As always, I’m here with my predictions for another UFC event.  Let’s see how terrible my predictions are for UFC 114.

Main card

* Light Heavyweight bout:
United States – Quinton Jackson vs. United States – Rashad Evans
My heart is with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in this fight.  Having watched them both as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, I can respect Rashad Evans’ knowledge and skills, but I just don’t like him as a person.  I really like Rampage Jackson, though, and his work in The Ultimate Fighter has only furthered that.  Sure, he can be a little hot-headed, as is evidence by the time when he tore the hell out of a door on the show, beating it literally to a pulp after one of his fighters lost, but he’s also really entertaining.
I’d like to think that Rampage’s time away from MMA while he filmed A-Team isn’t going to have too huge of an effect on his ability, but during that time Rashad Evans was beating Thiago Silva.
Since I like the fire Quinton’s got in him to make this an awesome fight against a guy who he really seems to want to destroy, I’ll go against my better judgment and cheer for / pick the guy who howls before his fights and wears a chain around his neck on the way to the octagon.  Also, I’m hoping for a powerbomb.
Prediction: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by knockout

* Middleweight bout:
England – Michael Bisping vs. United States – Dan Miller
The fact that Team Wolfslayer partners Bisping and Rampage both have a fight on the same card, I’m hoping it has a positive effect on both of them… though part of me feels like it will impact both of them negatively.  Had Bisping defeated Wanderlei Silva back in February, this would be an easier decision for me, though the fact that it went to decision does speak well for Bisping.
Since debuting in the UFC, Dan Miller has either won in the first 90 second of the first round or it has gone to decision.  I think Bisping is too talented to let this fight end before the second round, so I’m going to predict a third straight loss for Miller.
Prediction:  Michael Bisping

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* Heavyweight bout:
United States – Todd Duffee vs. United States – Mike Russow
Todd Duffee has a history of knocking guys out quick.  He has ended 4 of his 6 professional fights with a knockout in the first 20 seconds.  Only one of those has taken place in UFC, though, and I don’t expect Mike Russow – a guy who has won four of his last five fights by submission – to fall prey to that.  This one’s tough to call, but when it comes to a submissions guy against a submissionist, I typically go for the submissions guy… but that hasn’t worked out in the UFC Heavyweight division, so I’ll go heavy handed on this one.
Prediction:  Todd Duffee by knockout (after the 20 second mark of the first round)

* Light Heavyweight bout:
Brazil – Antônio Rogério Nogueira vs. United States – Jason Brilz
Sure, Brilz has a really good record with 18 wins and only 2 losses, but his opponent at UFC 114 is Little Nog, who has only lost twice in the past 7 years, and he has some quality wins against high caliber opponents like (current STRIKEFORCE Heavyweight Champion) Alistair Overeem and Dan Henderson.  Sorry, Brilz, but Eliot Marshall isn’t a high caliber opponent, and you lost to him.
I wish this fight were Nogueira against Forrest Griffin as originally scheduled.  That would’ve been a much better fight… unless Jason Brilz surprises me.
Prediction:  Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

* Welterweight bout:
United States – Diego Sanchez vs. England – John Hathaway
Had Diego Sanchez not gotten cut during his fight against BJ Penn, he might’ve ended up the UFC Lightweight Champion.  Instead he goes back to the drawing board and puts himself into the Welterweight division.
John Hathaway, despite not being a household name amongst casual MMA fans, brings his 12 win / 0 loss record into this fight, with three of those victories coming in the UFC.
With three great fights in a row and something to prove, I’ll go with Diego Sanchez in this fight, with Hathaway’s undefeated streak ending, forcing The Hitman to regroup and come back next time.
Prediction:  Diego Sanchez

Preliminary card (Spike TV)

* Welterweight bout:
United States – Amir Sadollah vs. South Korea – Dong Hyun Kim
It confuses me why more people aren’t talking about Dong Hyun Kim, who is currently undefeated at 12-0-1, but maybe the experts see something about his game that I don’t know about.
I’ve seen at least 5 of Amir Sadollah’s fights, and although he has never wow’ed me, he does find ways to get the job done inside the octagon, and because he’s from my home state, that gives him an additional bit of stature in my mind.  Plus, I like his combination of Sambo and BJJ.
Prediction:  Amir Sadollah

* Lightweight bout:
Mexico – Efrain Escudero vs. United States – Dan Lauzon
I was surprised that Efrain Escudero is returning to the octagon so soon after the way his last fight ended with that extremely painful armbar he was forced to tap out to (and many felt he should’ve tapped out sooner than he actually did).
Dan Lauzon is coming off of a loss to the extremely talented Cole Miller.
Whether it was guts or stupidity, Efrain Escudero looked tough in his fight against Evan Dunham, so that’ll be enough for my prediction in this one.
Prediction:  Efrain Escudero

Preliminary card

* Lightweight bout:
United States – Melvin Guillard vs. United States – Waylon Lowe
Prediction:  Melvin Guillard

* Light Heavyweight bout:
Brazil – Luiz Cane vs. France – Cyrille Diabaté
Prediction:  Cyrille Diabate

* Lightweight bout:
United States – Aaron Riley vs. United States – Joe Brammer
Prediction:  Aaron Riley

* Middleweight bout:
United States – Ryan Jensen vs. United States – Jesse Forbes
Prediction:  Ryan Jensen