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The Ultimate Fighting Championship is setting up shop in Newark, New Jersey this Saturday for UFC Fight Night on Fox, with a tasty fight card for fans to sink their teeth into.

Headlining the event is a contest between of the Middleweight division’s elite competitors, Luke Rockhold and Lyoto Machida.

Both fighters have looked impressive lately, and a win for Rockhold, who has won his last three against Costas Philippou, Tim Boetsch and most recently Michael Bisping, will most definitely catapult him into title contention.

Machida will probably feel he deserves another crack at the belt if he defeats Rockhold, but in reality he’ll probably need an other victory as he lost to Champion Wideman last year, albeit in one of the closest fights of 2014.

The fight will probably be a stand up battle, with Rockhold the aggressor coming forward with his flashy kicks, and Machida in his familiar counter-striker stance.
With both fighters possessing the power to end things quickly, don’t be surprised if it doesn’t go the distance.

Whilst Machida is still a great competitor, he’s almost 37 and he’s been around a long time. I think in such a close fight on paper, age may play a factor and that’s why I give Rockhold, who’s still in the prime of his career at 30, the edge.

Rockhold TKO Round 3.

The other fighter that completes the Middleweight title picture is Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza, and he’ll be making up one half of the co-main event against Chris Camozzi.

In what would’ve been an intriguing contest, ‘Jacare’ was scheduled to face off against rising Cuban star Yoel Romero and a victory in that would’ve given him a legitimate claim for the coveted next shot at the Middleweight belt. But in an unfortunate turn of events Romero suffered a knee injury, which forced him off the card.

In his place stepped Chris Camozzi. The fight is a strange one as the two fought only two years ago, and ‘Jacare’ required less than two minutes to submit his opponent by arm triangle.

With Camozzi scoring a modest record of 2-3 since then first fight, and Souza winning all three of his fights, it’s difficult to see anything other than a win for the Brazilian.

Expect to see Souza wrapped around his opponent, and ending the fight in the early stages.

Jacare: submission (round 1)

The event will also feature an exciting Featherweight clash between Cub Swanson and Max Holloway, with one fighter looking to get back into the title picture and the other looking to arrive on the big stage.

Heading into his last fight against Frankie Edgar, Swanson was riding a wave having won his previous 6 fights, and he knew a win would’ve earned him a title shot. Unfortunately for the Californian he was unable to get the job done, as Edgar utilised his superior wrestling and dominated him for the full five rounds. This fight is a chance for redemption and opportunity to put himself back into the title frame.

His opponent, Holloway, hasn’t been defeated since he was the first and – as of yet – only man to take Conor McGregor to the distance, and he has five wins on the bounce, clocking impressive victories against Cole Miller and Akira Corassani on the way. Holloway, like Swanson, enjoys the stand up battle so expect both fighters to stand and bang.

Both fighters have numerous KO/TKOs on their records, and with both men free to go about their business without as wrestler to frustrate proceedings, I expect to see a finish by strikes. Holloway has bags of ability and he could well take the W, but I’m leaning towards Cub, with his superior experience perhaps the deciding factor.

Swanson: TKO (round 2)

The first fight on the main card will see a women’s Strawweight fight, between Felice Herrig (10-5) against Paige Vanzant (4-1).

Although Herrig lost in the quarter Final stages on TUF series, she’ll know that a victory could move her up the ladder in what is currently a relatively shallow division.

Vanzant, who’ll be making her UFC debut, is already the poster girl of the division and if she can look impressive whilst getting the victory, who knows what the UFC will do next with her?

With 14 decisions on their relatively short records between them, I expect this to go to the judges.

Vanzant: split decision