UFC 172

Jon Jones in Glover Teixeira

Before his last fight with Gustafson, Jones never had any particular difficulty in his fights and turned his attention to the heavyweight division. Gustafson made sure everyone knew that Jones's Nike T-shirts with the "not quite human" look were not just advertising aerologies. In defense of Jones, my view is that he underestimated Gustafson by posting on twitter {a few months before the match} photos with a belly. But now Jones and the whole world have realized that he still has to face several notable opponents in his class. First in line was Teixeira, a fighter who has been losing a mixed martial arts fight since 2005. [Jones started his career in 2008] He has very strong punches and a black belt in bjj. On the contrary, Jones does not have the ability to knock out a punch, nor does the bjj belt he wears have any color. Of course he never needed anything like that, the fight, the athleticism and the long arms were always one level higher than the other fighters. I can not predict the outcome of the match because it is more watching and making their gameplan. What is certain is that Teixeira has some, albeit small, chances of winning, either on the ground or in a standing battle. 

Phil Davis in Anthony Johnson

Phil Davis has only one defeat which was decided by the judges by Rashad Evans. Throughout his career, although he faced few fighters, most of them were very good. He is number 4 in the standings and is trying to face the champion. If he wins this fight you will find one step before claiming the title. He is a very good wrestler, fast in the standing battle and has shown us some very good submissions on the ground. Anthony Johnson left the ufc in 2012 after losing to Vito Belfort. He has a lot of power but he does not have many abilities. He punches and kicks hard but he is not very fast. In the last two years he has made 6 consecutive victories in smaller tournaments with inferior opponents and he will now try to make a good appearance for his new contract with the ufc. I predict Phil Davis will put Anthony Johnson on the ground early and subdue him sooner or later.

Luke Rockhold in Tim Boetsch

This battle will not be as one-sided as many believe. Boetsch has played in many races in the ufc and has always been a predictable opponent. He is a strong wrestler, with strong punches and good on the ground. Sometimes, however, he exhausts all his strength in the first round and remains exhausted in the next ones. Rockhold, on the other hand, has a lot of endurance in the games, if he manages to pass to the second round he will find more opportunities to take advantage to win.

Jim Miller in Yancy Medeiros

Miller was about to give up this fight against Bobby Green, but Green's injury left him for a while until Medeiros was vacated. Miller is moderate in the upright battle but very good on the ground, most of his victories came with submission from his excellent bjj. Medeiros is very good in the upright fight, with knockdown, a good fight not to be dragged into the ground and even there, although he has only a blue belt in bjj, the excellent teachers at Gracie jiu jitsu school would definitely show him how to keep, even for the basic defense allegiance. He lost only once in the races due to injury, against the very good Rustam Khabilov, in a race that had begun very vigorously.

Max Holloway v Andrew Fili 

The favorite of this match is Fili. I look again at his videos, but so far I do not find the reason for this. He is almost undefeated and TEAM ALPHA MALE supports him a lot, but he has never faced such a good and experienced opponent. He is very good in standing battle but because he is very weak he can be fought very easily by opponents who prefer the ground and keep him there. Until he proves it to me Cable that he belongs to the top fighters, I will go against such prices.

Joseph Benavidez at Timothy Elliott

Benavidez in his total 23 races has lost only two champions, but twice. Dominick Cruz and Demetrius Johnson are his kryptonites. Now I will have to start a racing race again until I claim a title again. Timothy Elliott's first barrier. A strong and big wrestler with a blessed upright battle and strong punches. Logic says the technically best everywhere will avoid his one-dimensional attacks and get the critical points he needs. The interviews, however, seem to have diminished his morale since his last defeat. 

Takanori Gomi in Isaac Vallie-Flagg

Gomi has been in the mixed martial arts field for many years. He was one of the most famous fighters of Pride (Japanese mixed martial arts event a decade ago). In the ufc, however, it did not go very well. In the seven matches, he defeated only three of them, three of whom have left the tournament for good due to their poor results. Vallie-Flagg, while holding a long winning streak for 6 years, made a very bad appearance in his last match against Silverio. Maybe that's why they give him a pure outsider. But their overall image leans in favor of Vallie-Flagg.

Jessamyn Duke in Bethe Correa

Duke made a very useful friendship in the ultimate fighter with champion Ronda Rousey. You train together many times and it shows the improvement in the work they do. She has a wide open hand that allows her to hit from a distance, but in her attempt to fight her opponents and apply what Rousey teaches her, she makes several mistakes and shows her inexperience. Corrie got the nickname "Pitbull" from the Pit bull brothers and in the last match she paid us a very good performance with her appearance. Until he faces some top rival, he will very hardly lose.

Charlie Brenneman Danny Castillo

We have two wrestlers here. Brenneman is in a worse scoring position than Castillo and in his last fight he did badly. But it has put several wrestlers in a difficult position. Castillo, although he lost in his last match, made a very good appearance for one and a half rounds. In the second round he started to get tired and in the third round he looked exhausted. He is the logical favorite but if he does not improve his endurance, he may encounter a problem again in the 3rd round.

Chris Beal Vs. Patrick Williams

Two newcomers will start our night. Beal, known from the ultimate fighter 18, lost to the final winner Holdsworth, but had some minor injuries in his hand and could not fight aggressively. He has always had a reputation for new undefeated talent, combined with winning against bone cancer. He is good at standing battle and tries not to get dragged to the ground because he has no special knowledge there. Williams has 10 fights with 3 defeats and was probably called up by the ufc because he gives impressive fights going to the finish. In his favor will be the fact that he is a little good on the ground.  

At weighing all fighters were within the allowed limits. I was impressed that Takanori Gomi is not in very good physical condition, Jessamyn Duke passes Bethe Correia one head high and Jon Jones looked his opponent in the eye, he has not done it again. He took courage and escort from the company of his brothers (famous athletes of American football) it seems. You mean, like, saltines and their ilk, eh?