UFC 133 Fight Card: Early Predictions for Every Main Card Fight
UFC 133 has been devastated by injuries but it is still a highly intriguing card with a lot of good matchups.
The first fight on the main card has Rory MacDonald looking to continue his climb up the welterweight ladder, while Mike Pyle is looking to break into the upper tier of the division.
The second fight has Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara scheduled for a third time; hopefully to fight for a first.
After that Dennis Hallman takes on Brian Ebersole in a surprising fight to find on a PPV.
The co-main event has former LHW champion Vitor Belfort taking on the judoka with a granite chin, Yoshihiro Akiyama in a middleweight bout.
The main event of the evening pits two former light heavyweight champions against each other in a rematch of their UFC 73 draw, as Rashad Evans takes on the resurgent Tito Ortiz for what could be a No. 1 contender spot.
So here are my personal predictions for every fight on the main card.
Welterweight Bout: Rory MacDonald vs. Mike Pyle
1 of 6The first fight on the main card pits Rory MacDonald (11-1) against Mike Pyle (21-7-1).
MacDonald comes into this fight after an impressive unanimous decision victory over Nate Diaz at UFC 129. In that fight, MacDonald was able to suplex Diaz three times in the third round.
Prior to that, MacDonald was seven seconds away from a split-decision victory over Carlos Condit at UFC 115, before he was TKO'd.
Pyle comes in on a three-fight win streak, including two straight unanimous decisions. His victims during that streak include Jesse Lennox, John Hathaway and Ricardo Almeida.
Pyle has fought some of the best during his career, including Rampage Jackson (unanimous decision loss), Jon Fitch (submission victory) and Jake Shields (submission loss).
Prediction: Rory MacDonald by second round TKO
Middleweight Bout: Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara
2 of 6Is the third time the charm? We'll find out soon enough.
Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara are now scheduled to fight for the third time in their careers. The two were first supposed to meet at UFC 118, but Rivera injured his arm and pulled out.
The second time was to be at UFC 122, but Sakara was suffering from "flu-like symptoms" on the day of the fight, and it was scrapped.
The UFC has obviously wanted to put this fight together for awhile, so we may be looking at a fight of the night.
Rivera comes into the fight after a TKO loss to Michael Bisping, which many fans criticized, as Bisping landed a blatant illegal knee. The fight probably should have been stopped as a no contest, or DQ victory for Rivera.
In Sakara's last fight he lost a unanimous decision to Chris Weidman.
Prediction: Jorge Rivera by second round TKO
Welterweight Bout: Dennis Hallman vs. Brian Ebersole
3 of 6The third fight on the main card pits Dennis "Superman" Hallman (43-13-2 [1 NC] against the cartwheel-kicking Brian Ebersole (47-14-1 [1 NC]).
This fight is between two of the most experienced welterweights on the UFC roster, and this one is going to be fun to watch.
Hallman comes into the fight on a two-fight win streak, with a unanimous decision over Ben Saunders and a TKO over Karo Parysian.
Ebersole is making his second appearance inside the Octagon, coming off his late replacement upset over Chris Lytle.
I wouldn't be expecting either of these two to challenge for a title any time soon, but this will be a great, fast-paced fight.
This is a tough one to call, but I have faith in Brian Ebersole.
Prediction: Brian Ebersole by unanimous decision
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Middleweight Bout: Vitor Belfort vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
4 of 6This fight is going to be a war.
Vitor Belfort (19-9) takes on Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-3 [2 NC]) in a middleweight bout. Anybody else want to know how Akiyama got this fight?
Akiyama comes into the fight on a two-fight losing streak—a submission loss to Chris Leben in a fantastic fight and a unanimous decision loss to Michael Bisping.
Akiyama always comes to put on a show, as evidenced by winning fight of the night in all three of his UFC bouts.
Belfort comes into the fight on the wrong end of a highlight reel knockout at UFC 126 against Anderson Silva. Everybody knows and has probably seen the front kick knockout.
Prior to that, Belfort had won five straight, including three straight (T)KOs.
Prediction: Vitor Belfort by unanimous decision. Fight of the Night.
Light Heavyweight Bout: Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz
5 of 6So who else likes this fight better than Rashad against Davis?
The main event of the evening pits former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans (15-1-1) against another former light heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz (16-8-1).
I won't rehash everything that's gone on with Tito in the past few weeks, because we've all heard it by now. Simply put though, Tito is in a great position.
He saved his career against Ryan Bader, and he is now on the precipice of being a top-three light heavyweight once again. In addition, he is now on Dana White's good side, and his job is not on the line in this fight.
Rashad makes his return to the Octagon after a nearly 15-month layoff. Rashad is another fighter where everyone knows the story, so I won't go all into it.
Rashad wins here, he gets his No. 1 contender status back; he loses, and he becomes the unluckiest fighter in UFC history.
This fight is a lot tougher to call than you would think. Tito looked very impressive against Bader, and Rashad is going to have ring rust.
My heart says Tito, but my head says Rashad.
Prediction: Rashad Evans by unanimous decision
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