By Lance LeVan
Ultimate Fighting Championship 193 is being held in Las Vegas on Saturday, Dec. 12. I have been waiting for this fight card for a long time. The two top fights are for a championship belt and the title fights are the champions taking on the No. 1 contenders. Those fights are the best. Any of the top three fights could easily win “Fight of the Night” honors. I can’t wait to watch this entire fight card.
(C) Jose “Junior” Aldo (25-1-0) vs. (No. 1) Conor “The Notorious” McGregor (18-2-0)
This is going to be a five-round men’s featherweight (145 pounds) title fight. This is a fight that a lot of fans have been waiting to see. Aldo is on an 18-fight win streak. He is the champion for a reason. He is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a Muay Thai fighter. He is dangerous from everywhere. However, McGregor is a force to be reckoned with as well. He is a brown belt in BJJ and well-versed in boxing, kickboxing and Capoeira. I have been an Aldo fan for several years. I think he is an awesome champion and a good role model for kids. But I don’t think he can handle McGregor’s style. McGregor is on a completely different level of MMA than most fighters just like Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and, more recently, Ronda Rousey, McGregor is taking the sport to a new level. Like Babe Ruth and Ali, he is predicting what he will do during a fight (and following through with his predictions). My prediction: McGregor wins unanimous decision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pAzwT9BOh8
(C) Chris “The All-American” Weidman (13-0-0) vs. (No. 1) Luke Rockhold (14-2-0)
This is going to be a five-round men’s middleweight (185 pounds) fight. Both of these guys are black belts in BJJ. Both of them like to throw punches in bunches. Both of these guys are very aggressive fighters. I do not see this fight going all five rounds. Rockhold has a better percentage for submissions but the champ has better KOs. I think that this is an awesome match-up and it could be anybody’s match. It will come down to conditioning and strategy. I think we are going to see a lot of grappling and submission attempts starting in Round 1. Don’t ask me to defend my decision in this match. I am basing this solely on a gut feeling. I think they are both awesome fighters and I think that either of them could win this match on any given day. My prediction: Rockhold wins via submission in Round 3.
(No. 2) Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (23-3-0, 1NC) vs. (No. 3) Yoel “Soldier of God” Romero (10-1-0)
This is a three-round middleweight (185 pounds) fight. These two fighters are very different in their styles. Souza is a very technical grappler with more than half of his fights ending in a submission. Romero is a brawler with 90 percent of his fights ending in KO/TKOs. Souza is a black belt in BJJ and in Judo. Romero is a wrestler. Neither of them will quit nor go down easily. I can totally see this fight winning “Fight of the Night” honors. Jacare will be looking for the submission and Romero will be looking to knock someone out. In my opinion, Souza has tons more experience with high-level fighters. I think that this will make the difference in this contest. My prediction: Souza wins via submission in Round 2.
