MMA-UFC 2014 UFC Predictions

[Jab]

We've done this before, it's a bit of fun to have a go at.

Who will be the Champion at the end of 2014?

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

Women
115:
135

Current Champions are;

Men
125: Demetrius Johnson
135: Cruz (Barao interim champ)
145: Aldo
155: Pettis
170: Vacated by GSP.
185: Weidman
205: Jones
265: Velasquez

Women
115: New division
135: Rousey

Feel free to add other predictions like "X" will fight for the title etc.

I'll tag the tipping guys in here so they know that this exists, they might be interested, but it's open to everyone

Crimson Azure
BradWCE
Guy Threepwood
alfy!
Nickos66
Jay C
Ross
MMAPride Scott
d-mac3276
the_interloper
Arecsa
Red Black and Blue
Theseventhhamster
Rendered Unsafe
Blue and Silver
RobbyRoy

 

[Red Black and Blue]

Men
125: Dodson
135: Faber
145: Aldo
155: Pettis
170: Hendricks
185: Machida
205: Jones
265: Cain

Women
115: No idea
135: Rousey

 

[Arecsa]

Cool idea, my UFC tipping went a lot like my AFL tipping and supercoach though. I forgot an event/round and then abandon it.

I'm predicting a few title changes for 2014 with Anderson dethroned, GSP gone and Jones looking human lately. The 115 pound women will only have 1 title fight with that season of TUF not airing until September, so its all about who can make it through there to fight for the belt on the finale.

Men:

125: Johnson
135: Faber
145: Mendes
155: Pettis
170: Lawler
185: Vitor
205: Gustaf
265: Cain

Women:

115: Gadelha
135: Ronda

 

[BigJoeD_]

125: Johnson
135: Barao
145: Mcgregor
155: Aldo
170: Condit
185: Machida
205: Jones
265: Cain

Women
115: Karate Hottie (pretty sure she fights at 115?)
135: Rousey

Aldo to move up and defeat Pettis at 155 for the belt - fight of the year.

Cain to miss most of the year, before returning to meet Browne in the end of year card.

Cormier to miss weight twice at 205 before returning to HW.

Condit at 170 because he is my favorite fighter to watch!

 

[phantom13]

Who will be the Champion at the end of 2014?

Men
125: Johnson
135: Barao
145: Mendes
155: Pettis (After he beats Aldo)
170: Hendricks
185: Jacare
205: Jones (Hopefully gets done by Gustaffson in 2015)
265: Velasquez

Women
115: Esparza (Wish it was Hyatt)
135: Rousey

Edit for the OP

Current Champions are;

Men

135: Faber (Barao interim champ)

Current champ is still Cruz and Barao is interim...

also Waterson (Karate hottie) fights at 105

 

[Jab]

Cheers phantom13, that was just a brain fade

 

[Jay C]

Men
125: Johnson
135: Barao
145: Mendes
155: Pettis
170: Condit
185: Machida
205: Gustaffson
265: Velasquez

Women
115: Hyatt
135: Rousey

 

[Guy Threepwood]

Men
125: Johnson - He's convincingly beaten all of the top contenders already, so his title run could be a long one.
135: Barao - Think the lay off and his best opponent to date will see the end of Cruz's reign.
145: Mendes - I think Edgar is the better fighter, but I think Mendes' power would give him an edge in that match up.
155: Aldo - I see him moving up and edging Pettis in a classic.
170: Hendricks - His combination of power and wrestling should have already won him the belt.
185: Weidman - Beat the GOAT twice this year, that's enough for me to expect a long time at the top.
205: Teixeira - Jones looked human against Gustaffsson. Having seen that, I think Glover has a real shot of beating him.
265: Velasquez - May not fight until late 2014 and he should be good enough to beat the Werdum/Browne winner.

Women
115: Gadelha - Has looked like a beast when I've seen her. Esparza will be the biggest challenge for her.
135: Rousey - Can only see Cyborg having a shot against her, but can't see her making 135.

 

[phantom13]

185: Weidman - Beat the GOAT twice this year, that's enough for me to expect a long time at the top.

I hope you are right, huge fan of Weidman, the only person at middleweight i can see beating him is Jacare, i think he handles Vitor, Machida etc. Jacares jits scares me.

