UFC Fight Night 68: Boetsch vs. Henderson will air on June 6, 2015 from New Orleans, Louisiana.
#13 TIM “THE BARBARIAN” BOETSCH (18-8-0) VS. DAN “HENDO” HENDERSON (30-13-0)
This five round main event is in the middleweight division. This fight will be a showdown between two wrestlers who plan to show off their skills against each other. Boetsch brings wrestling along with takedown defense and grappling making him familiar with not only knockout victories, but submissions and decisions as well to where he can defeat his opponents by all three methods for victory. Henderson brings wrestling of course, along with great takedown defense, striking and cardio that has helped him not only finish fights, but last the entire fight where he claimed victory by decision, though he does not have very many submission victories, which could be his downfall in this fight. However, Henderson does have more experience in wrestling since he is a former Olympic wrestler, which helped him have better cardio to where he lasted most of his fights to the end where he could gain points from striking and takedowns thus securing his victory over with the judges.
My prediction: Henderson wins via split decision.
#9 BEN ROTHWELL (34-9-0) VS. MATT MITRIONE (9-3-0)
This is a three round fight in the heavyweight division. Like all heavyweight fights, this one contains two heavy hitters that always put on a performance when it comes down to a battle of who throws the hardest strikes. Rothwell brings jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, boxing and kickboxing to this fight, which have all prevailed in being very effective in his fights as he managed to finish most of his opponents by submission or knockout showing everyone that he has the power to finish opponents even when they have the iron chin. Mitrione brings Shotokan Karate, kickboxing and boxing to this fight which have helped him achieve eight out of nine wins by knockout within the first two rounds. The fight now looks more like it will be a boxing match rather than a martial arts fight, though Rothwell has been able to last longer in fights than Mitrione and even has had submission victories in his career, which could be a huge factor in this fight and starts to make me wonder if Mitrione has the cardio to last against an opponent like Rothwell.
My prediction: Rothwell wins via knockout in Round 2.
SHAWN “THE SAVAGE” JORDAN (17-6-0) VS. DERRICK “THE BLACK BEAST” LEWIS (12-3-0, 1NC)
This is a three round fight in the heavyweight division. Though many fans probably are not aware that this fight is a rematch between two heavyweights who faced each other five years ago in June of 2010, in which Jordan was victorious by unanimous decision. Jordan brings wrestling and striking to this fight, which have proven him to be a powerful hitter where he won thirteen of seventeen of his victories by knockout. Lewis brings boxing and a good takedown defense to this fight to where he also has won a majority of his fights by knockout. Both of these fighters have the ability to knock each other out and go toe to toe, but what could be the key factor is the fact that Jordan has had more fights under his belt helping him improve his fight skills and even building up his power to further lengths. This rematch looks as if it might repeat itself, but I do not believe it will last the whole way through like last time.
My prediction: Jordan wins via knockout in round 1.
