Win Prizes 2015 UFC Predictions

[Jab]

Here we go again. Pick your current champ in each division and speculate on what may happen in the UFC next year. Below is a list of current UFC champions

265 - Heavyweight = Cain Velasquez (Werdum the interim champ)
205 - Light heavyweight = Jon Jones
185 - Middleweight = Weidman
170 - Welterweight = Lawler
155 - Lightweight = Pettis
145 - Featherweight = Aldo
135 - Bantamweight = TJ Dillashaw
125 - Flyweight = Demetrius Johnson

Women

135 - Bantanweight = Ronda Rousey
115 - Strawweight = Esparza

Format to copy and paste below

Men

265:
205:
185:
170:
155:
145:
135:
125:

Women

135:
115:

*there are no prizes.

 

[Guy Threepwood]

Men

265: Cain Velasquez - I think Werdum is a good test for him, but I think Cain will grind him down against the cage and take a decision. There is no other contender that I think can beat him and I doubt that he'll fight more than once this year due to injury.

205: Jon Jones - DC is his biggest test so far, but I think he'll manage to get the job done in a great fight. The winner of Gus and Rumble will likely get next shot and I think Jones will beat either of them.

185: Chris Weidman - I'm really going out on a limb with these predictions! I think Weidman is the best 185er in the world and should deal with Belfort pretty easily. The winner of Jacare and Romero will likely be next and I'm confident that Weidman will get the job done against them.

170: Johny Hendricks - He's likely next in line with MacDonald being told he won't get next shot and I think he'll find a way to beat Lawler again. He and MacDonald should occur later next year and that should be a very interesting fight with Hendricks' power punching being the edge for mine.

155: Khabib Nurmagomedov - I think he'll get the shot after dos Anjos and will be the man to dethrone Pettis. His wrestling is top shelf and as good as Pettis is now, I don't think he has an answer for it.

145: Jose Aldo - I don't see this guy losing for a while. McGregor will likely be his next fight and I think Aldo wins that fight by utilizing his BJJ. Edgar will likely get a rematch after that and as much as I'd like to see Frankie get a belt back, I don't see him beating Aldo.

135: Dominick Cruz - I have loved watching TJ elevate his game to championship level, but think a healthy again Cruz will have his measure. No analyst on the UFC pre fight shows has impressed me as much with their fight knowledge as Cruz and I think he comes up with a gameplan to beat TJ. Edit - TJ Dillashaw - With news of Cruz and Assuncao both being injured, I don't see a bantamweight that can beat TJ at the moment.

125: Jon Dodson - I think he's the only guy at 125 that could beat Mighty Mouse and I think given another opportunity he could do it.

Women

135: Ronda Rousey - I don't see any woman beating Ronda except potentially Cyborg who has now ruled out the 135 division. I think she stays champion for as long as she fights.

115: Carla Esparza - Her wrestling is such a point of difference in the weight class. I can't see any of the current crop being able to keep her off them long enough to take the title away.

 

[BradWCE]

Men

265: Cain Velasquez - Beats Werdum or whoever is the interim champ when he gets back. Just can't see anyone beating him.

205: Daniel Cormier - I'm probably leaning towards Jones beating DC but * it. DC beats Jones, then beats Gus/Rumble winner and maybe one more fight (actually probably rematches Jones before fighting someone else).

185: Chris Weidman - I think Machida was his toughest test and he passed that nicely. Should beat any challengers at 185. Belfort, Jacare and Rockhold are the ones that come to mind.

170: Rory MacDonald - I saw that he's not getting the next shot. Probably Lawler/Hendricks again then. Rory beats the winner.

155: Anthony Pettis - Seems like RDA is next. He should win that. Then it'd be Khabib. Khabib's very likely route to victory is by decision. I don't think he lasts 25 minutes with Pettis without getting submitted or Koed.

145: Jose Aldo - No doubt McGregor next if he gets passed Siver. Aldo wins and maybe an Edgar rematch happens too.

135: Dominick Cruz - I was saying Barao would beat Cruz before but I think that's crazy now. Cruz is like a better version of Dillashaw to me and I think that should see him win a decision. Then he beats Barao next or whoever.