 

[Guy Threepwood]

I hope you are right, huge fan of Weidman, the only person at middleweight i can see beating him is Jacare, i think he handles Vitor, Machida etc. Jacares jits scares me.

I think Jacare is a stud, but don't see how he troubles Weidman. Chris' wrestling means he dictates where the fight goes and I think he's better standing. His jits is also very good... not at Jacare's level of course, but enough to mean he should be able to survive if the fight does hit the ground. From memory, he had no trouble with Maia on the ground and he was exhausted from early in the second round. With a full camp, I think he would win handily.

Agree that he handles Vitor, but the Machida fight is the one I think will be his biggest test.

 

[phantom13]

I think Jacare is a stud, but don't see how he troubles Weidman. Chris' wrestling means he dictates where the fight goes and I think he's better standing. His jits is also very good... not at Jacare's level of course, but enough to mean he should be able to survive if the fight does hit the ground. From memory, he had no trouble with Maia on the ground and he was exhausted from early in the second round. With a full camp, I think he would win handily.

Agree that he handles Vitor, but the Machida fight is the one I think will be his biggest test.

Fair point, i think Jacare has the strength/power to not let Weidmans top game control him the way it did with Maia (who is now at Welterweight as well) basically i think he is strong enough to create a little space and throw up some more subs from the bottom. On Machida my theory is if he could handle Anderson on the feet he can handle Lyoto, it's a weak one but its all i got.

 

[Guy Threepwood]

Fair point, i think Jacare has the strength/power to not let Weidmans top game control him the way it did with Maia (who is now at Welterweight as well) basically i think he is strong enough to create a little space and throw up some more subs from the bottom. On Machida my theory is if he could handle Anderson on the feet he can handle Lyoto, it's a weak one but its all i got.

No doubt Jacare's a bit bigger and stronger than Maia, but their level of jits is similar (I think Jacare is ahead 2-1 head to head in competition). I think Weidman's smart enough and good enough to avoid the subs (or the ground game all together if required) to get the win. Either way, I hope we get to find out this year.

Haha, fair enough on the Machida/Anderson theory. I think Machida's biggest advantage over Anderson in terms of matching up with Weidman is his takedown defense. At middleweight it should be even better too and that, coupled with his unorthodox striking will give Weidman fits. I would probably still lean towards Weidman getting the win if the fight was to happen this year, but with no real confidence.

 

[Nickos66]

Men
125: Johnson - cleared out any depth there was in the division already
135: Barao - Cruz to have too much ring rust after so long out, Faber to lose to Barao again in 2014
145: Mendes - takes the title by decision from Aldo, or Aldo to relinquish voluntarily to take on Pettis
155: Pettis - Aldo to challenge early in 2015, but Pettis' injury will keep him out for most of the year
170: Hendricks - hard to see anyone really matching him anywhere right now, one of the hardest to call for me, personally.
185: Weidman - proves the doubters wrong and clears out 3 top challengers in Vitor, Machida & Jacare in convincing fashion
205: Gustafsson - Glovers fight ends up being a carbon copy of Rashad's, Gusto gets another shot and gets it done, weary of the elbows, takes Jones down repeatedly again and puts him away late. No 'inner warrior' rubbish this time from Jones.
265: Velasquez - will fight once before the end of 2014 with the current injury sidelining him.

Women
115: Esparza - when all else fails, just wrestle
135: Rousey - Nope

 

[d-mac3276]

We've done this before, it's a bit of fun to have a go at.

Who will be the Champion at the end of 2014?

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

Women
115:
135

Current Champions are;

Men
125: Demetrius Johnson
135: Cruz (Barao interim champ)
145: Aldo
155: Pettis
170: Vacated by GSP.
185: Weidman
205: Jones
265: Velasquez

Women
115: New division
135: Rousey

Feel free to add other predictions like "X" will fight for the title etc.

