UFC 118 Predictions

UFC 118 predictions from Fightkit’s Seb Atkin.

Edgar (12-1) vs. B.J. Penn (15-6-1)

Seb: I am one of the people who thought Edgar won their first fight for the title. He looked way more active and Penn did not seem himself. I am also one of the people who thinks Penn is very overrated. If Penn comes in hungry like he did against Stevenson and Sherk, then we are going to see him finish Edgar, probably by submission. If he comes in much like the first fight, then it is going to be a decision for Edgar by takedown dominance. The UFC obviously loves Penn and this is why the rematch is happening so soon. If I was the matchmaker I would have put Maynard/Florian in there to spice things up a bit. I would like to see an Edgar vs Maynard rematch for the title, but I fully expect Penn to come in more serious and take the belt back, leading him to another title defence against Florian. Penn, submission, round 4.

Randy Couture (18-10) vs. James Toney (0-0)

Seb: I told myself I wasn’t going to get wrapped up in this fight, the idea annoyed me…but as time has gone on, I have become intrigued with Toney’s confidence, can a man making a lot less money than he did in boxing really enter a sport where he is most likely going to get dumped on his head and be this confident about getting a knockout! If Toney catches Couture, it will be lights out, without a doubt. Is this going to happen? Not a chance! The athleticism between the two is miles apart and I see Couture dropping Toney straight on his back and securing the submission win in the first round.

Demian Maia (12-2) vs. Mario Miranda (10-1)

Seb: Miranda has not been tested properly yet. His win over Loiseau is not nearly enough to prove he can beat somebody on Maia’s level.  Look for a slow start in the stand up from both fighters, before Maia gets Miranda to the ground and taps him out early in the fight.

Kenny Florian (13-4) vs. Gray Maynard (9-0)

Seb: I am actually more intrigued by this fight than any other on the card. Is Maynard ready for the shot? Is Florian really too good for any of the other lightweights to beat? We will see tonight! Maynard will aim to ground Florian for the whole fight. Florian’s stand up combinations are better than Maynard’s and his jiu-jitsu will be enough to negate any substantial attack on the ground. Unless Maynard can keep Florian down and look convincing on top, Florian will get the better of him in the stand up and pick up a decision win en route to his third title shot.

Nate Diaz (12-5) vs. Marcus Davis (17-6)

Seb: This is actually the hardest fight to call on tonight’s card. Davis is a far more powerful strike than Diaz and he will be a lot stronger, is this enough to cancel out Diaz’s ground game? I honestly think so. Although I think Diaz is a great fighter, I just don’t think he is strong enough at this weight to compete with even the mid level guys like Davis. Diaz’s toughness will keep him in the fight but unless he can pull of a sub I see Davis picking up the split decision win by smothering Diaz for most of the fight.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 28th, 2010 at 9:14 pm and is filed under MMA NEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.