UFC 234 Predictions

Tonight the UFC heads back to Australia with a hometown packed card for UFC 234. The card was originally supposed to be headlined by a middleweight title fight between Robert Whittaker taking on Kelvin Gastelum. However, Whittaker had to pull out of the fight due to an injury. That meant the original co-main event between Israel Adesanya vs Anderson Silva has been promoted to the main event, but it will still be three rounds.

The UFC Fight Pass preliminary card will begin at 7 p.m. ET. The three-fight ESPN preliminary card will begin at 8 p.m. ET followed by the four-fight pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET.

BELOW ARE PREDICTIONS FOR THE CARD:

Israel Adesanya vs. Anderson Silva.

Whew, where do I start with this one? The resume of Anderson Silva proves that he is the greatest middleweight of all time and maybe the best fighter of all time if we ignore those pesky PED violations. “The Spider” has had a rough few years with back to back losses to Chris Weidman, a no contest with Nick Diaz, followed by back to back losses to Michael Bisping and Daniel Cormier. But, let’s not forget what he has done for the sport and the dominance he displayed for six straight years in the UFC.

Enough with the man love for Anderson Silva, lets talk about “The Last Stylebender.” Adesanya is 15-0 in MMA and owns a 75-4 professional kickboxing record. He is 4-0 under the UFC banner with two knockouts. Watching Adesanya is a real treat for those who appreciate a strategic gameplan and technical striking. If you are the casual brawling fan, maybe he’s not for you but don’t blink because he can end it at any time. This will undoubtedly be his biggest test to date and with a win, he is in line to fight for the middleweight title.

Pick: Israel Adesanya via 3rd Round KO/TKO.

As previously stated, this card is not exactly packed full of fan favorites or household names so I will spare you the time with the picks below.

The Rest of the Card:

Lando Vannata def. Marcos Rosa Mariano via KO/TKO

Ricky Simon def. Rani Yahya via Decision

Montana De La Rosa def. Nadia Kassem via Decision

Jim Crute def. Sam Alvey via Submission

Devonte Smith def. Dong Hyun Ma via Decision

Shane Young def. Austin Arnett via Decision

Kai Kara-France def. Raulian Paiva Frazao via Decision

Kyung Ho Kang def. Teruto Ishihara via Decision

Jalin Turner def. Callan Potter via Decision