderful B/R, but life has been good and life has been busy.

I finally have some time on my hands so I figured I would advise you gamblers out there to grab a pen or print this page or do whatever you have to do, because I am going for a shutout baby!

I have broken down the predictions this time into two different slideshows, first being the prelims —and tomorrow or Thursday being the seven fight, that is correct, seven-fight main card.

I am giddy with excitement for this card in Japan, as I am an old soul and still remember the days of staying up until 4 in the morning to get results of the Pride shows...PRIDE NEVER DIES!

Tiequan Zhang (15-2) vs. Issei Tamura (6-2)

This will be the first of the prelims, I believe this will be shown on Facebook and the rest of the card on FX, if I am not mistaken.

We have Tiequan Zhang, aka The Mongolian Wolf, which is listed on my top 10 pound-for-pound nicknames list. He will be fighting newcomer to the UFC, Issei Tamura.

I do not know much about Tamura except all but ONE of his six wins comes by the way of decision. That is not a good stat to have when entering into the UFC. Tamura is primarily a grappler who likes to control as opposed to attack or submit.

Zhang has had trouble in the past with wrestlers/grapplers but I do feel that he possesses one of the best guillotine chokes in the business.

Zhang is coming off a lost to Darren Elkins and Tamura is coming off a loss as well. I see this being kind of a boring fight with both guys playing it safe, but since I am writing a prediction article that would be kind of a sell-out answer.

Zhang wins with his guillotine, and I will make an educated guess that he will scream like a Mongolian Wolf!

Winner: Tiequan Zhang Guillotine Choke Second Round

Takeya Mizugaki (15-6) vs. Chris Cariaso (12-3)

The second Prelim and the first fight on the live FX card is a Bantamweight firecracker!

I used the term firecracker because both of these warriors are small, and "barn burner" just seems so 1990s WWF.

Mizugaki is 2-1 in the UFC and looked fantastic is his TKO win over Cole Escovedo at UFC 135. On top of having a solid UFC record, Mizugaki has fought four former World Champs. The dude is an animal and was only finished by one of those former World Champs, Urijah Faber.

Chris Cariaso is a very cliche, scrappy fighter. The dude is tough as nails and is not very easy to finish.

Cariaso does not have knock out power or at least he has not shown knockout power thus far in his young career. Cariaso is 2-1 in the UFC with his lone loss being to stud Michael McDonald— and no, not the awesome singer with the dreamy beard—the UFC fighter Michael McDonald

Most of Cariaso's wins come by decision, and he has been stopped twice out of his three losses. Mizugaki is a machine like fighter who will press forward with constant pressure. I look for the Japanese fighter to press the action and end up with some sort of TKO finish.

Winner: Takeya Mizugaki TKO Third Round

"Kid" Yamamoto (18-5) vs. Vaughan Lee (11-7)

If you just watched the video, then you are like me and are very excited for this fight.

Kid Yamamoto is a legend in Japan. He has some of the best knockout highlight reels on YouTube and is currently 0-2 in the UFC.

Let me start by saying, I am a big Yamamoto fan and I rarely disagree with Joe Silva but goodness, you have a striker like Yamamoto and you pair him up with three wrestlers in a row? Come on Joe!

Vaughan Lee is 0-1 in the UFC and if any of you followed Dana White's blogs, then you would  have seen Vaughan Lee break the Ultimate Fighter tryout record for submissions. The kid is pure nastiness on the ground. Lee lost his UFC debut to Chris Cariaso in a very close fight that I personally had Lee winning.

Now, back to Yamamoto. This is his homecoming in Japan and I think the matchmaking should have been a little bit better. Not saying this will not be a good fight, but with a star like Yamamoto I would of done it a bit different.

Okay, enough crying Brian, pull it together.

This fight is intriguing and should be very well contested. I like Yamamoto if he can finish it in the first, but I do not think that is going to happen.

I do think Vaughan Lee's superior grappling and submissions will be a big factor. I hate to do it but Vaughan Lee by submission late in the fight.

Winner: Vaughan Lee Submission Third Round.

Riki Fukuda (17-5) vs. Steve Cantwell (7-5)

I chose that picture of Steve Cantwell after he knocked out Brian Stann for the WEC title. Man, that seems like a long time ago. In a different world Steve Cantwell will be the best fighter on planet earth.

But we do not live in that world and Steve Cantwell has not won a fight in three years.

Cantwell has amazing talent but just falls apart in the cage. I think it has everything to do with mental, not physical.

Riki Fukuda has had only one fight in the UFC, and it was a BS decision loss to Nick Ring. I hate being the guy who creams Kangaroo court when things seem off, but man that was a robbery in front of thousands of people.

Fukuda has not fought in over a year and I think that might be a factor going into this fight. Fukuda is tough fighter but I think he is just average. This is a tough fight to call because Cantwell has the skills but falls apart—and Fukuda seems average but he hasn't fought in a while.

I will probably regret it, but I cannot pick against the only man to knock out Brian Stann.

Steve Cantwell FUTURE CHAMP!

Winner: Steve Cantwell Unanimous Decision

Takanori Gomi (32-8) vs. Eiji Mitsuoka (18-7)

You remember that guy? The guy with the two title belts and the dominant champion? Yeah I do too, *sigh* but like everything in life, that changed.

Gomi has not been himself and has only one win in the UFC since joining. That is a long departure from the dominant champion that he once was.

Gomi is still a huge star in Japan and cannot be underestimated. He is fighting a submission ace in Mitsuoka who is making his UFC debut.

61 percent of Mitsuoka wins are by submission. 100 percent of Gomi's losses in the UFC are by submission. See where I am going with this?

I do not know if Gomi has been distracted, or not training as hard or just simply has seen better days.

Mitsuoka on paper looks to take this fight. He has experience and has great submissions, but—and a big but it is—I think Gomi is going to go all "Fireball Kid" on Mitsuoka and make that Japanese crowd go APE!

Winner: Takanori Gomi Knockout First Round

Main Card Next...

So there it is folks. Predictions that can help you add to the college fund, or just go buy a 12-pack of cheap beer and depending on how well you listen to me, the good stuff.

Tomorrow I will be posting the main card predictions, and after the fights I plan on doing some first time follow-up articles on how right I was, or if there is some kind of tilt in the world, and I get one wrong. Heaven forbid.

Until tomorrow friends... Until tomorrow.