UFC 170 Predictions

By: Tyler Bourne

By the time UFC 170 comes to Vegas, Olympic fever will be a thing of the past but Olympic level athleticism will continue its display with three former Olympians on the main card. In the main event two former Olympic medalists battle it out for a different kind of gold and in the co-main event; a fellow Olympian faces his former training partner in the light-heavyweight division. The rest of the main card is dominated by welterweights including a fight between two former contenders, two veterans of the division and a contest between an Ultimate Fighter winner and a former kickboxing champion.

Main Event: Rowdy Ronda Rousey vs. Sara McMann (Womens Bantamweight title fight) Both Ronda Rousey and Sara McMann were former Olympians who each won a medal in their respective sports. McMann won silver in freestyle wrestling during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece while Rousey picked up the bronze in judo during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Another thing that these two women have in common is that theyre both undefeated in their professional mixed martial arts careers but come Saturday night one will walk away with the gold and another will walk away their first loss. McManns Olympic level wrestling might be a challenge for Rousey but the Womens Bantamweight champion is has always been extremely crafty and even if she doesnt lock on the armbar in the first round, shell finish the fight with that method if she stays patient. Prediction: Rousey by first round armbar

Co-Main Event: Daniel DC Cormier vs. Patrick Durkin Cummins (Light-Heavyweight fight) After kidney failure put Daniel Cormiers Olympic dreams on hold, he soon began to make a name for himself as a mixed martial artist beating some of the heavyweight divisions best fighters including Josh Barnett, Frank Mir and Roy Nelson.

Despite being undefeated as a heavyweight, Cormier made the decision to start with clean slate as a light-heavyweight against his friend and occasional broadcast partner Rashad Evans but a leg injury sustained by Evans put that match-up on hold. Finding a replacement was difficult but when Cormiers former training partner Patrick Cummins volunteered to fight him on Twitter, the UFC took notice and brought Cummins to their organization. Cummins is an undefeated All-American collegiate wrestler and even though he only has four fights in his MMA career, he won and finished all of them in the first round but facing an undefeated Olympic level wrestler like Cormier will be a true baptism by fire for the promotional rookie. Prediction: Cormier by decision

Match 3: Rory Ares MacDonald vs. Demian Maia (Welterweight fight) With back to back wins in the welterweight division, Rory MacDonald and Demian Maia looked to become future title contenders but split decisions losses to Robbie Lawler and Jake Shields stopped them from doing so. The losses havent dropped them too far back though but the loser of this fight might fall back further in the rankings. Maia has always been known as one of the best jiu-jitsu practitioners in MMA but hes facing a man who has made Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts like Nate Diaz and B.J. Penn look amateurs. Not just with better grappling but with better striking and an ideal way for MacDonald to win this one will be to put on a striking clinic against the Brazilian. Prediction: MacDonald by decision

Match 4: Mike Quicksand Pyle vs. T.J. Waldburger (Welterweight fight) Both Mike Pyle and T.J. Waldburger are going into this fight coming off of a loss. A win for either fighter could mean a more secure future with the UFC. Pyle and Waldburger are solid with submissions but starting two years ago Pyle had been reinventing himself as a knockout artist and the best way for him to win this one is to go back to his newfound style. Prediction: Pyle by first round TKO

Match 5: Robert Whittaker vs. Stephen Wonderboy Thompson (Welterweight fight) Although Lyoto Machida is one of the most well-known karate practitioners in MMA, Robert Whittaker and Stephen Thompson have used karate to be successful in their own MMA careers. Whittaker skills as a karate black belt have led him to become the first New Zealand born mixed martial artist to win The Ultimate Fighter while Thompson has been training in karate since he was three before he became a mixed martial artist he was a former kickboxing champion with an undefeated record. It would be neat to see this two put on a kickboxing showcase in this match but Whittaker also has a black belt in hapkido and itll be very likely that hell use those skills to his advantage. Prediction: Whittaker by decision

Preliminary Fights: UFC Fight Pass subscribers can catch two lightweight fights. The first between undefeated promotional rookie Ernest Chavez and Cuban prospect Yosdenis Cedeno while former featherweight contender Erik Koch makes his lightweight debut against Brazilian veteran Rafaello Oliveira. Preliminary action continues on Fox Sports 1 with a flyweight battle between Bellators first bantamweight champion Zach Makovsky and submission expert Josh Sampo while top five ranked bantamweight Raphael Assuncao faces undefeated Brazilian prospect Pedro Munhoz. Headlining the preliminary card is an important womens bantamweight fight between Canadian grappler Alexis Davis and top five ranked female Jessica Eye.