Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva © vs. Demian Maia
I am not an Anderson Silva nut swinger, but if Maia can't get this fight to the ground in a legit way he is going to get picked apart. Silva is one of the best counter strikers in the game and looks like a ghost in there sometimes (see forest griffin fight). Maia = top shelf jitsu and if this fight goes to the ground it could be much closer than the experts predict.
Wagner's Throat Punch Prediction: Silva wins and he is going to try to get a finish here.
Lightweight Championship bout: B.J. Penn © vs. Frankie Edgar
This could be the biggest threat to Penn in a while. Edgar is a really good wrestler and has some good hands. Will it be enough to defeat Penn? No but it will not look like the past couple of fights where Penn has mauled people. Side note: My sister was a trainer where Edgar went to college, good wrestler but very very very dumb and in her words " acts like one of those d-bags on jersey shore".
Wagner's Throat Punch Prediction: Penn wins and could go all 5
Welterweight bout: Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie
Renzo Gracie might have the honor of putting Hughes into retirement. Hughes did beat Royce Gracie but that was when Gracie should have stayed out of the cage. Renzo Grazie of course has world class jitsu and loads of experience. The question is can he overcome the angry hillbilly factor that Hughes brings to the cage? Hughes is no joke but his age and ring wear might be a factor here.
Wagner's Throat Punch Predicton: I am going with the upset and pickign Hughes. I like the old school guys and who can hate a guy who walks out to "country boy can survive?"
Oh and don't forget Strikeforce has a fight on the 17th on CBS. Two reasons to watch that:
1. Dan Henderson could knock Shields into a different time zone
2. In the light weight fight you could see the first televised compound fracture since LT snaped Joe Thiseman's leg like a pencil.