I'll tag the tipping guys in here so they know that this exists, they might be interested, but it's open to everyone

Crimson Azure
BradWCE
Guy Threepwood
alfy!
Nickos66
Jay C
Ross
MMAPride Scott
d-mac3276
the_interloper
Arecsa
Red Black and Blue
Theseventhhamster
Rendered Unsafe
Blue and Silver
RobbyRoy

Heavyweight: Cain Velasquez
Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones
Middleweight: Chris Weidman
Welterweight: Hector Lombard
Lightweight: Jose Aldo (if he steps up a division) if not Khabib Nurmagomedov
Featherweight: Chad Mendes (if Aldo steps up a division)
Bantamweight: Renan Barao
Flyweight: Demetrious Johnson
Women's Bantamweight: Ronda Rousey
Women's Strawweight: Claudia Gadelha

 

[Nickos66]

Ooohh.. I like the tips of Lombard & Nurmagomedov, they'd be my left field smokies too.

 

[Guy Threepwood]

Yeah, not a bad shout on Kahbib. He'd likely be next in line if he beats Gilbert and his grapple heavy style could pose problems for Pettis.

 

[phantom13]

Love the Lombard call, would love to see it too.

 

[d-mac3276]

Yeah two from left field but I really think these two can make waves in the next year.
I think Lombard with the wraps that he had on him when he first came over and down a Division he might start to show them.
And I really like Khabib he is a beast, you don't go 21-0 without having something and he has been totally dominant in all fights I've seen
On a side note they've just come out and said his bout with Melendez is off no reason given, Nate Diaz could be his next match up

 

[Ross]

125: I guess the next contender will either be Dodson or the winner of Lineker and Bagautinov. I could see Pickett challenging later in the year, he's making his debut at 125 against McCall in a couple of months and already holds a win over Johnson
135: Barao to get past Cruz and Faber, if Cruz is competitive I could see him winning once and getting another shot at Barao at the end of the year
145: Aldo to KO Lamas, has Mendes been promised a shot after that? I'm not expecting BJ to defeat Edgar but if he does I could see him only needing only one more win to get a title shot
155: Wouldn't be too surprised if Pettis doesn't manage to fight at all this year
170: Hendricks to get by Lawler and then Woodley, who matches up well with Condit, agreed that Lombard could be the top contender by the end of the year
185: Any combination of Weidman/Vitor/Machida will be really interesting to see, Machida/Mousasi is a great fight too but I don't see Mousasi being able to stuff Weidman
205: Jones to beat Glover and Gus
265: Cain will return at the end of the year and take out Browne

115: No idea, Esparza or Torres maybe?
135: Rousey

 

[BradWCE]

Men
125: Demetrious Johnson - He’s beaten the others that are at the very top of the division and looks to be getting better each time. Potential challengers in 2014 are Dodson again, Linker/Bagautinov winner and McCall/Pickett winner. I’d favour him in any of those fights.

135: Renan Barao - I think he beats Faber again and I’m not sure who he fights after that. Maybe Assuncao gets a title shot. Not sure when Cruz will be back but having him fight the Barao/Faber winner straight away wouldn’t be the greatest idea. I think Barao remains champion until the end of 2014 whatever way the UFC decide to go.

145: Jose Aldo - If he beats Lamas and stays at 145 he likely faces someone he’s already defeated; Swanson or Mendes. I think he wins any of these fights and remains champion until he goes up to 155. Might be towards the end of 2014 after a couple more fights and if so I’d say we’ll be without a champion at the end of 2014.

155: Anthony Pettis - Fights at most twice this year I’d say. I’ll say he fights once against Thomson or Grant and wins.

170: Carlos Condit - Hendricks probably the smart choice here but went for a different option considering I’d taken the safe options so far. If his fight with Woodley was 5 rounds I’d really like Condit’s chances of winning that. With it only being 3 it’s tougher but I think he puts Woodley away. Condit would have beat Hendricks if the first fight was 5 rounds imo. Hendricks was better in the GSP fight though. Hendricks beats Lawler then Condit finishes Hendricks in the championship rounds.

185: Lyoto Machida - Not really sure on this one. Might depend on who gets the next shot after Belfort. If it’s Jacare then I think Weidman beats Belfort and Jacare which leaves him as champ at the end of 2014. I’m going to say Machida beats Mousasi and gets the next shot after Weidman beats Belfort. Then Machida beats Weidman.

205: Jon Jones - Beats Teixeira then beats Gustafsson far more comfortably than the first time. I think Cormier will beat Jones but that probably won’t be until 2015.

265: Cain Velasquez - I’m not sure if he’ll fight in 2014. If he does then I’d say it’ll be against the Browne/Werdum winner. He beats whichever of them wins and retains the title or doesn’t fight in 2014.

