UFC’s Baltimore card has come and gone, and Charm City turned out in support of Light Heavyweight champ Jon “Bones” Jones. After a close decision against Alexander Gustafsson, Bones successfully put his stamp on Glover Teixeira, neutralizing Teixeira’s right arm early with an arm crank, and outfighting him in the clinch for 5 rounds out of 5.
Otherwise the night went about as expected, with the exception of Anthony “Rumble” Johnson’s unanimous decision win over Phil Davis. Andre “Touchy” Fili lost to a more experienced Max Holloway, but that hasn’t dropped his stock in my eyes, as Fili remains a strong prospect with potential to evolve. We also got to see Bethe Correia rack up her second UFC win followed by an immediate callout of the 4 Horsewomen of MMA. Bellator self-destructed live on Twitter that same weekend, and Tito chocked out a much smaller man.
Daniel Cormier may soon provide Bones with his toughest test yet, but first he has to get past a resurgent Dan Henderson tonight in Vegas on UFC 173. I expect Cormier to come away with the victory, but he is nowhere near the sure thing that his -800 price tag would suggest. A small flier on Hendo could pay off big.
Someone who actually is worth his -800 price tag is Renan Barao, who defends his Bantamweight belt tonight against Team Alpha Male’s TJ Dillashaw. This will be coach Duane “Bang” Ludwig’s last shot at a title with Team Alpha Male, and that’s too bad, because Dillashaw is going to get smashed. TJ is one of the top fighters in the division, but Barao is head and shoulders above anyone else on the field right now. Do not place a bet on Dillashaw.
Other than that, I’m looking forward to seeing Lawler, Ellenburger, Mizugaki, Rivera, Varner, and Krause bang it out on the heavy-hitting main card.
Keep your hands up and protect yourselves at all times, this has been the Rabbit Punch!
