Featherweight - Max Holloway vs. Jeremy Stephens
Flying knee’ing his way back into contention back at the aforementioned instant classic that was UFC 189 Jeremy Stephens will once again have to be at his all-action best as he challenges rising phenom Max Holloway. Viewed by many as a future title challenger at 145 pounds, the young Hawaiian Holloway is as well rounded as they come in the division, and has shown an ability to finish the fight just about anywhere. Stephens too has shown that same ability, but it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to maintain his opponent’s pace and pure ferocity for a sustained period of time. Look for Holloway to continue his excellent run of form by wearing Stephens down and finishing him with a flurry of strikes late in the third.
Prediction: Max Holloway via TKO in round 3
Welterweight - Demian Maia vs. Gunnar Nelson
A collision between two of the UFC’s best current Jiu-Jitsu practitioners might sound boring to the uninitiated, but to the more educated fans this has the potential to be a ground classic. Demian Maia has looked ultra impressive since making the drop to welterweight a couple of years ago, going 6-2 against some of the division’s best and brightest. A victory over the much-hyped Icelandic born, Ireland-based Nelson would be huge for the Brazilian, but I just don’t see it happening. Maia has never had the greatest gas tank and his striking defense has always left a lot to be desired. If he is successful in cancelling out his veteran opponent’s elite grappling, Nelson should be able to use his superior striking to secure a hard-earned decision victory.
Prediction: Gunnar Nelson via unanimous decision
Middleweight - Ronaldo Souza vs. Yoel Romero
Aging like fine wine, ‘Jacare’ Souza and Yoel Romero have carved through the opposition since their UFC debuts and remain undefeated in the Octagon and firmly in the middleweight title picture at 36 and 38 respectively. Both possess terrifying levels of skill in their chosen field with ‘Jacare’ one of the most deadly submission experts on the planet, and Romero an Olympic-level wrestler gifted with extremely heavy hands. ‘Jacare’ is one of the best in the business when it comes to top game Jiu-Jitsu, but Romero should have the grappling skills to remain out of his opponent’s strongest area. It’s another ridiculously tight matchup, but Romero will likely use his wrestling in reverse to keep the fight away from the mat, and his powerful strikes to finish the fight within the first two rounds.
Prediction: Yoel Romero via KO in round 2
Middleweight Championship
Chris Weidman © vs. Luke Rockhold
It’s not often that two elite fighters face off in the midst of their fighting prime, but that’s exactly what we’re getting here. Undefeated middleweight champion Chris Weidman and number one contender Luke Rockhold meet in probably one of the most underappreciated and under-marketed world title matches in sporting history. Perfect so far in his professional career, Chris Weidman has relied on a balance of mental and physical toughness to rise to the top of the middleweight division. He essentially iron-willed his way into the history books by becoming the first man to defeat the legendary Anderson Silva inside the Octagon before despatching challenges from two of Brazil’s other favourite warriors, but he’ll need to be at an all-time best to fend off his latest challenge.
Luke Rockhold is as perfect a challenger the champion will ever encounter. More than a match both in stature and skill, Rockhold has the ability to engage Weidman in every conceivable aspect of the fight. The deciding factors will probably boil down to who has endured a better cut down to 185 pounds, and who is just the tougher man mentally. With that in mind it’s hard to bet against the champion. A Rockhold victory would be far from shocking, but Weidman should have the skills to take his rival the distance and retain thanks to an agonisingly close decision. That’s it; a coin toss basically. This has ‘first of a trilogy’ written all over it.
Prediction: Chris Weidman via split decision
Featherweight Championship
José Aldo © vs. Conor McGregor
On Saturday night the time for talking will end. After nearly a year of full-on feuding Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor will unite their featherweight titles and determine once and for all who the better man is. McGregor may be one of the loudest, trashiest talkers in the game, but few can argue that the flashy Irishman doesn’t back up everything he says he’ll do. An expert striker with unusual body movement, McGregor has puzzled every opponent he’s faced inside the Octagon so far, and yes that list now includes grapplers as well! Tall and powerful inside the cage, McGregor’s biggest weapon however lies within his ability to completely take his opponent out of their game with his patented brand of mental warfare and relentless trash talking. Aldo may try to deny the fact, but we all know that the Brazilian has already lost the early mental skirmishes.
A champion can be measured in the quality of his adversary however and Aldo isn’t any regular bum; he really is the best featherweight in the world. Undefeated in over a decade, the Brazilian has established himself as a pound-for-pound great with a long list of brilliant performances against some of the division’s greatest competitors. Primarily a striker who loves to utilise blistering leg kicks, Aldo also has a world-class grappling game hidden up his sleeve, and it’s for this reason that I can’t go with anything else other than a win for ‘Scarface’; We’ve probably seen everything McGregor is capable of, but we’ve not yet seen everything the champion has to offer.
Either way the fight should be a classic, a gruelling war for both men. McGregor has already cemented his status as one of the UFC’s top superstars, but Jose Aldo isn’t 25-1 for nothing. I’d love to see the title come to my cousins in Ireland, but the Brazilian will halt the rampaging ‘Notorious’ by using his speed to evade any significant strike attempts and drag the fight to the ground where he’ll either score a super rare submission, or eke out a decision victory thanks to superior positioning.
Prediction: José Aldo via unanimous decision
UFC Fight Picks 2015 Record: 75-40
What do you think will happen at UFC 194? Leave your predictions below!
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