The last time we saw Anderson Silva in the octagon the fans we’re booing him for not finishing an already beaten Demian Maia in UFC 112. Maia simply wasn’t able to take him down to showcase his impeccable jiu-jitsu. Will we see Chael Sonnen in a similar predicament? Here are my predictions for this fight and of the rest of the card.

Roy Nelson vs. Junior Dos Santos (Heavyweights)

Dana White simply doesn’t like Roy Nelson. Yet all Nelson has done was to simply win every time he fights, and what does he get as a reward? He got a date with the most explosive striker in the Heavyweight division in Dos Santos. We all know Dos Santos is being pushed as one of the future pillars of the division so a win here will get him a title shot in the near future.

Is it a given that he’ll win though? I don’t think so. He has the reach and power to put Nelson away and should be heavily favored considering Nelson didn’t do so well against Arlovski. At the same time he’s a lot more experienced than Dos Santos and has a pretty nice beard and a better ground game to boot so I think this could be closer than people think.

Prediction: Dos Santos by UD

Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Hughes (Welterweights)

After running roughshod over other team Renzo Gracie alums like Matt Serra and Renzo Gracie himself, Ricardo Almeida is very confident that he can put Hughes streak to stop when they meet at UFC 117. It makes for a nice storyline but does he really have a chance? His Jiu-jitsu is as good as they come but I doubt it if he has anything Hughes hasn’t seen before. Hughes might not be ranked in BJJ but I agree with Joe Rogan that he’s at par with other high level jiu-jitsu practitioners. Outside GSP, Fitch and Alves, I still think Hughes will give everyone hell.

Prediction: Matt Hughes by UD

Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Clay Guida (Lightweights)

Guida is always entertaining and is pretty well rounded. He also trains with Greg Jackson so we know he always comes in prepared. The only problem I see with his style is that he goes away from his main strength (wrestling) and engages his opponents in entertaining stand up wars. I like it as a fan but it hasn’t gotten him anywhere as far as title contention is concerned.

Dos Anjos was very impressive in his last win against Etim in UFC 112 and if he continues to improve, we could see a much better version of Dos Anjos vs Tyson Griffin on fight night. This should be the fight and submission of the night.

Prediction: Dos Anjos by submission in the 3^rd round

Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves (Welterweights)

Winner gets the next title shot (or Jake Shields). Both these guys know it could take more than a year to get back into contention should they lose so they’ll both bring it. Alves and his camp maintains that he’s as good as ever and prior to his injury I would have favored Alves to exact revenge on Fitch but until I see it I’m picking Fitch to grind out another win.

Prediction: Fitch by UD

Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva (Middleweight Championship)

No one in MMA (including Frank Mir) compares to Chael when it comes to talking trash. He stays in character the entire time and is always a fun interview. But can he back it up? Chael has a tendency to be caught on the ground with high level bjj guys and while Silva is a black belt, I haven’t seen him work his submission game as often because he rarely needs to (the last one he submitted was Sonnen’s teammate Dan Henderson).

One thing is for sure though, Silva can’t pull the stunt he did on Maia and run around him for several rounds because Sonnen will be in his face the entire time. I’m just not sure how long it will last because he either gets caught with a flurry of knees and punches or walk straight into a triangle choke should he take him down. Either way, I don’t see him winning against Silva. He was impressive against Okami and Marquardt but Silva is just on a level on his own.

Prediction: Silva by TKO in round 1