UFC 167: GSP vs. Hendricks – Fight-by-Fight Preview and Predictions

By TXMMA Staff

 

UFC 167 headlined by Georges St. Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks; Three Texans total on the card

 

Photo: TVA Sports

LAS VEGAS, Nevada, November 13, 2013 – This Saturday night in Las Vegas marks the 20th anniversary event for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and it’s a good one with UFC 167 headlined by one of the most dominating fighters in the world in welterweight champion Georges “Rush” St-Pierre taking on perhaps his biggest challenge yet in Johny “Bigg Rigg” Hendricks.

Aside from the much-hyped main event, the rest of the UFC 167 fight card is also really, really good. So much so in fact that it really should have been marketed way much more than it has.

The co-main event pits ex-No.1 middleweight contender, (29-13-1) Chael Sonnen against former light heavyweight champ “Suga” Rashad Evans in a light heavyweight matchup. Meanwhile, two more pivotal divisional clashes are featured at welterweight with top-rated prospect Rory MacDonald taking on a resurgent Robbie Lawler in one while Josh Koscheck takes on Tyron Woodley in the other on the main card. A flyweight bout featuring Tim Elliott vs. Ali Bagautinov rounds out the PPV card.

As for the non-PPV portion of the show, set to air on FOX Sports 1 and on Facebook, Texan fans have several reasons to be excited with the presence of two more Texas-based fighters on the UFC 167 undercard.

First up, Will Campuzano makes his return to Zuffa territory fresh off a win in Japan over Hideo Tokoro. A former flyweight champion for the Texas-based Legacy Fighting Championship promotion, Campuzano makes his return to the UFC for the first time since 2011. Already a veteran from back in the WEC days, he’ll be re-debuting as a flyweight versus a true Zuffa rookie in Sergio Pettis, brother to current light heavyweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis.

Also up on the UFC 167 undercard is Will’s teammate from Mohler MMA Edwin Figueroa as he takes on Erik “Goyito” Perez in what should be yet another fight between two fast-paced strikers.

Here’s the complete UFC 167 fight card below. Read on for our fight-by-fight preview and predictions for the entire card.

 

UFC 167 Fight Card (Main Card, PPV)

UFC 167 TV Undercard (Fox Sports 1)

UFC 167 Online Prelims (Facebook)

 

UFC 167 Fight-by-Fight Preview and Predictions (Main Card)

 

170 lbs.: Georges St-Pierre (24-2) vs. Johny Hendricks (15-1)

Georges St. Pierre is close to a 2-to-1 favorite heading into this fight and perhaps rightfully so considering his dominant reign as the UFC welterweight champion. As for “Big Rigg” Johnny Hendricks, many are hyping him to be the most dangerous opponent GSP’s faced in some time. Now that kind of hyperbole gets thrown around quite a bit before title fights but in this case it may actually be true.

Hendricks is a former collegiate wrestler like previous GSP opponent Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, etc. before him but he also brings an added element of knockout power in both hands. And as we’ve seen long before in his bout Matt Serra, GSP is not invincible and can get caught. Now with that being said, it’s quite fair to say that GSP might be the best mixed martial artist on the planet. What we mean by that is he mixes them up better than anybody, transitioning from boxing or Kyokoshin karate based strikes to wrestling takedowns almost seamlessly. His recent promotion to BJJ black belt shows he’s been developing on the ground too and we all knock he has cardio for days.

To us the x-factor here might be on the other side with Johny’s gas tank. Twenty five minutes presents a lot of opportunity for him to avoid takedowns and close the distance to find GSP’s chin but his probability of landing the KO blow might be gone by the end of round three. Whether GSP decides to play the jabs from the outside or take Hendricks down one thing he won’t do is play the exchange game with him so there’ll be some work to do on that front.

We’d give Hendricks the better chance of finishing St. Pierre than the other way around but literally anything can happen in this fight and GSP still enters as the favorite by virtue of his track record against most every contender that’s gone his way.

Prediction: Georges St-Pierre over Johny Hendricks by decision

 

205 lbs.: Rashad Evans (20-3-1) vs. Chael Sonnen (29-13-1)

Two top wrestlers turned established MMA fighters face each other in the co-main event with former 205 lbs. champ Rashad Evans taking on perennial contender Chael Sonnen.

Sonnen will be riding high heading into this one after his tremendous performance dispatching Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC Fight Night 26. Meanwhile, 34 year old Rashad “Suga” Evans might not be the fighter he once was and has lost two out of his last three minus a split decision win over Dan Henderson this past June. Could he already be on the decline? Evans is hoping to prove he isn’t in this bout just as Sonnen did against Rua in his own last one.

Stylistically Chael shouldn’t be able to overwhelm Evans with his wrestling-based attack as he has past opponents. Evans might actually be a better wrestler than him and factor in the fact that Rashad is the faster, stronger, more elusive striker and “Suga” should be heavily favored in this bout. Not a ‘walk in the park’ for either guy but Evans should be able to take this one.

