UFC 139 Predictions: What a Win Would Mean for Brian Bowles

Brian Bowles is slated to throwdown with Urijah Faber at UFC 139. A loss and he starts from scratch, but a win would do and mean a lot for his UFC career.

Bowles, whilst not a newcomer to the sport has only had 11 fights in his short MMA career.

Nonetheless, the only blemish on his record is a TKO loss due to doctor stoppage, a consequence of breaking his hand whilst defending his WEC bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz.

He also has notable wins against Damacio Page (twice), Miguel Torres and most recently Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 132.

Bowles is a man on a mission and a force to be reckoned with to boot.

He’s taken on and beaten some of the top-tier fighters in the division, and to him Faber is just another opponent standing in his way to UFC glory and a possible rematch with division king Cruz.

On the other hand, his opponent Faber is a former WEC bantamweight title holder and a serious threat to Bowles, who makes his third appearance in the Octagon.

Faber has nearly three times as many fights as Bowles and over twice as many wins.

Both are well versed in wrestling, kickboxing and jiu-jitsu, so in some respects the fight will come down who wants it the most and who applies the aforementioned skill set to the best of their ability.

Faber though, has fought the better level of opposition, but only just.

I expect the fight to take place on the ground with both fighters vying for top position en-route to a submission.

Then again, as “The Californian Kid” has suffered two TKO losses, Bowles might initially want to stand and bang.

A tough call to make, but I give Bowles the slight edge to come out victorious—submission via rear naked choke.

The win will put Bowles on the UFC and MMA bantamweight map, and most probably next in line for a shot at “The Dominators” crown.