UFC 133 Preview & Predictions

Rory MacDonald (11-1) vs. Mike Pyle (21-7-1)

Pyle looks to play spoiler for the second time in three fights.

He ended the unbeaten streak and derailed the hype train of British prospect John Hathaway back at UFC 120 and looks to do the same to Canadian up-and-comer MacDonald here. After a somewhat inconsistent career, Pyle has found his groove in his last three bouts and aims to keep that run intact.

A lot of people — myself included — see big things for MacDonald in the future. He manhandled Nate Diaz at UFC 129 and dominated Carlos Condit through the first two rounds of their epic tilt at UFC 115 as well. Just 21 years old, he’s part of the new breed of fighters who has been training every discipline from the outset of his career, and his future looks very bright.

Pyle is crafty and a different type of fighter than he has seen in the past. While Condit is higher profile, this is the toughest test of the youngster’s career and will go a long way in showing if he’s ready to step up to the next level or not.

Jorge Rivera (19-8) vs. Constantinos Philippou (7-2)

For the third time, a scrap between Rivera and Alessio Sakara was felled by injuries. Philippou steps up after initially filling in opposite Rafael Natal, and gets a great opportunity to make an impression in this one.

Rivera is the clear and obvious favorite in this one; he’s been around the block a time or two and has solid hands with knockout power. Filling in on short notice is tough no matter what, and shifting opponents to a slugger like Rivera is even more challenging.

The good thing for Philippou is that he’s got nothing to lose. Few people are expecting anything from him and that makes him even more dangerous. The Serra-Longo product will definitely be prepared and has the potential to surprise here.

Dennis Hallman (50-13-2) vs. Brian Ebersole (47-14-1)

When you get two guys with 97 wins between them, you know you’re going to have a good scrap. You don’t rack up those many wins and that many fights by the fighting equivalent of NyQuil.

Hallman is an in-your-face wrestler who will try to close the distance from the jump. He’s at his best when he’s grinding away in tight, mixing in dirty boxing with good control and submission when the fight goes to the ground.

Calling Ebersole quirky doesn’t quite cut it. He tries cartwheel kicks, shaves his chest hair into patterns and is generally goofy and weird — and I love it. He’s a character, but he proved in his solid debut performance against Chris Lytle at UFC 127 that he can produce in the cage as well.

I don’t think either guy has a title run or move into the upper reaches of the division in their futures, this is still a good, entertaining scrap that could produce some highlights depending on what kind of wackiness Ebersole brings to the cage with him this time around.

Vitor Belfort (19-9) vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-3)

Akiyama is the Japanese middleweight version of Lytle; he’s impossible to knock out and all he does is put forth Fight of the Night-worthy performances. The trouble for “Sexyama” is that he’s lost two straight and earned a razor-thin win in his debut, so a third consecutive loss could be fatal to his fighting career in the UFC.

His granite chin will certainly be tested by Belfort, who needs a win just as badly. Though he’s 1-1 in his latest go-round with the UFC, he’s coming off being kicked in the face by Anderson Silva and needs to do something here to erase that image from peoples’ memory banks.

Rashad Evans (15-1-1) vs. Tito Ortiz (16-8-1)

The crazy thing about this fight is that the rematch angle alone would be enough to sell me on watching. When you add in the Lazarus-like resurrection of Tito’s career, how can you not be amped to see this? It’s crazy to think that five weeks ago, Tito’s career was at death’s door. One monster upset later and he’s a win away from being a top 3 light heavyweight again.

This is why I love this sport.

While this is a huge opportunity for Ortiz, he’s got no pressure on him. Evans, on the other hand, has got a lot riding on this one and needs to show all his trials and tribulations have been worth it.

A win gets him the title fight he originally held out for after beating “Rampage” last May; Dana White confirmed that Thursday. To get there, he’ll need to shake off 14 months of ring rust and not have any sloppy moments like he did in his last two fights.

If he can stay tight and technical, Evans should be the better of the two, but too often he gets a little cocky and careless, and it Tito clips him like Thiago Silva and “Rampage” both did, everything Evans has worked for to this point will go out the door.