UFC 125 will take place on January 1, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The headliner for the first UFC event of the new year, will be the lightweight championship bout between Frankie Edgar and Grey Maynard. This will start the UFC on the right foot for the new year, especially with the new edition of the WEC roster.
These are my predictions for the main card.
Frankie Edgar vs Grey Maynard for the Lightweight Championship
This will be a rematch from their first bout that ended in a close decision with Maynard coming out as the victor. He edged his opponent by keeping Edgar down in the 3rd round which gave him the victory. Years later, they both have vastly improved their skills. Edgar's boxing really improved, cadio, and training with Ricardo Almeida made his ground skills a lot sharper. As Edgar showed in his last bout with B.J Penn, you really can't catch this guy anymore with the striking, he makes you whiff like crazy. He mixes up really well to. Maynard also improved, hes as strong as always wrestling wise. He gets you and keeps you down. He gives his opponents a lot of pressure from the top position. The only thing bad to say about him, is that he almost never finishes. 10 wins with 8 by decision. He showed some improvement with his striking against Nate Diaz but he gave a lack luster performance. To me, the revenge factor for Edgar makes the icing on the cake for him. I think hes going to employ a striking clinic against Maynard as he did against Penn.
PREDICTION: Edgar by Decision
Co-Main Event : Chris Leben vs Brian Stann
Chris Leben is on a 3 win fight streak, defeating Jay Silva, Aaron Simpson, and Yoshiro Akiyama. Going into the Stann fight he has all the momentum, hes coming off great performances and has look really good in those outings. Brian Stann looked good with his cut to the middleweight division but I think the step up in competition will be too much for Stann. I have a feeling Stann will be drawn into Leben's fight. Leben will try to stand and bang with anyone and has the power to pull a knockout with one punch.
PREDICTION: Leben by 1st round TKO
Brandon Vera vs Thiago Silva
Both fighters coming off loses the fighters, this fight will see if Brandon Vera is still relevant to the division. Coming off 2 straight loses Vera's job may be in jeopardy. Thiago has power in his punches and if he lands it might be a short night for Vera. Vera's kicks are deadly though. I don't think this fight will get down to the mat. If Vera can chop down Silva's legs the power in his punches will be reduced greatly. Since Vera's future is against the wall in this fight, he may be the more dangerous fighter. He's going to need to keep and in and out pace and keep the fight as technical as possible. I have a feeling Thiago can knock him out but i'm going out and picking Vera.
Prediction : Brandon Vera by decision.
Nate Diaz vs Stun Gun Kim
Nate Diaz has looked great in his debut at welterweight outstriking Marcus Davis. I think his reach will play a huge factor for keeping Stun Gun out of range for any strikes. I will look for Diaz to utilize his jab against Kim. If and when Kim gets to the clinch, it wouldn't be the greatest idea for Kim to keep him on the ground. I'll go with Diaz.
Prediction : Diaz by 3round submission
Clay Guida vs Takanori Gomi
As much as anyone and myself love Clay Guida, I think Gomi will stuff his takedowns. Guida has improved his striking but Gomi will keep it standing and outsrike Guida. I think after the Griffin fight Gomi showed me a flash of the OLD Gomi.
Prediction : Gomi by decision.
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