UFC 172: Complete Predictions for Main Card

If you ask Dana White, he'd tell you UFC 172 from Baltimore Arena features "the most stacked card we have ever done in UFC history."

That may be hyperbole at a near Bill-Waltonian level, but that's not to say the lineup for Saturday night isn't very compelling. 

On the main card alone, an opening fight featuring two future stars to a title bout of two seemingly unstoppable titans, with a slew of intriguing names (Jim Miller, Luke Rockhold, Phil Davis, Anthony Johnson) in between, there is a lot to like. 

In advance of what should be a highly entertaining night, let's take a look at some fight predictions, as well as a forecast for the best fights.

Main Card Predictions

Fight	Class	Prediction	Via
Max Holloway vs. Andre Fili	Featherweight	Fili	Unanimous decision
Jim Miller vs. Yancy Medeiros	Lightweight	Miller	Rd. 3 submission
Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Boetsch	Middleweight	Rockhold	Rd. 1 TKO
Phil Davis vs. Anthony Johnson	Light Heavyweight	Davis	Unanimous decision
Jon Jones (c) vs. Glover Teixeira	Light Heavyweight	Jones	Unanimous decision

Predictions for Best Fights

Max Holloway vs. Andre Fili

Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images

A battle between two burgeoning featherweight contenders, there's a good chance Max Holloway vs. Andre Fili develops into the Fight of the Night. 

FOX Sports' Marc Raimondi put it simply:

Although "Blessed" has more experience, he has yet to score a defining UFC victory, falling to Dustin Poirier via submission at UFC 143 and Conor McGregor via decision last August. 

At the same time, while his wins (Pat Schilling, Justin Lawrence, Leonard Garcia, Will Chope) haven't been world-beating, he has shown enthralling stand-up skills. He's handed second-round TKO's to both Lawrence and Chope. 

On the other side of the Octagon, "Touchy" has just one UFC fight under his 23-year-old belt, but it was a highly impressive display, as he destroyed veteran Jeremy Larsen, stopping the fight early in the second round. 

The Team Alpha Male product may be better served attempting some takedowns, where he has the advantage in the wrestling game, but ultimately, these are two extremely talented fighters looking to make a name for themselves. 

That's going to make for a scintillating battle, and with very little separating the two, it should also go the distance. 

Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixeira

Gregory Payan

Something has to give. These guys just don't lose. 

Pound-for-pound champion Jon "Bones" Jones was certainly taken to the wire during September's Fight of the Year with Alexander Gustafsson, but he ultimately left Toronto with the unanimous decision victory.

The controversial 26-year-old now has six successful light heavyweight title defenses, and the only loss of his career came on a disqualification in 2009 when he was handling Matt Hamill with ease. 

Fighters in his position can sometimes become stagnant, but he's using the scare against Gustafsson as motivation to improve, as he told Bleacher Report's Jeremy Botter:

"

It humbled me. A good humbling is always good, though. And it also let me know that I have heart,” Jones says. “I trained my butt off to not have any close fights. And now that I’ve gone through a close fight—or a war, as some would call it—now I know even more about myself. I know when the going gets rough, I’m not going to give up.

"

Of course, Glover Teixeira isn't a stranger to success, either. 

The man who needs no nickname lost his fourth professional fight against Ed Herman in 2005, but there have been no blemishes to his resume ever since. 

As he has strung together an outstanding 20 consecutive wins, he has found new, creative ways to win.  

In 2012, he destroyed Fabio Maldonado in Sherdog's Beatdown of the Year. Two fights later, he choked out James Te Huna for UFC 160's Submission of the Night. In September, he took care of Ryan Bader in less than three minutes—his seventh first-round stoppage since 2011—with the Knockout of the Night. 

He may be a stout underdog, but as long-time MMA writer Josh Gross noted, the lack of pressure on the 34-year-old Brazilian makes him dangerous: 

Teixeira isn't lacking confidence, either:

Jones has the speed and length to avoid Teixeira's power, and he has wrestling prowess to counteract the submission specialist, but this still figures to be a thrilling battle for the title.