Women
115: Tecia Torres - Will the finale be before the end of 2014? Filming doesn’t begin until mid May so I’m not sure if it will be. I think the winner of TUF will be one of Esparza, Gaddelha, Torres or Calderwood. Esparza or Gaddelha probably the favourite but I’ll say Torres wins the tournament.

135: Ronda Rousey - Rousey beats McMann and then beats Davis. I think McMann has a chance though. If she’s able to keep it standing then it’s a 50-50 for me. She could also get takedowns and maintain top control to win. I favour Rousey though.

 

[Jab]

Men

125: Johnson. He's done it all and I don't have a sensible reason to justify picking against him

135: Barao. He fights 3 times and wins them all. Faber probably deserves to be a UFC champion at some point in his career, but he seems to be the divisions 2nd best fighter. First when Cruz was champ, and now with Barao.

145: Aldo. Mendes seems to be the 145 Faber. He's better than everyone else, but just not Aldo. I also think that Cowboy Cerone will get a title shot in 2014.

155: I love this division! I hope that Melendez fights for the title against Pettis, it may well be the fight of the year! Kahbib, Melendez and Henderson will fight for the title by the end of 2014, but it's a lottery to see who concludes the year with the belt. My guess is Henderson.

170: Rory MacDonald. Hendricks to hold the belt at some point, but Rory will get his groove back and go on a tear. Lombard will disappoint.

185: Machida. It wouldn't shock me to see Bisping, Vitor, Mousasi or Weidman as the champ, but I'm picking Machida based on who I think has the best chance of beating the current title holder. I'd love to see Mousasi be champ in the UFC.

205: Jones. Jones will not lose at 205 and conclude the year by vacating the belt to move up. He will fight Tex, Gus and Cormier in 2014 and win them all.

265: Brock. Kidding Cain again. JDS will have to wait to get another shot and I don't see anyone else outside of Browne that has a punchers chance against him

Women

115: Esparza

135: Ronda

 

[Guy Threepwood]

155: I love this division! I hope that Melendez fights for the title against Pettis, it may well be the fight of the year! Kahbib, Melendez and Henderson will fight for the title by the end of 2014, but it's a lottery to see who concludes the year with the belt. My guess is Henderson.

You think we'll see that many title fights at 155 this year? Pettis doesn't have a fight lined up, so will likely get 3 months to prepare which puts him fighting mid April at the earliest. I hope you're right, but I could see him being out until May/June and being saved for one of the big end of year cards.

 

[Jab]

You think we'll see that many title fights at 155 this year? Pettis doesn't have a fight lined up, so will likely get 3 months to prepare which puts him fighting mid April at the earliest. I hope you're right, but I could see him being out until May/June and being saved for one of the big end of year cards.

Hopefully a fight in May/June, September and then one for the New Years card would be good to see. Optimistic, but I hope it happens.

 

[Guy Threepwood]

Hopefully a fight in May/June, September and then one for the New Years card would be good to see. Optimistic, but I hope it happens.

That would be ideal, but it's a tough schedule for a champion. I just hope Pettis gets his knee 100% as he's got a heap of interesting fights out there.

 

[Jab]

Bump!

Men
125: Dodson
135: Faber
145: Aldo
155: Pettis
170: Hendricks
185: Machida
205: Jones
265: Cain

Women
115: No idea
135: Rousey

Cool idea, my UFC tipping went a lot like my AFL tipping and supercoach though. I forgot an event/round and then abandon it.

I'm predicting a few title changes for 2014 with Anderson dethroned, GSP gone and Jones looking human lately. The 115 pound women will only have 1 title fight with that season of TUF not airing until September, so its all about who can make it through there to fight for the belt on the finale.

Men:

125: Johnson
135: Faber
145: Mendes
155: Pettis
170: Lawler
185: Vitor
205: Gustaf
265: Cain

Women:

115: Gadelha
135: Ronda

125: Johnson
135: Barao
145: Mcgregor
155: Aldo
170: Condit
185: Machida
205: Jones
265: Cain

Women
115: Karate Hottie (pretty sure she fights at 115?)
135: Rousey

Aldo to move up and defeat Pettis at 155 for the belt - fight of the year.

