UFC 112 - Invincible

UFC 112 - Invincible, April 10, 2010 Ferrari World Concert Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Matchups:

UFC Middleweight Championship Anderson Silva (No. 1 MW, No. 1 PFP) vs. Demian Maia (No. 5 MW) - I think it would pretty amazing if Maia got Silva down and tapped him, but I don't think it happens. More than likely, this will look similar to the Marquardt/Maia fight, where Maia was hit so hard he did backflip. I'm not convinced that this gonna be a repeat of the Silva/Leites fight from last year in Montreal. Maia will not be content to just keep trying to pull guard, he will come forward and try for takedowns. Silva by TKO, rd. 1.


UFC Lightweight Championship B.J. Penn (No. 1 LW, No. 5 PFP) vs. Frankie Edgar (No. 7 LW) - I don't see a way that Edgar could beat BJ. Penn is a better boxer than Edgar and light years ahead of him on the ground. I imagine it will look similar to the Penn/Sanchez & Penn/Florian fights with Edgar trying for single legs and getting beat up pretty bad. It's pretty hard to not see BJ hurting Edgar on the feet and doing what he does best, take the back for a rear-naked choke. Penn by submission, rd. 3.

Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie - I don't believe that Hughes is as washed up as everyone seems to be saying these days. Last May at UFC 98, Hughes showed us that he is still the same Hughes who was a dominant welterweight champion. It has more to do with the competition being that much better. I think Hughes still beats the majority of the welterweights out there, but he is gonna fall to the Thiago Alves' & the Jon Fitch's of the world. There is also a lot of talk about Hughes not training seriously for this fight but knowing what kind of guy Hughes is, I don't believe it. Matt is the kind of guy that will always give everything his all. Hughes by decision.

Kendall Grove vs. Mark Munoz - I feel like its been too long since we've seen Kendall Grove's weak ass chin & Munoz is gonna remind us. Mark Munoz has improved since his

head-kick knock out loss to Matt Hammill & I don't think he's gonna forget about that anytime soon. I see Munoz getting Grove to the ground and hitting him hard and exploiting Grove's chin. Munoz KO, rd. 1.

Terry Etim vs. Rafael dos Anjos - dos Anjos by decision.

John Gunderson vs. Paul Taylor - Gunderson by sbmission, rd 1.

Phil Davis vs. Alexander Gustafsson - Phil Davis may be my new favorite fighter. He's terribly charming and funny. Phil claims that he was not happy with his dominant 3 round decision victory over Brian Stann because he did not finish his opponent. He claims that the guy who beat Stann was 'Phil' and that this time he's going to let the fans see 'Dave', who is apparently better at finishing fights. I'm gonna buy into Davis' intentions to finish his opponents and say, Davis by TKO, rd. 2.

Rick Story vs. Nick Osipczak - Story is getting better from fight to fight, & he should take Osipczak to a dominatant decision win.

Brad Blackburn vs. DaMarques Johnson - Johnson should beat up the inconsistent 'Bad' Brad. I feel like Blackburn will last all 3 rounds, so I'll take Johnson by decision.

Paul Kelly vs. Matt Veach - I like Veach in this fight by decision. Both guys are really tough & Veach seems to constantly be getting better while Kelly will remain a midlevel fighter. Veach by decision.

Jon Madsen vs. Mostapha Al-Turk - I'm not really too interested in this match up but I'll take Madsen because, from what little I'l seen of both these heavyweights, he's impressed me more. Madsen by TKO, rd. 2.