Prediction: Rashad Evans over Chael Sonnen by decision

 

170 lbs.: Rory MacDonald (15-1) vs. Robbie Lawler (21-9)

This bout between everyone’s favorite prospect Rory MacDonald and everyone’s favorite vet “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler should speak to the future of the welterweight title picture. A teammate of GSP, MacDonald has been called the heir apparent for some time now but in his way will be Lawler, a longtime vet who’s been on an absolute tear ever since returning the UFC from Strikeforce – finishing his last two opponents in a row.

Stylistically this fight is very similar to the main event, with Rory the more well-rounded fighter and Robbie definitely the harder hitter. It’s also rather similar to MacDonald’s last matchup versus Jake Ellenberger so I see him employing that same kind of strategy of picking him apart from the outside when not looking to hit the timely takedown. With the “Ruthless One” there’s always a chance of one strike that could change the complexion of the fight in an instant but this should be Rory’s fight to lose.

Prediction: Rory MacDonald over Robbie Lawler by decision

 

170 lbs.: Josh Koscheck (17-7) vs. Tyron Woodley (11-2)

It seems like Josh Koscheck’s longtime run as a contender might be coming to an end with two losses in a row heading into this fight. Meanwhile, Tryon Woodley is looking to prove he actually is one (a contender) after losing two out of his last three fights to Nate Marquardt and Jake Shields. In short, both men enter this fight with lots to prove.

This matchup in particular is an interesting one considering the wrestling credentials of both men. It’s either going to be really entertaining or really boring based on where and how the fight takes place. In this case, we look for Josh to have enough defensive wrestling, striking, and overall experience to edge this one out over his relatively raw opponent.

Prediction: Josh Koscheck over Tyron Woodley by decision

 

125 lbs.: Tim Elliot (10-3-1) vs. Ali Bagautinov (11-2)

 Ali Bagautinov has been impressive heading into this one with a nine-fight win streak intact but Tim Elliot has been equally so in demolishing flyweight contender Louis Gaudinot in his last fight. Make no mistake about it, Ali is a gamer but Elliot is more well-rounded and is riding great momentum heading into this one.

Prediction: Tim Elliot over Ali Bagautinov by TKO, RD2

 

UFC 167 Fight-by-Fight Preview and Predictions (Prelims)

 

155 lbs.: Donald Cerrone (20-6) vs. Evan Dunham (14-4)

This bout could be one of the more exciting ones of the evening and is definitely a good choice for the PPV lead-in. Donald Cerrone and Evan Dunham are both rangy aggressive strikers who can both mix it up in other areas of the fight as well. Look for this fight to go all over the place as both fighters look to go for broke after being dealt a loss in their last bout. This bout could go either way but we do give “Cowboy” the advantage.

Prediction: Donald Cerrone over Evan Dunham by TKO, RD3

 

185 lbs.: Ed Herman (21-9) vs. Thales Leites (21-4)

This bout of two veterans pits submission specialist Thales Leites against Ed Herman in a battle for continued relevancy. The Brazilian has won four in a row while “Short Fuse” has won four out of his last five. The matchup however goes in Leites’ favor considering his expertise has also been his opponent’s shortcoming over the last few years.

Prediction: Thales Leites over Ed Herman by submission, RD1

 

170 lbs.: Brian Ebersole (50-15-1) vs. Rick Story (15-7)

Coming in as the most experienced fighter on the card, Brian Ebersole has proven himself as a gritty and tough fighter that’s always game for a fight. Meanwhile Rick Story hasn’t quite lived up to the potential he had when he beat Johnny Hendricks earlier in his career. Not sure how but we like Ebersole in this one.

Prediction: Brian Ebersole over Rick Story by decision

 

135 lbs.: Erik Perez (13-5) vs. Edwin Figueroa (9-3)

This one could be a ‘fight of the night’ contender between “El Goyito” Erik Perez and “El Feroz” Edwin Figueroa. It should be one of those barnburner type of fights with tremendous output by both men. The Texan Edwin has the power to put a stop to any fight but Erik is definitely the favorite considering he’s a little more polished in all areas.

Prediction: Erik Perez over Edwin Figueroa by decision

 

170 lbs.: Jason High (17-4) vs. Anthony Lapsley (22-5)

A battle of two wrestlers is what this is between Jason High and Anthony Lapsley. This probably won’t be one of the more exciting fights, to be honest. It’ll be a close one but it will come down to who wins the positional battle more than anything.

Prediction: Jason High over Anthony Lapsley by decision

 

125 lbs.: Will Campuzano (13-4) vs. Sergio Pettis (9-0)

DFW’s Will Campuzano makes his long awaited return to the UFC and he walks right into an exciting matchup against Sergio Pettis, the brother of current lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis. The word on the street is that Sergio is a little more methodical than his brother, relying more on a well-rounded technical attack versus dynamic striking. Either way we think Will’s experience will allow him to hang in all areas and despite being the underdog, he’s got all the tools to beat his hyped opponent.

Prediction: Will Campuzano over Sergio Pettis by decision

 

205 lbs.: Gian Villante (10-4) vs. Cody Donovan (8-3)

The first bout of the night has Gian Villante looking for his first UFC win versus Cody Donovan. We don’t know too much about these guys but it should be an exciting one considering the percentage of finishes on their record. Literally a coin flip here but we like Gian Villante for the win.

Prediction: Gian Villante over Cody Donovan by TKO, RD2

 

 

 

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