UFC 135: Final Predictions for Saturday Night's Results

One of the most hotly anticipated (and quickly arising) grudge matches of the year will come to a head mere hours from now, when UFC light heavyweight champion Jon "Bill Belichick" Jones defends the strap for the first time against the wily veteran Quinton "Eric Mangini" Jackson. Or Bones and Rampage, if you prefer.

There aren't a ton of high-profile names up and down the card, but there are plenty of interesting stylistic matchups. What follows are various predictions for Saturday night's results across the entire card. That includes the winner, the manner of the win and a few bonus predictions along the way.

As the card unfolds, I'll be updating this title slide with results.

The card is as follows:

Main card:

Jon Jones vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (Jones def. Jackson by Submission, Rd. 4)

Matt Hughes vs. Josh Koscheck (Koscheck def. Hughes by KO, Rd. 1)

Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton (Browne def. Broughton by Unanimous Decision)

Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi (Diaz def. Gomi by Submission, Rd. 1)

Ben Rothwell vs. Mark Hunt (Hunt def. Rothwell by Unanimous Decision)

Preliminary card (airing on Spike TV):

Tony Ferguson vs. Aaron Riley (Ferguson def. Riley by TKO, Rd. 1)

Nick Ring vs. Tim Boetsch (Boetsch def. Ring by Unanimous Decision)

Preliminary card (available on Facebook):

Junior Assuncao vs. Eddie Yagin (Assuncao def. Yagin by Unanimous Decision)

Takeya Mizugaki vs. Cole Escovedo (Mizugaki def. Escovedo by TKO, Rd. 2)

James Te Huna vs. Ricardo Romero (Te Huna def. Romero by KO, Rd. 1)

10. Romero Gets Rocked...Again

In this light heavyweight deep cut, Australian Te Huna will try to recover from his first loss in almost three years—a first-round chokeout at the hands of Alexander Gustafsson.

Across the cage is a man in a very similar boat; Kyle Kingsbury dropped Romero in 21 seconds to hand the New Jersey native his first defeat since 2008.

Romero is a submissions expert, but Te Huna has both the wrestling to extend the contest and the heavy hands to finish it early.


Prediction: Te Huna by TKO, Rd. 1

9. Mizugazi Handles Escovedo, Expression Never Changes

Doesn't Mizugazi just look like a fighter?  He's like one of the henchmen out of a Bruce Lee movie.

I know this much: he's going to be looking pretty villainous to Escovedo, who I don't think has the grappling chops to hang with the up-and-coming bantamweight.

Prediction: Mizugazi by unanimous decision

8. Yagin Makes a Splash, Knocks Head off Statue with Derby Hat

You may recall that Assuncao has appeared in the UFC before, back in 2006 and 2007.

During that first run, he got one win by chokeout, which is good. He also got two losses by chokeout. That's bad.

He's gone 8-1 since leaving the Octagon, but will face his toughest test in a while in Yagin (or, as I like to call him, Joe Son without all that criminal baggage) who makes his Octagon debut at UFC 135.

In his last fight, Yagin (15-4) defeated former Bellator champ Joe Soto.

Both men are UFC infants, but hardened veterans overall in the sport. I'm thinking the older Yagin will prove wiser in this one.

Prediction: Yagin by submission, Rd. 2

(Photo credit: Sherdog)

7. Boetsch Breaks the Promise

Boetsch was not a large light heavyweight. But he's a huge middleweight.

Ring is a good fighter, but a dicey decision is all that prevents him from being 1-1, rather than 2-0, in the UFC. The Tristar product will be hard pressed to keep from being smothered by Boetsch.

Prediction: Boetsch by unanimous decision

6. Tony Ferguson Will Beat Up the Beat

Tony, a message from Pauly D:  "Nice shirt, my dude!"

On to the fight. In short, Ferguson, a decorated college wrestler, should have the skills to control Aaron Riley, who sports a not-especially-impressive 3-2 record in the UFC.

But wait...hold on just a second. Do I hear alarms in the distance?

