UFC 149 Predictions: A Fan's Guide to the Entire Fight Card

UFC 149 is going down this Saturday from the Scotiabank Saddledome.

I had a touch of Scotiabank Saddledome once. Brutal. I thought the ointment would never start working.

Ah, that's great. But seriously, the Saddledome is very, very real, and it will host 11 fights this weekend. This card will be a little different than the original, though, given that this lineup has been more injury-riddled than Grant Hill at a Carl Pavano convention.

The sidelining of Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Michael Bisping and both Thiagos and Bibiano Fernandes and Siyar Bahadurzada and George Roop and Claude Patrick means one thing and one thing only: a lot of replacements. Which begs the question: Who are these people?

That's where I come in. I don't know who they are, either, but perhaps I can help by making light of the situation. I have also ranked the full card from the most boring matchup to the most exciting. Think of it as a cheat code for fight night. Viewing info and predictions also sprinkled liberally throughout.

11. Bryan Caraway vs. Mitch Gagnon

Bantamweight bout
See it on: FX 

The smack-talking Miesha Tate's smack-talking boyfriend will look to put the smack down on Mitch Gagnon Saturday night. If he wins, I wonder if the Dynamic Duo will tweet anything about it.

Before anyone gets too excited, I should add that Ontario native Gagnon is 8-1, with every win by submission. Still, Caraway, a Team Alpha Male member, likes to roll a little himself. Medium-grade ground stalemate, here we come.

Sidebar: Caraway has said he'll be fighting for the Stand By Me program, an anti-bullying campaign, so that's interesting.

10. Antonio Carvalho vs. Daniel Pineda

Featherweight bout
See it on: Facebook 

Daniel Pineda, replacing George Roop, is surely hoping to rebound from that loss to Mike Brown. The defeat can't feel good; it was Pineda's first in two years.

Antonio Carvalho didn't show much in his UFC debut, a loss to Felipe Arantes. Pineda is a step above Arantes and Roop, not to mention Carvalho.

It's a mismatch on paper, and it will be a mismatch in the cage.

9. Mitch Clarke vs. Anton Kuivanen

Lightweight bout
See it on: Facebook 

The opening bout of the evening actually looks fairly promising.

Finland's Anton Kuivanen might be the hottest prospect in Europe at 155. On the other side, Mitch Clarke is, uh, from Canada.

In February, Kuivanen appeared tentative during his UFC debut, a loss to wrestler Justin Salas. As it happens, Clarke is a wrestler, too. If Kuivanen hasn't figured out how to defend against takedowns and Octagon jitters, he'll have a tough time in front of a Clarke-friendly crowd.

On the other hand, if he can keep it upright, he has the stuff to pulverize Clarke, who also seemed a little overcaffeinated in his first UFC fight.

Fueling the intrigue is the fact that the loser probably leaves the promotion. So the pressure is cranked up about as high as it goes for a Facebook fight between two guys with 0-1 UFC records.

8. Court McGee vs. Nick Ring

Middleweight bout
See it on: FX 

The main event of the FX portion of the evening renews a rather crazy rivalry from season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter.

Nick Ring, a Calgary resident and a denizen of Montreal's famous TriStar gym, eliminated Court McGee with a decision win. But then Ring tore his ACL. His replacement? McGee, who of course went on to win the show.

Ring's been spoiling to run it back ever since, and McGee would be a huge feather in his cap. Here's hoping he snags it, if only so we can avoid three rounds of McGee's decidedly deliberate style.

7. Chris Clements vs. Matt Riddle

Welterweight bout
See it on: Pay-per-view

Interesting that one of the most injury-plagued fighters today actually benefited from the bug at UFC 149.

By my count, Matt Riddle has pulled out of five bouts because of some malady or another. And yet, here he is, looking to go 2-0 in 2012 as a late replacement for Bahadurzada. He'll step in against Chris Clements, who, if given anything to say about it, will make this a slugfest. Riddle has wrestling, but it's his six-inch reach advantage that's going to win this one for him.

6. Roland Delorme vs. Francisco Rivera

Bantamweight bout
See it on: FX 

Francisco Rivera, replacing Bibiano Fernandes, has angry torpedoes for fists. Roland Delorme, in his last fight, upended the Nick Denis hype train (here he is hanging from Denis's arm). Admittedly, I was all in on Denis, so I have to go with Delorme in what will not be a boring fight. If it really blows up, it could be Fight of the Night.