125: Demetrious Johnson - Can't see anyone beating him. He'll beat McCall easier the third time than the second time. He'll wrestle Lineker to the mat and probably outstrike him on the feet as Lineker hits air with his massive punches. Dodson's the only one in my mind that has a shot. I think Johnson will beat him more comfortably than he did last time. Dodson's older than Johnson and he's been fighting longer than Johnson. I think Johnson's improved a lot since the last time they fought and I'm not sure Dodson has.

Women

135: Ronda Rousey - Zingano has started slowly in her UFC fights. Do that against Rousey and IT IS ALL OVER. Don't see anyone who can beat Rousey any time soon.

115: Joanna Jedrzejczyk - I don't like Esparza but she'll probably beat JJ with her wrestling and ground game. Probably a silly pick but I don't care. Would be pretty confident in picking Gadelha to win the belt had she got the decision against JJ. Oh well, JJ KOs Esparza and then wins another fight after that. I'm pretty sure she'd be the first European UFC champion, which would be cool.

 

[bkozican]

I only clicked on here because of the WIN PRIZES tag, read the post...*there are no prizes. Truth be told, Im pretty gutted Jab.

Men

265: Werdum, I always get worried about champs having a lay off. Cain has been out of the Octagon for to long this time.

205: Jon Jones, I think DC has what it takes to get past JJ but will lose in the rematch.

185: Chris Weidman..Dont really have to say anything else

170: Rory MacDonald, Lawler vs Hendricks III...Rory gets the winner and blasts through them with ease

155: R.Dos Anjos, 1 hit on the jaw of Pettis and that will be all she wrote about that

145: Jose Aldo, The modern day Bruce Lee imo

135: Renan Barao, I think he takes the rematch with Dillashaw and starts another win streak

125: Ian McCall, Don't know why...Just chose him

Women

135: Ronda Rousey, Not losing it this year

115: Carla Esparaza, Don't know enough to comment.

 

[phantom13]

Men

265: Cain, probably only fights once this year and beats Werdum.
205: Jones, probably the best fighter of all time, beats Gus then beats someone else, maybe Rumble
185: Souza, been on a tear and i think he will get Weidman after Chris beats Vitor
170: MacDonald, give the man the title shot he deserves. He beats Lawler or Hendricks for me
155: Pettis, beats Dos Anjos and Nurgamedov this year. Maybe a third if he doesn't get injured, Cerrone again?
145: Aldo, can't wait for him v McGregor, gon be huge and a FOTY candidate
135: TJ, beats Barao in a rematch but has a quiet year otherwise
125: Johnson, nobody matches him, but i wouldn't mind seeing Horiguchi against him, that would be quick

Women

135: Ronda, love her, so much
115: Penne, don't know why, i just like her.

Wish i had predicated Cerrone to have two wins under his belt by the end of January, that dude is a beast.

 

[d-mac3276]

Heavyweight- Cain Velasquez
Light Heavyweight- Jon Jones
Middleweight- Chris Weidman
Welterweight- Kelvin Gastelum
Lightweight- Khabib Nurmagomedov
Featherweight- Jose Aldo
Bantamweight- TJ Dillashaw
Flyweight- Demetrious Johnson
Women's Bantamweight- Ronda Rousey
Women's Strawweight- Carla Esparza

 

[Higgins2Waite]

Men

265:Cain
205:jones...hopefully Gus
185:weidman...too good. Looking forward to seeing him fight Rockhold
170:Rory. Will reign over the competition just like George did.
155:Khabib Nurmagomedov
145:McGregor. He's here not just to take part, he's here to take over!
135: hopefully barao now cruuz is out. Would like to see wineland or McDonald with the belt
125: majin buu

Women

135:hopefully not rousey
115:Esparza

 

[Nickos66]

Is it too late for this??

Men

265: Cain Velasquez
205: Anthony Johnson
185: Chris Weidman
170: Rory McDonald
155: Khabib Nurmagomedov
145: Jose Aldo
135: Renan Barao
125: DJ

Women

135: Rhonda Rousey
115: Carla Esparza

 

[BradWCE]

Looks like I'm getting everything else wrong but I picked Jedrzejczyk here (obviously not confidently at all though).

bkozican has fully expected RDA to beat Pettis in the lead up to their fight all along. Impressive

 

[Guy Threepwood]

bkozican has fully expected RDA to beat Pettis in the lead up to their fight all along. Impressive

Pfft, he was way off! dos Anjos had to hit Pettis in the eye, not the jaw!

