UFC 138 FINAL Main Card Predictions

UFC 138 is set to go down this weekend, in what will be the final numbered UFC event in Spike TV history.

The card is headlined by the first ever five-round non-title fight in UFC history, a middleweight title eliminator between Chris Leben and Mark Munoz and a co-main event between Renan Barao and Brad Pickett.

Other fighters on the card include former welterweight title contender Thiago Alves and the return of submission specialist Terry Etim.

Cyrille Diabate vs. Anthony Perosh

This fight was originally set to be on the preliminary card, but an injury to Paul Taylor forced a fight between Taylor and Anthony Njokuani off the card.

This is a pretty decent replacement, though, as these two light heavyweights are both experienced and have some serious skills.

Diabate is a great striker who is now 2-1 inside the Octagon after a huge knockout win over Luiz Cane in his UFC debut.

Perosh has to counter the striking of Diabate with his world-class jiu jitsu, which he used to submit Tom Blackledge at UFC 127 earlier this year.

Perosh is awesome on the ground, but he isn’t quite as good as getting it there, leaving his weakness on the feet exposed.

Diabate will end this one quickly and in explosive fashion, winning by first-round TKO.

Terry Etim vs. Edward Faaloloto

Another fight that was originally set for the prelims, Etim and Faaloloto got promoted to the main card after England’s hottest rising prospect John Hathaway was injured during training.

This is a big fight for Etim, who is back inside the cage for the first time since he lost to Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 112.

Etim is a good young lightweight who currently holds a 5-3 record inside the Octagon and has three Submission of the Night bonuses on his resume.

Faaloloto is 2-2 in his MMA career and is quite honestly overmatched in this fight. It seems like he was thrown to the wolves for his three fights under the Zuffa banner, and he won’t be with the organization after Saturday.

Etim wins by first-round submission.

Thiago Alves vs. Papy Abedi

This is a guaranteed slugfest, and one of these two welterweights is going to hit the mat unconscious.

Alves is one of the premier strikers in the UFC and he has finished top fighters like Matt Hughes and Karo Parisyan in his UFC career, but has recently been having a hard time finishing fights.

Abedi is 8-0 in his MMA career and is making his UFC debut at the event, and drawing a name like Alves either means the UFC has a ton of faith in him or it is setting him up for failure.

While Abedi is a nice upset pick, it’s hard to pick against Alves in a fight that is almost guaranteed to stay standing.

Alves wins by third-round KO in an exciting fight.

Renan Barao vs. Brad Pickett

Barao is one of the top rising prospects in the world and he is expected to prove it against Pickett.

Barao is 26-1 in his MMA career and his only loss was in his MMA debut, meaning he comes into this fight on a ridiculous 26-fight win streak.

The knock on Barao is that he has yet to fight a top level opponent, but Pickett is definitely a step up in competition.

While Barao has a lack of experience against high-caliber opponents, Pickett has fought some former title contenders, and even has a win over recent title fighter Demetrious Johnson.

Barao is the favorite, but I can’t justify the hype until he beats someone noteworthy, so I’m taking Pickett by decision. If Barao wins, I’ll gladly hop aboard the hype train.

Chris Leben vs. Mark Munoz

This is the main event of the card and it is really the only fight that has generated any public interest.

The winner of this fight will be in middleweight title contention and could find himself in a title fight after another win, so it will have a huge impact on the division.

Leben is 4-1 in his last five fights, with wins over Wanderlei Silva and Yoshihiro Akiyama and his lone loss coming at the hands of Brian Stann.

Mark Munoz has been on fire since he dropped to middleweight and is 6-1 since the cut to 185.

Munoz could easily use his wrestling to ride out Leben for the decision win, but I think Munoz is going to try and stand with Leben for at least a little bit of every round and it is going to cost him.

Leben will catch Munoz on the chin with a big left hand and end this fight late in the fifth round after getting outgrappled for the majority of the fight.