5. Cheick Kongo vs. Shawn Jordan

Heavyweight bout
See it on: Pay-per-view

That vicious knockout of Evil Overlord Oli Thompson got stone-handed Shawn Jordan to the gate. We'll see if he can walk through with a win over Cheick Kongo.   

4. Ryan Jimmo vs. Anthony Perosh

Light heavyweight bout
See it on: FX 

If I know anything in this life, it's that Anthony Perosh is old. Now 40, he's the second-oldest fighter in the UFC, behind only Dan Henderson. Those novelty tombstone cakes must not have bothered him much, though; he's finished his last three opponents.

The chiseled Ryan Jimmo, a popular Canadian-league champ fighting for the first time in the UFC, has won 18 straight. He is highly touted. He loves to headhunt. 

But when we're talking some Ryan Jimmo, we're also talking downsides. The first is that his hit list is not exactly a muderer's row. His most high-profile win, an October decision on Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, was decidedly shaky. The second is that his ground game isn't exactly world class.

Perosh's is. Small wonder, then, that Perosh is a significant fav...what? Perosh is an underdog? Quick! Sound the upset alarms! Swarm the wagering matrices! For entertainment purposes only! Swarm! Swarm!

If Jimmo does meet expectations, as consolation viewers just might see one of the nastiest victory dances we've seen in the Octagon in quite some time. Peep the video. Go ahead, peep it.

3. Brian Ebersole vs. James Head

Welterweight bout
See it on: Pay-per-view

Brian Ebersole has become, to my mind, a serious story. A late replacement for Claude Patrick, Ebserole will make a bid for his second win in as many months and a perfect 5-0 UFC record.

That's fine for your average, everyday title contender. What distinguishes Ebersole, 31, is that first, he's still fighting non-contenders (can we reschedule that Rory MacDonald fight already?) and second, he already has 66 fights under his belt. That can't be said too many times; Brian Ebersole fought 62 times before getting a shot in the big league. Even then he got it as a—wait for it—late injury replacement at UFC 127.

I get why the guy can be so prolific; he never takes any damage. He just shaves an arrow out of his chest hair, walks into the cage, takes the other guy apart, does some hilarious interviews and heads out. 

This is all to say, James Head is overmatched. That's it. Ebersole, TKO, Round 1. 

2. Urijah Faber vs. Renan Barao

Bantamweight bout (for UFC interim championship)
See it on: Pay-per-view

I really have nothing to add to all the other previews out there. Renan Barao is just so super talented. No apparent weaknesses—including takedown defense, an all-important skill against Faber.

Like everyone else, I'm having a hard time picking against Barao. But I'm going to.

I think Faber, fighting someone who trains with his nemesis (his other nemesis, anyway), is going to want it more. Barao would get him in a rematch, but the youngster may not be quite ready to outclass a still-in-his-prime and highly motivated Faber.  

1. Hector Lombard vs. Tim Boetsch

Middleweight bout
See it on: Pay-per-view 

I'm a curious person by nature. And I have to admit: This fight piques my curiosity more than any other on this card. 

Besides Anderson Silva and maybe Chris Weidman (and we'll get to that), what middleweights are on bigger rolls right now than Tim Boetsch and Hector Lombard? They're just mowing everyone down lately. Not only do they both like to finish, but they both need to do so to land a date with Silva instead of Mr. Weidman, who is fresh off that spectacular victory over Mark Munoz on Fuel TV.

I know, I know...Lombard hasn't fought UFC-caliber opponents. But you know what? He also hasn't lost in five-and-a-half years. And it hasn't been entirely against suckers, either. Just because he hasn't been beating UFC opponents this whole time doesn't mean he can't do it.

Boetsch has the tools to test Lombard like he hasn't been tested in quite some time. But I can't help but wonder about Lombard's ceiling. Everyone knows the winner must not only win but do something amazing to leapfrog Weidman for the title shot. It seems to me that that is something Hector Lombard has demonstrated he is capable of doing. So...what if he does it?

Bottom line: If I might paraphrase Roddy Pipper, it is entirely possible that just when we thought we had some answers, Hector Lombard will change the questions.

Scott Harris is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. He also has a new and, so far, reasonably entertaining Twitter feed. Follow along @ScottHarrisMMA.