That's right. Crank up the sirens. Open up the fenced-in area and let the dogs run wild. We've got a giant killer on our hands.

Riley isn't much to behold, but the Greg Jackson grappler is going to neutralize Ferguson's punching power and grind out the decision win.

He might not look as nice as El Cucuy in the end, but his hand will be looking pretty when the ref raises it over the TUF season 13 winner.

Prediction: Riley by unanimous decision.

5. Rothwell "Extenze" His Streak

Hunt has always been something of a minor folk hero in MMA circles. The big New Zealander with the big right hand has always been fun to watch, and a 5-1 start to his cagefighting career put the heavyweight world on notice.

Unfortunately, that notice was crumpled up and thrown in the trash after Hunt dropped six in a row.

Hunt now faces a younger, equally powerful and more experienced adversary in the 31-7 Rothwell. The good thing for Hunt is, he'll get to bang. The bad news is, Rothwell can probably outbang him.

In his last fight, Rothwell fought through a torn ACL to decision Gilbert Yvel. He may not have great beach muscles, and he may have a really embarrassing sponsor on his shorts, but Rothwell is going to end the UFC's Mark Hunt experiment Saturday night.

Prediction: Rothwell by KO, Rd. 3

Bonus Prediction: Fight of the Night right here. But wait, there's more. Rothwell also receives the Dennis Hallman Memorial Shorts of the Night prize, as well. HUGE night for Big Ben.

4. Gomi Will Never Again Fight Anyone with the Last Name of Diaz

Gomi already fought "That Other Diaz Brother." The bad news is, he lost to Nick Diaz by way of an amazing gogoplata submission. The good news is, Nick was stoned when it happened, at least according to his urine. So we have a no contest.

Now four years older, Gomi is in the UFC and in need of a career boost. He won't get it against Nate, whose strength in the cage lines up rather eerily with Gomi's weakness. That would be submissions. All just a part of history repeating.

Prediction: Diaz by submission, Rd. 1

Bonus Prediction: Submission of the Night, right here. Give the man his money.

3. Browne Blasts Broughton

In Travis Browne's last fight, he knocked out heavyweight stalwart Stefan Struve.

In Rob Broughton's last fight, he tangled with a guy who got caught using steroids but STILL couldn't win. Shortly after being submitted in the third round, Vinicius Queiroz got caught with juice in his pee, and was summarily released from the UFC.

That has nothing to do with Broughton directly, of course. But it's not exactly a massive peacock feather in the Brit's cap for his Octagon debut. And it does nothing to convince anyone that he is anything more than cannon fodder for the fast-rising and undefeated Browne.

Prediction: Browne, TKO, Rd. 1

2. Hughes Will Fare a Little Better, but Not Much

When last we saw Matt Hughes in the cage, he was getting the proverbial" ish" put on him by B.J. Penn. In the aftermath, he wondered aloud about retirement.

Now, 10 months later and in his first fight since, we'll see if the longtime welterweight champ made the right decision when he is thrown to Josh Koscheck.

My gut says Hughes' pride won't let him go down again like he did against Penn. But it also tells me he will, eventually, go down.

Prediction: Koscheck by unanimous decision.

1. Jones Ends the Talk, Fight

The time for tweets is over. And, unlike the namby-pamby NFL, we're gonna settle this Spygate in the cage.

Rampage looks good, appears healthy and focused and seems genuine in his desire to whoop Jones' ass. I just don't think it's gonna happen.

Rampage won't be able to bully Jones on the feet or on the ground. No amount of training will remove the years from Jackson's life and career. He's still relatively young at 33, but when you're facing a fighter who just out-dynamicked Shogun Rua, it's probably hard not to feel like you're bringing a knife to a gunfight.

The trash talk may have been an attempt to get in Jones' head, and a valiant attempt it was. We will see how Jones responds to Jackson's prefight psychological pressure and inevitable intrafight physical pressure. It's a smart play by Jackson but, in my opinion, it's going to backfire in spectacular fashion.

Prediction: Jon Jones, TKO, Rd. 2

Bonus prediction: Knockout of the Night