UFC 205 Main Card Preview & Predictions

UFC 205 is upon us this weekend live from Madison Square Garden. It is a major event with three major titles on the line. Not only that, but it is the first in the State of New York, the last to legalize MMA.

This event will truly be a milestone for MMA on its biggest stage. Much like UFC 200, the card is loaded with 13 great fights.

The main card may be one of the best of all time as it is loaded with six great fights, three of which are title fights!

Kicking off the main card is the former Women’s Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate taking on the up and coming Raquel Pennington. It isn’t a secret any longer, Penniginton is the real thing and on a hot streak currently. She has won her last three fights and will look to remain on a tear against the former champ.

Miesha Tate shocked the world with her come from behind win to win against Holly Holm in March.Since then, she has only fought once,the main event of UFC 200 and was destroyed against Amanda Nunes in under a round.

So now we must figure out which Miesha Tate is the real Cupcake. Is it the woman who has been destroyed twice against Cat Zingano, Ronda Rousey twice, and Amanda Nunes. Or is the woman who rattled off five straight wins on to her to the title.

Time Will tell, but I smell an upset brewing on this one, and a shocking decision victory for Pennington.

Prediction – Decision win for Pennington

One of the most popular fighters and active in the UFC is Cowboy Donald Cerrone who will be taking on Kevin Gastelum, who replaced the originally named opponent Robbie Lawler. Cerrone is 3-0 since moving to welterweight, with victories over Alex Oliveira, Patrick Cote and Rick Story all by fantastic finishes of KO’s and Submissions.

Kevin Gastelum was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 17 and currently the 6th ranked welterweight in the UFC. After starting off his career 10-0 he has dropped two of his last four fights and appears to be struggling to make weight.

He is coming off of a convincing win against an uninspired Johnny Hendricks at UFC 200 however, so this one is a bit of a wild card.

Prediction – Cerrone by knockout in the second round

Chris Weidman vs Yoel Romero is a safe bet that the winner of this bout will become the new number one contender to Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping. Yoel Romero appeared to be unstoppable knocking out foe after foe including such luminaries as Lyoto Machida and Tim Kennedy.

But then there is just one hiccup to his 7 fight winning streak, he was popped for PED’s.

So, now, all of it gets put into question. USADA revealed that Romero tested positive for ibutamoren, a growth hormone release stimulator.

His opponent, Chris Weidman, the hard throwing New Yorker, is the natural fan favorite coming into this one. The hometown boy who has been beloved since knocking off the invincible Anderson Silva way back in the summer of 2013.

It is a spicy meatball for sure, Weidman is damn good, no one will dispute that, however at 12-1, Romero is very much the real deal as well. Weidman has not fought since his title loss to Luke Rockhold back at UFC 194 nearly a year ago.

Prediction – Weidman gets back to his winning weighs with a split decision victory.

At 12-0, UFC Women’s Straweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk is the best pound for pound fighter in the world. There is no doubt in my mind she will continue to prove that with a convincing win over Karolina Kowalkiewicz on Saturday night.

Prediction – Jedrzejczyk by first round submission

I truly believe the UFC Welterweight Championship reign of Tyron Woodley will be short and sweet and end abruptly Saturday night against number one contender Stephen Thompson. It is the Wonder Boys time. He has been dominant winning his last 7 fights in a row against the likes of Johnny Hendricks, Rory Macdonald, Jake Ellenberger, Patrick Cote and others. He is 13-1 with his only loss coming to UFC veteran Matt Brown. Not many causal fans of MMA know about Thompson, but they will after UFC 205.

Prediction – Thompson by submission in the fifth and final round.

THE MAIN EVENT OF THE EVENING

UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor challenges UFC Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez for his title only.

This one is so hard to pick, because of how badly McGregor looked at select times against Diaz at 170, twice, but how good he has looked against smaller size guys at featherweight. Once again, McGregor has put himself in a situation with everything to gain and almost nothing to lose.

Eddie Alvarez is a formidable opponent and a great champion at 155 pounds. He is a former Bellator Lightweight champion, and has knocked off 3 former lightweight champions since entering the UFC. Alavarez holds victories over Gilbert Melendez, Anthony Pettis and his title win over Rafeal dos Anjos.

Here is the thing that I think will turn this fight, most men the size of McGregor can’t hit as hard as he can, Alvarez can and will. Can Conor’s chin hold up? Only time will tell.

For McGregor, he has been one of the hottest things to hit MMA in many years. In 2016 alone, this will be his 3rd huge fight, and also 4th in a year if you go back to UFC 194 last December when he beat the seemingly unbeatable Jose Aldo in less than 20 seconds.

McGregor is 8-1 in the UFC, and at times looks unstoppable. He is more then hype, he is the real thing and great for the sport. This truly is a marquee matchup in every sense of the word.

Prediction – McGregor by Submission in the fourth.

Agree or disagree? Let me know on twitter at VinceTheAuthor