UFC 112 Predictions

Well today is UFC 112, the main card is taking place live at 1 pm from Abu Dhabi the prelims start at 10 A.M. and coverage of those can be found on mmajunkie.com. Here are my picks for tomorrow

Main Event UFC Middleweight Championship
Demian  Maia (Challenger) VS Anderson Silva (Champion)

This fight is the classic example of a striker vs grappler matchup, but in hindsight Silva doesn't have the average strikers ground game. Though that ground game is honestly nowhere near that of multiple time jiu-jitsu champion Demian Maia. Although a friend of mine always brings up one point and that is that every fight starts on the feet and Maia will need to take Silva down to truly have any chance of winning. During the course of the fight I can see Maia getting a takedown, but it wont be enough as Silva laserbeams Maia in the 3rd round.
Anderson Silva by TKO 3rd Round


UFC Lightweight Championship
Frankie Edgar (Challenger) VS BJ Penn (Champion)

Truthfully to me on paper this fight doesn't look very fair because everything minus wrestling that Frankie does well BJ just does it better. That includes boxing, jiu-jitsu, and just overall control.  In the past I would have said that if Edgar pushes the pace he could win the latter rounds, but since Penn's move to train with the Maronviches his cardio has been great.  This fight should look a whole lot like the Diego vs BJ fight only with Penn finishing earlier.
BJ Penn by Submission 4th Round Rear Naked Choke




Renzo Gracie vs Matt Hughes

This fight might be the one I'm most looking forward to on the card as two legends will battle. Tons of backstory here as Hughes has beaten not only Renzo's cousin Royce, but also two of his star students in Matt Hughes and Ricardo Almedia while Renzo has beaten Hughes's former trainer Pat Militich. One thing disturbs me about this fight, and that is that almost all MMA reporters are counting Renzo out of this fight. I think that is a mistake even though he hasn't fought in 3 years his opponent in Hughes has only fought 1 time in two so that almost rules out ring rust on both sides, and I also feel that Hughes is just to confident thinking that Renzo is gonna be like Royce, but thats not the case as Renzo is probably the most game of all the Gracie's. Expect Renzo to use his stand-up to stifle Hughes into shooting and looking for Renzo to lock up his patented Guillotine to elicit the tap.
Renzo Gracie by Submission 2nd Round Guillotine Choke


Terry Etim vs Rafael Dos Anjos
A great clash here in the lightweight division as I think the stand-up of Etim will get the better of Dos Anjos for a TKO.
Terry Etim via 2nd Round TKO

Mark Munoz vs Kendall Grove
Look for Munoz to close the distance and test Groves chin which will falter into a 1st round KO.
Mark Munoz via 1st Round Knockout

Preliminary Card
Alexander Gustaffon vs Phil Davis- Davis via 2nd Round TKO
Rick Story vs Nick Osipczak- Story via Decision
John Gunderson vs Paul Taylor- In an upset Gunderson via Decision
Matt Veach vs Paul Kelly- Veach via 3rd round TKO
Mostapha Al Turk vs John Madsen- Al Turk via decision on  premise of tougher opponents