UFC 145 Predictions

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UFC Light Heavyweight Championship:
Jon Jones (c) v. Rashad Evans

Doctor Law: Well, it’s finally here. Jon Jones defends his belt against former teammate, mentor, friend, compadre, homie, homeboy, brosef, and individual he jacks swagger from, Rashad Evans. This fight has been 13 months in the making and everybody is either really excited to see this fight, or completely sick of hearing about it. I’m basically at the point where I’m looking forward to the fight, but pretty sick of the narrative. Rashad has been telling the same story for a year and Jones pipes in with his bullsh*t about Muhammad Ali and beating Lyoto Machida in a karate match (lots of guillotines in karate matches Jones?). The fight itself, though, could be far more compelling. Jones is a massive favorite over Rashad, and while I think that Jones is going to win, I don’t exactly think Evans is going to get completely outclassed. Rashad is the fastest fighter that Jones has ever fought and is the best MMA wrestler in the LHW division, if not the entire UFC. That being said, Jones is probably the second best fighter in the world (I still prefer Anderson) and has been on an absolute tear for a while now. It won’t be easy, but I think Jones takes this. Jones by submission in the 4th round.

Kid Presentable: For a little while here, I was starting to think this fight might never happen. For about two years, Rashad has had one of the worst runs of luck with injury and timing, being the perennial top contender for the belt, but things never being quite right for him to finally get the shot. The only thing standing in his way, unfortunately, is the biggest phenom this sport has ever seen. You can never say a person has no chance in MMA, but chances don't look good. This is being billed as the grudge match of the century, but with the rate at which Jones' game has improved, I don't know how much credit you can give to their past training together. What Rashad does have going for him is possibly the best MMA wrestling in the sport, and if he can put Jones on the mat, Rashad showed just how vicious his ground and pound could be in his Tito fight. Jones is a pretty complete fighter, but it is always interesting when his challenger might have an advantage in some facet, so I think this fight has a lot of potential to be good, but that said, Jones is about two fights from having wiped out this division. On Saturday, the Martian Manhunter is going to keep on rolling. Jones by submission round 4.

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DJ Mark with a “K”: I don't think you'll ever see me picking anyone opposite of Jon Jones at LHW. I know that we give Jon a lot of sh*t because of how he comes off in interviews and hype videos, but the cold hard fact is Jon Jone's hype has been nothing short, of completely true. I don't see Rashad pulling out the win here even though, style wise, I think it's Jon's toughest fight yet. Jon's bottom game is the only thing we haven't seen a lot of yet, but I have a feeling it won't be his downfall (already prepared to eat those words fyi). This one's going to end a little bit deeper, but it'll be by choke and it'll be impressive. Jon Jones via Submission (guillotine choke or a variation of said choke) 3rd Round.

Lavender Gooms: After lots of delays, injury replacements and bad blood, we finally get to see this fight! Like we discussed on the podcast a few weeks back, Jones is the real deal like no one has ever been the real deal before. He has shown no weakness. When the biggest critique people can give is that he hasn’t been tested yet, that’s scary when you consider he fought Shogun, Rampage and Machida in the last calendar year and none of them made him break a sweat. Evans is coming in a massive underdog in this fight. I would like to say that Evans’ familiarity gives him a chance, but I would be kidding myself. I think Rashad’s determination allows him to take Jones the distance. Outside of a flash knockout, there is no chance Jones loses. Jones by Decision.

Picking Jones: Dr. Law, Kid P, DJ Mark, Gooms
Picking Evans:

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Rory MacDonald v. Che Mills

Doctor Law: Showcase fight! Showcase fight! Showcase fight! Did I mention that this is a showcase fight? Rory MacDonald is the future at 170 lbs and is coming off of impressive victories over Mike Pyle and Nate Diaz. Che Mills knocked out a guy from the Ultimate Fighter that absolutely no one thought was good. So to recap…Rory has already beaten guys that are better than Che Mills already. Hmmm…this kinda looks like a showcase fight to me. Rory MacDonald by TKO in the 1st round.

