A complete contrast of styles headlines the card for UFC on Fox 11 in Orlando, Fla. The crushing and destructive nature of Travis “Hapa” Browne meets the calculated grappling and submission expertise of Fabricio Werdum.
The winner stands a great chance of being next in line for heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.
The rest of the main card features some big names and intriguing matchups. Here’s how you can watch every minute of the action and predictions for each bout.
Just beneath the predictions is a closer look at the main card bouts.
|
Weight class |
Fighter | Fighter | Prediction |
Method |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Card | (Fox) 8 p.m. ET | ||||
| Heavyweight | Fabricio Werdum | vs. | Travis Browne | Browne | KO |
| Women’s Bantamweight | Miesha Tate | vs. | Liz Carmouche | Carmouche | Decision |
| Lightweight | Donald Cerrone | vs. | Edson Barboza | Barboza | KO |
| Middleweight | Brad Tavares | vs. | Yoel Romero | Romero | TKO |
| Preliminary card (Fox Sports 1) 5 p.m. ET | |||||
| Lightweight | Rafael dos Anjos | vs. | Khabib Nurmagomedov | Nurmagomedov | Decision |
| Welterweight | Thiago Alves | vs. | Seth Baczynski | Alves | TKO |
| Lightweight | Jorge Masvidal | vs. | Pat Healy | Healy | Decision |
| Featherweight | Estevan Payan | vs. | Alex White | White | Submission |
| Middleweight | Caio Magalhaes | vs. | Luke Zachrich | Magalhaes | Decision |
| Welterweight | Jordan Mein | vs. | Hernani Perpetuo | Perpetuo | Decision |
| Preliminary card (UFC Fight Pass) at 3:30 p.m. ET | |||||
| Flyweight | Dustin Ortiz | vs. | Ray Borg | Ortiz | TKO |
| Featherweight | Mirsad Bektic | vs. | Chas Skelly | Bektic | Decision |
| Heavyweight | Derrick Lewis | vs. | Jack May | Lewis | KO |
Romero’s Striking and Physical Strength Will Wear Down Tavares
Brad Tavares is a sharp and balanced professional fighter, but the physical advantage Yoel Romero possesses over him will be too much to overcome.
As strikers go, Romero is one of the scariest in the promotion.
Every shot threatens to steal his opponent’s consciousness. What’s best about Romero is that he doesn’t sell out with his energy early. He’ll walk Tavares down, thwart the necessary takedown attempts and stop him late.
Cerrone-Barboza: There Will Be Blood
The Donald Cerrone-Edson Barboza bout will be violent, explosive and delightful to hardcore fans of striking in the sport.
Cerrone is a dangerous man on his feet and as a grappler, but Barboza‘s speed and suddenness gives him the edge. Some might remember when Cerrone was nearly stopped by Melvin Guillard in Aug. 2012.
Guillard rocked the Cowboy badly, but he didn’t have the poise, presence or stamina to finish the job.
Barboza brings even more explosive striking to the table, a higher fighting IQ and more stamina. He won’t be gassed after a furious first round.
His skills have evolved over the years. His nasty leg kicks are just one part of his arsenal. Damon Martin of Fox Sports expounds:
With a devastating array of leg kicks that have crippled two past opponents to the point where the fight had to be stopped, Barboza is ready to test his striking against Cerrone, but make no mistake this isn’t a kickboxing match despite everyone’s grand plans for how this unfolds.
Barboza has worked tirelessly over the last few years to become a true mixed martial artist, so as much as he loves the knockout, he’s going to take whatever openings Cerrone gives him.
Look for him to stop the Cowboy in the second round with something memorable.
Carmouche‘s Strength and Wrestling Will Break Tate
I love Tate’s spirit and Carmouche is a warrior, but let’s be honest, this fight shouldn’t be part of the main card. Neither woman has won anything in the UFC. The loser may very well get a pink slip.
How’s that a formula for the top of the card?
I digress. Tate doesn’t possess enough technical skills as a grappler to overcome Carmouche‘s advantage in strength. Look for Carmouche to close distance and dominate from top position.
Hapa Will Catch Werdum With a Big Shot
That sub-headline was pretty basic. Reason being, the end of this fight won’t require a ton of explanation. Fabricio Werdum won’t find it as easy as some believe to take Travis Browne down.
Because of Browne’s recent KO victories over Josh Barnett and Gabriel Gonzaga, many have forgotten how good a wrestler he is.
He won’t be taken off his feet easily, or without a barrage of elbows to discourage Werdum from shooting the legs.
As Werdum attempts to show his improved stand-up game, he’ll get rocked by a bomb from the 6’7″ heavyweight, and the night will be over.
To make things worse, Browne is a bit peeved at Werdum for breaking an unwritten rule in the sport. Per Evelyn Rodrigues and Ivan Raupp of Portuguese publication Combate.com, Browne is looking to make Werdum pay for discussing details of a past training session:
I believe he was disrespectful. I don’t talk about people who sparred with me in the past about how it was, how I performed, how they performed and anything like that. He made his choice. The funny thing to me is that this happened four and a half years ago. I hope he’s a different fighter from the one he was that time. If he thinks that I’m the same fighter that I was, he’s in trouble.
The last time we saw this situation was the Daniel Cormier-Patrick Cummins bout from UFC 170. That didn’t work out so well for Cummins, we’ll see if its any different for Werdum.
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