Cain to miss most of the year, before returning to meet Browne in the end of year card.

Cormier to miss weight twice at 205 before returning to HW.

Condit at 170 because he is my favorite fighter to watch!

Who will be the Champion at the end of 2014?

Men
125: Johnson
135: Barao
145: Mendes
155: Pettis (After he beats Aldo)
170: Hendricks
185: Jacare
205: Jones (Hopefully gets done by Gustaffson in 2015)
265: Velasquez

Women
115: Esparza (Wish it was Hyatt)
135: Rousey

Edit for the OP

Current Champions are;

Men

135: Faber (Barao interim champ)

Current champ is still Cruz and Barao is interim...

also Waterson (Karate hottie) fights at 105

Men
125: Johnson
135: Barao
145: Mendes
155: Pettis
170: Condit
185: Machida
205: Gustaffson
265: Velasquez

Women
115: Hyatt
135: Rousey

Men
125: Johnson - He's convincingly beaten all of the top contenders already, so his title run could be a long one.
135: Barao - Think the lay off and his best opponent to date will see the end of Cruz's reign.
145: Mendes - I think Edgar is the better fighter, but I think Mendes' power would give him an edge in that match up.
155: Aldo - I see him moving up and edging Pettis in a classic.
170: Hendricks - His combination of power and wrestling should have already won him the belt.
185: Weidman - Beat the GOAT twice this year, that's enough for me to expect a long time at the top.
205: Teixeira - Jones looked human against Gustaffsson. Having seen that, I think Glover has a real shot of beating him.
265: Velasquez - May not fight until late 2014 and he should be good enough to beat the Werdum/Browne winner.

Women
115: Gadelha - Has looked like a beast when I've seen her. Esparza will be the biggest challenge for her.
135: Rousey - Can only see Cyborg having a shot against her, but can't see her making 135.

Men
125: Johnson - cleared out any depth there was in the division already
135: Barao - Cruz to have too much ring rust after so long out, Faber to lose to Barao again in 2014
145: Mendes - takes the title by decision from Aldo, or Aldo to relinquish voluntarily to take on Pettis
155: Pettis - Aldo to challenge early in 2015, but Pettis' injury will keep him out for most of the year
170: Hendricks - hard to see anyone really matching him anywhere right now, one of the hardest to call for me, personally.
185: Weidman - proves the doubters wrong and clears out 3 top challengers in Vitor, Machida & Jacare in convincing fashion
205: Gustafsson - Glovers fight ends up being a carbon copy of Rashad's, Gusto gets another shot and gets it done, weary of the elbows, takes Jones down repeatedly again and puts him away late. No 'inner warrior' rubbish this time from Jones.
265: Velasquez - will fight once before the end of 2014 with the current injury sidelining him.

Women
115: Esparza - when all else fails, just wrestle
135: Rousey - Nope

Heavyweight: Cain Velasquez
Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones
Middleweight: Chris Weidman
Welterweight: Hector Lombard
Lightweight: Jose Aldo (if he steps up a division) if not Khabib Nurmagomedov
Featherweight: Chad Mendes (if Aldo steps up a division)
Bantamweight: Renan Barao
Flyweight: Demetrious Johnson
Women's Bantamweight: Ronda Rousey
Women's Strawweight: Claudia Gadelha

125: I guess the next contender will either be Dodson or the winner of Lineker and Bagautinov. I could see Pickett challenging later in the year, he's making his debut at 125 against McCall in a couple of months and already holds a win over Johnson
135: Barao to get past Cruz and Faber, if Cruz is competitive I could see him winning once and getting another shot at Barao at the end of the year
145: Aldo to KO Lamas, has Mendes been promised a shot after that? I'm not expecting BJ to defeat Edgar but if he does I could see him only needing only one more win to get a title shot
155: Wouldn't be too surprised if Pettis doesn't manage to fight at all this year
170: Hendricks to get by Lawler and then Woodley, who matches up well with Condit, agreed that Lombard could be the top contender by the end of the year
185: Any combination of Weidman/Vitor/Machida will be really interesting to see, Machida/Mousasi is a great fight too but I don't see Mousasi being able to stuff Weidman
205: Jones to beat Glover and Gus
265: Cain will return at the end of the year and take out Browne

115: No idea, Esparza or Torres maybe?
135: Rousey

Men
125: Demetrious Johnson - He’s beaten the others that are at the very top of the division and looks to be getting better each time. Potential challengers in 2014 are Dodson again, Linker/Bagautinov winner and McCall/Pickett winner. I’d favour him in any of those fights.