Kid Presentable: This card is suffering from major GSP card laziness. Though I am a big fan of Rory (NOT a fan of his attempted new nickname Ares though), this is hardly a co-main event worthy fight. For what the fight is though, is another chance to showcase a future contender of the division. Rory has been very impressive in his UFC run, and was all but 3 seconds away from likely having defeated the current interim champ of the division. I look for Rory to give his best GSP impression, except that he will finish the fight with ground and pound. Rory by TKO round 1.

DJ Mark with a “K”: No offense to these fine athletes but this is a pretty weak Co-Main Event. I know the former venue before the switch was a big part of it but still. Either way, Rory MacDonald has looked very impressive during his UFC career and I think this could really be his coming out party into the top title contenders. Rory via GnP TKO 2nd Round.

Lavender Gooms: Like the other MacDonald, Rory is a prospect that everyone (myself included) is in love with, who excels at nothing but is great at everything. He’s also gotten the greatest nod a young fighter can get, having GSP praise him calling him the future of the division. Now on to his opponent, how did Che Mills get this fight? After wins against Mike Pyle and Nate Diaz, Che Mills seems like a step down in competition for MacDonald. On paper this fight doesn’t make for a competitive co-main event fight, but at least more people can see MacDonald dominate a lesser fighter. MacDonald by TKO in 2nd.

Picking MacDonald: Dr. Law, Kid P, DJ Mark, Gooms
Picking Mills:

Have You Been “Wondering” About The Newest MMA Sensation?

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The following is a guest post by Jason "Orange Dawg" Helm. As you will see below, Orange Dawg has a unique perspective on this up and coming star in the UFC welterweight division.

This post is going to provide a little background info on the newest rising star in the UFC, Stephen “The Wonderboy” Thompson. Before I go any further, I just wanted to say thank you to Doctor Law and everybody else at It’s MMAzing for allowing me to post about this up and coming fighter.

By way of information about yours truly, I have four black belts in various styles of martial arts. I hold the rank of third degree black belt in Kenpo Karate and a first degree black belt in American Jiu-Jitsu. I studied martial arts at Upstate Karate in Simpsonville, SC. This just happens to be the same studio that has produced the Wonderboy. His father, Ray Thompson is the owner and founder of Upstate Karate. I grew up training with Stephen and followed his amateur kickboxing career with great interest. After all, it’s not every day that someone who used to kick my ass on a weekly basis was taking the kickboxing world by storm.

Wonderboy got his first black belt a couple of years before I did and I can tell you first hand that even the adults who studied under Ray Thompson did not want to spar with Stephen because even at ten years old he would whoop the sh*t out of them. As I advanced further up the ranks in my training, I was forced to train with Stephen more and more and every time I had to spar with him, I came home with fresh bruises that would take days to heal. You see, Karate was his life. He was born for it and excelled in every aspect of his training. His father was a world champion in his youth and was so talented that other instructors throughout South Carolina would no longer fight him in competition. Stephen embraced this heritage and longed to one day be better than his father.

When I got my black belt, we had to choose a partner who would help test us during the trials. The black belt exam at Upstate Karate used to take a week, with every candidate being tested on a certain aspect every day. For example, Mondays used to be combinations, punching and kicking, etc. Tuesdays used to be katta days. Thursdays were always the sparring days. My best friend at the time, Bobby Schmidt, had picked Stephen to be the one to test with him all week and Stephen did his job better than most. During the sparing day, Stephen broke my friend’s nose, almost causing him to fail his exam. That was just the type of fighter Wonderboy was. There was no quit and no taking it easy. He made you prove yourself every time you stepped into the ring with him. During that same exam, I was rotated in front of Stephen and ended up with a black eye for my trouble. He was the best and it seems that that has not changed all these years later.