Nice work on the Joanna pick too.

 

[bkozican]

Bumped...seems I was the only one to pick werdum

Everybody tipped aldo and a few rory tips above

 

[BradWCE]

Bumped...seems I was the only one to pick werdum

RDA first and now Werdum. That's impressive.

I had forgotten all about picking Cormier to win the belt. Might be true come the end of the year because of Jones' issues outside of fighting.

 

[MMAPride Scott]

interesting I think everyone should go agian for the rest of the year or at least the title fight we know of

 

[phantom13]

Men

265: Cain, probably only fights once this year and beats Werdum.
205: Jones, probably the best fighter of all time, beats Gus then beats someone else, maybe Rumble
185: Souza, been on a tear and i think he will get Weidman after Chris beats Vitor
170: MacDonald, give the man the title shot he deserves. He beats Lawler or Hendricks for me
155: Pettis, beats Dos Anjos and Nurgamedov this year. Maybe a third if he doesn't get injured, Cerrone again?
145: Aldo, can't wait for him v McGregor, gon be huge and a FOTY candidate
135: TJ, beats Barao in a rematch but has a quiet year otherwise
125: Johnson, nobody matches him, but i wouldn't mind seeing Horiguchi against him, that would be quick

Women

135: Ronda, love her, so much
115: Penne, don't know why, i just like her.

Wish i had predicated Cerrone to have two wins under his belt by the end of January, that dude is a beast.

Ill go again.
265: Werdum, I picked him to win the fight and made good cash on it too but didnt originally have it here! I hope he doesnt fight Dos Santos.
205: DC, Jones beats him when he comes back, in the meantime he reigns.
185: Rockhold, i love him and Weidman, gonna be a great fight.
170: MacDonald, one of few of my original picks that doesnt change.
155: Dos Anjos, want Cerrone to win though.
145: Aldo, the more this is built up the more i think McGregor beats him eventually but ill stick with him
135: TJ, stays the same
125: Johnson, stays the same

Women

135: Ronda, never gets beaten, ever, by anyone.
115: Jedrycyzsk, man i got Penne wrong.

 

[bkozican]

Bump,

I remember putting my predictions in and thinking I was pretty confident on most...what a year it has been!

 

[BradWCE]

"Cruz is like a better version of Dillashaw to me"

LOL. This is what I said almost exactly a year ago. Recently I've basically said the exact opposite. Although in my defence I hadn't seen any of Cruz's past fights for a long time when I said this. I've gone back and watched his most 'recent' fights since and now favour Dillashaw to beat him.

I ended up picking Rockhold to beat Weidman in the tipping comp, but in here I said Weidman would beat Rockhold.

I did badly. 3 correct out of 10. The thing is that it looks a lot better than it actually is. The Cormier pick is very lucky to be correct and I said Jedrzejczyk was probably a silly choice. Rory MacDonald was on his way to winning the decision before the finish in the 5th round, so that one's not too bad. The only one where I was confident and got it right was Demetrious Johnson.

 

[bkozican]

"Cruz is like a better version of Dillashaw to me"

LOL. This is what I said almost exactly a year ago. Recently I've basically said the exact opposite. Although in my defence I hadn't seen any of Cruz's past fights for a long time when I said this. I've gone back and watched his most 'recent' fights since and now favour Dillashaw to beat him.

I ended up picking Rockhold to beat Weidman in the tipping comp, but in here I said Weidman would beat Rockhold.

I did badly. 3 correct out of 10. The thing is that it looks a lot better than it actually is. The Cormier pick is very lucky to be correct and I said Jedrzejczyk was probably a silly choice. Rory MacDonald was on his way to winning the decision before the finish in the 5th round, so that one's not too bad. The only one where I was confident and got it right was Demetrious Johnson.

It's been a crazy year for title changes, something like 6 or 7 changes

 

[BradWCE]

It's been a crazy year for title changes, something like 6 or 7 changes

Yeah 6 champions lost their titles in fights and Jones was stripped of his.

Saw this picture and it just looks so weird seeing all those changes in the one year like that.

 

[d-mac3276]

We were all pretty close...NOT

 

[phantom13]

I actually managed to make money on most of the title fights i watched this year, long term predictions clearly not my forte! Or any of our specialties really. 2016 UFC Predictions will be fun. Could have a title change hands on the 3rd of Jan.