UFC 135: Predictions for Fight, Knockout and Submission of the Night

Anticipation is growing for this weekend's UFC 135, which will feature a title fight between UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former UFC champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Jones is coming off his devastating knockout victory over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua to win the title while Jackson recently defeated Lyoto Machida and Matt Hamill to put himself on a two-fight win streak.

The co-main event will put former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes up against former title challenger and TUF 1 veteran Josh Koscheck.

Koscheck hasn't fought since suffering an eye injury in his bout with Georges St. Pierre at UFC 124. Hughes has been out for just as long since his quick KO loss to B.J. Penn at UFC 123.

Other main card bouts include Takanori Gomi vs. Nate Diaz, Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton and Mark Hunt vs. Ben Rothwell.

These are my predictions for fight, knockout and submission of the night.

Fight of the Night: Jon Jones vs. Quinton Jackson

Outside of Jon Jones' only defeat, which was due to a disqualification, he has looked untouchable. On the other hand, Jackson has looked unmotivated in his last couple fights and has gone the distance in six of his last seven.

Being that this fight is for a title, expect Jackson to come in looking the best he has in a while and really take the fight to Jones, who is still relatively unexperienced when it comes to facing adversity and a very threatening opponent with big knockout power.

Even if this fight doesn't go the entire five rounds, it should go long enough to thrill fans with whatever both fighters have.

Knockout of the Night: Josh Koscheck

Koscheck accepted the fight with Hughes on short notice after Diego Sanchez pulled out to due a hand injury. Hughes arguably gets a much tougher opponent in the former NCAA Division I wrestler so this is a very tough matchup for him at this point in his career.

All of Hughes' losses have come by knockout or submission so the only real way he can put himself out of danger is to put Koscheck on his back. That's the only way he can really win this fight, and it's not going to be easy. Koscheck packs a lot of power in his punches and has a considerable edge in striking over Hughes.

Koscheck wouldn't have a lot of success if he was going up against a more technical striker, but that is what Hughes is not.

Submission of the Night: Nate Diaz

In what could be a replay of the 2007 fight of the year between Gomi and Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz will return to the lightweight division to take out the former Pride and Japanese superstar.

This fight has fireworks written all over it, and if it weren't for Diaz's durability, he'd be in a lot of danger of being knocked out by his power-punching opponent early. Don't be suprised if Diaz gets dropped several times during this fight.

Gomi doesn't have the best gas tank, and Diaz should take this fight into the later rounds where he can wear down his opponent and eventually get a submission just like his brother did in their bout. Gomi has five losses by submission and Diaz has submitted nine of his opponents.