The UFC goes to Louisiana this weekend, and they are bringing a solid night of fights featuring a record-holder for most bonus money won in a single year.
The main event will feature former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields going up against power-puncher Jake Ellenberger. This fight could very well determine the next title challenger in the division. Ellenberger is currently on a four-fight win streak while Shields’ 15-fight win streak was stopped with a loss to Georges St. Pierre in his last fight.
Other main card bouts include Court McGee vs. Dong Yi Yang, Jonathan Brookins vs. Erik Koch and Alan Belcher vs. Jason MacDonald.
These are my predictions for fight, knockout and submission of the night.
Knockout of the Night: Alan Belcher
Middleweight fighter Alan Belcher will come of an extensive layoff to take on Jason MacDonald, and he is bringing an impressive stretch of bonuses to the cage on Saturday.
In his past four fights, Belcher has been awarded two fight of the night awards and two submission of the night bonuses. He is tied with Chris Lytle for the most award money won in a single year. There is no reason to think he can’t continue his streak in this fight.
Of Belcher’s 16 career victories, eight have come by knockout and six are by submission.
MacDonald has 14 losses on his record, including five by knockout, four by submission and five by decision.
Fight of the Night: Jonathan Brookins vs. Erik Koch
Ultimate Fighter winner Jonathan Brookins hasn’t fought since winning his UFC debut in Dec. 2010.
Koch made his UFC debut earlier this year when he knocked out Raphael Assuncao to pick up a knockout of the night bonus.
Both of these fighters are tough enough to make it the distance, and both don’t like to take their fights longer than what is necessary. This makes for a very exciting fight between two fighters who like to finish but are very hard to finish.
Between them, they have 20 victories by submission or knockout. Brookins’ last defeat was against Jose Aldo, while Koch’s only career loss was to top-ranked featherweight Chad Mendes.
This is a fight that could ultimately determine the next best up-and-comer in the 145-pound division, and it should be a very competitive and close fight.
Submission of the Night: Court McGee
Ultimate Fighter winner Court McGee will make his third appearance in the UFC and be taking on Dong Yi Yang, a South Korean fighter with a 10-1 record.
Yang is a big and aggressive middleweight, and his strength was visible in his UFC victory versus Rob Kimmons. He is currently 1-1 in the UFC.
McGee recently defeated Ryan Jensen by submission in a fan-friendly fight that saw him come from behind to pick up the win and a fight of the night bonus at UFC 121.
Expect to see Yang come out fast in this fight and be looking for the knockout early. McGee is one of those guys that can weather the storm and stick to his gameplan to pull out a victory when the fight gets deep into the late rounds, so don’t expect to see him go out easy.
If this fight hits the third round, McGee should have more in the gas tank to take Yang down and get the submission victory in another fan-friendly fight.
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