Remember “The Machida Era?”
Think back to UFC 98 when
Lyoto Machida’s punches to Rashad Evans’ face crumpled him to the mat and
landed “The Dragon” the light heavyweight title. No sooner did Evans hit the
mat that we heard Joe Rogan proclaim “Welcome to the Machida Era.”
Well, it didn’t last very long. A controversial
title defense against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua followed by a rematch and first-round
knockout loss to Shogun ended “The Machida Era” before it really began. Machida
had a chance to bring his era back to life against current Light Heavyweight Champion
Jon Jones at UFC 140. But this time it was Machida’s turn to crumple to the mat,
courtesy of a guillotine choke.
Since then, Machida moved to middleweight and hopes
the third time is the charm as he takes on Chris Weidman for the middleweight title
Saturday at UFC 175 in Las Vegas. Will “The Dragon” roar once again? Or,
will Weidman prove his two victories against the seemingly unstoppable Anderson
Silva were not a fluke?
I’ll get to the main event fight in a moment.
First, let’s
take a look at the other fights on this Saturday’s main card:
Marcus
Brimage vs. Russell Doane (Bantamweight – 135 lbs.)
Brimage is a veteran of season 14 of The Ultimate
Fighter (Team Michael Bisping vs. Team Jason “Mayhem” Miller, for those who
don’t remember), where he showed great promise and power in his hands. That led
to a three-fight win streak for Brimage before he helped launch the career of
featherweight Conor McGregor by losing to him in April of last year.
Doane’s lone UFC fight resulted in a triangle choke
victory against Leandro Thomas Issa at the UFC Fight Night: Lim vs. Saffiedine
card in January. His record is rife with submission victories, and I
like him to do the same here in an upset against a TUF veteran.
Prediction:
Doane by submission
Uriah
Hall vs. Thiago Santos (Middleweight – 185 lbs.)
Everyone knows who Uriah Hall is. He was pegged for
stardom on season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter, when he viciously knocked out
every single one of his opponents, and Chael Sonnen himself said he could have
been a number one contender for the middleweight title right on the heels of the
show.
Given Chael’s current situation, we’re not sure how
much stock to put in his words. It also didn’t help that Hall seemed so timid
in losing the final of TUF to Kelvin Gastelum and then lost again to John
Howard. He rebounded somewhat by sending Chris Leben into retirement last year.
Santos secured a TKO victory against Rony Markes –
who’s no joke himself – in his last fight. But I think Hall continues his climb
up the middleweight ladder with a TKO victory of his own.
Prediction:
Hall by TKO
Stefan
Struve vs. Matt Mitrione (Heavyweight)
Matt Mitrione is a curious case. He came across as a
weirdo on The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, but he proved his doubters wrong when he embarked on a five-fight win
streak following his time on the show. Then he suffered a two-fight losing
streak before alternating wins and losses in his next three fights.
Struve is fighting for the first time since having
his jaw rearranged by Mark Hunt. More importantly, it's his first time competing in the cage since the discovery that he suffers from a serious
heart ailment. I watched Struve fight in person when he submitted Pat Barry on
the UFC Live 6: Cruz vs. Johnson card in 2011. Mitrione has serious power, and
Struve has been knocked out before. But I like Struve to be methodical in his
approach and use his reach advantage to set up strikes while avoiding
Mitrione’s loaded fists.
Prediction:
Struve by unanimous decision
Ronda
Rousey vs. Alexis Davis (Women’s Bantamweight Title – 135 lbs.)
I’ve said this before, but I don’t think Ronda
Rousey will ever lose. To anyone. However, I said the same thing about Anderson
Silva, and we saw what happened. But unlike the men’s middleweight division, I
don’t believe the depth of talent is there yet in women’s MMA, even though it
has been an exciting addition to the UFC. Ronda is clearly the best female fighter
in the sport, and I don’t think any other woman even comes close to matching her incredible talent.
Ronda showed vastly improved striking in her latest bouts, and she ended
her last fight thanks to a vicious knee to Sara McMann’s liver. Still, I like her to go
back to Ol’ Reliable to successfully defend her title yet again. Once she gets a grasp on an opponent's arm, there's no escape.
Prediction:
Rousey by submission
Chris
Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida (Middleweight Title – 185 lbs.)
There are those who claim Weidman’s victory against
Anderson Silva and subsequent title defense were flukes – a product of Silva’s
arrogance in the first fight and a freak broken leg in the second. I’m not sure
I agree with that assertion for the first fight. Yes, Silva was trying to clown
Weidman. Yes, Silva dropped his hands, which is a cardinal sin in MMA. But
Silva tried clowning other fighters and dropped his hands against other
fighters before.
The difference? Weidman didn’t take the bait. He
stepped up his aggression, which is what the best fighters do. Machida won’t
clown Weidman like Silva tried to do, but he will do his patented
stick-and-move and basically play keep away from Weidman the entire fight. It’s
up to Weidman to close the distance with Machida and give him no breathing room.
I think Weidman will do just that. Machida will
avoid being finished, but he won’t avoid being ground into the mat by the
master wrestler and ground-and-pound specialist Weidman. It looks like we’ll
have to wait a little longer to see the rebirth of “The Machida Era.”
Prediction:
Weidman by unanimous decision
Let's open up the comment section for fan predictions and see how many folks agree or disagree with my picks.