135: Renan Barao - I think he beats Faber again and I’m not sure who he fights after that. Maybe Assuncao gets a title shot. Not sure when Cruz will be back but having him fight the Barao/Faber winner straight away wouldn’t be the greatest idea. I think Barao remains champion until the end of 2014 whatever way the UFC decide to go.

145: Jose Aldo - If he beats Lamas and stays at 145 he likely faces someone he’s already defeated; Swanson or Mendes. I think he wins any of these fights and remains champion until he goes up to 155. Might be towards the end of 2014 after a couple more fights and if so I’d say we’ll be without a champion at the end of 2014.

155: Anthony Pettis - Fights at most twice this year I’d say. I’ll say he fights once against Thomson or Grant and wins.

170: Carlos Condit - Hendricks probably the smart choice here but went for a different option considering I’d taken the safe options so far. If his fight with Woodley was 5 rounds I’d really like Condit’s chances of winning that. With it only being 3 it’s tougher but I think he puts Woodley away. Condit would have beat Hendricks if the first fight was 5 rounds imo. Hendricks was better in the GSP fight though. Hendricks beats Lawler then Condit finishes Hendricks in the championship rounds.

185: Lyoto Machida - Not really sure on this one. Might depend on who gets the next shot after Belfort. If it’s Jacare then I think Weidman beats Belfort and Jacare which leaves him as champ at the end of 2014. I’m going to say Machida beats Mousasi and gets the next shot after Weidman beats Belfort. Then Machida beats Weidman.

205: Jon Jones - Beats Teixeira then beats Gustafsson far more comfortably than the first time. I think Cormier will beat Jones but that probably won’t be until 2015.

265: Cain Velasquez - I’m not sure if he’ll fight in 2014. If he does then I’d say it’ll be against the Browne/Werdum winner. He beats whichever of them wins and retains the title or doesn’t fight in 2014.

Women
115: Tecia Torres - Will the finale be before the end of 2014? Filming doesn’t begin until mid May so I’m not sure if it will be. I think the winner of TUF will be one of Esparza, Gaddelha, Torres or Calderwood. Esparza or Gaddelha probably the favourite but I’ll say Torres wins the tournament.

135: Ronda Rousey - Rousey beats McMann and then beats Davis. I think McMann has a chance though. If she’s able to keep it standing then it’s a 50-50 for me. She could also get takedowns and maintain top control to win. I favour Rousey though.

Men

125: Johnson. He's done it all and I don't have a sensible reason to justify picking against him

135: Barao. He fights 3 times and wins them all. Faber probably deserves to be a UFC champion at some point in his career, but he seems to be the divisions 2nd best fighter. First when Cruz was champ, and now with Barao.

145: Aldo. Mendes seems to be the 145 Faber. He's better than everyone else, but just not Aldo. I also think that Cowboy Cerone will get a title shot in 2014.

155: I love this division! I hope that Melendez fights for the title against Pettis, it may well be the fight of the year! Kahbib, Melendez and Henderson will fight for the title by the end of 2014, but it's a lottery to see who concludes the year with the belt. My guess is Henderson.

170: Rory MacDonald. Hendricks to hold the belt at some point, but Rory will get his groove back and go on a tear. Lombard will disappoint.

185: Machida. It wouldn't shock me to see Bisping, Vitor, Mousasi or Weidman as the champ, but I'm picking Machida based on who I think has the best chance of beating the current title holder. I'd love to see Mousasi be champ in the UFC.

205: Jones. Jones will not lose at 205 and conclude the year by vacating the belt to move up. He will fight Tex, Gus and Cormier in 2014 and win them all.

265: Brock. Kidding Cain again. JDS will have to wait to get another shot and I don't see anyone else outside of Browne that has a punchers chance against him

Women

115: Esparza

135: Ronda

Some interesting calls and a good thread to read back over. In red are a few of the more accurate calls, and before anyone says anything, I know that Werdum is the "champ" but Cain didn't lose and no one picked Werdum.

Fun thread.