The UFC announced a number of new bouts in the past 24 hours. Here they are, along with my thoughts on each: Jared Rosholt vs. Josh Copeland, UFC 185 A heavyweight bout between Jared Rosholt and Josh Copeland is the latest addition to UFC 185, which is set for March 14 at American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas. Rosholt is coming off of a shocking KO loss to Oleksiy Oliynyk while Copeland lost his UFC debut via decision to Ruslan Magomedov. Rosholt will be looking to take Copeland to the ground in this one and if he can do that, he should be able to get the win. But if this fight stays standing, Copeland will have a huge edge in the standup and should be able to find Rosholt’s chin just like Oliynyk did. Like most heavyweight matches, the fight could go either way, but I believe Rosholt is going to be favored heading into the bout. Andre Fili vs. Godofredo Pepey, UFC Fight Night 62 A featherweight bout between Andrei Fili and Godofredo Pepey has been added to UFC Fight Night 62, which takes place March 21 at Ginasio Maracanazinho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I know Pepey is a pretty talented fighter, but I believe Fili is going to wipe the floor with him in this one. I just feel like Fili is a superior mixed martial artist and while Pepey has some flash, I don’t think he has the cardio to keep up with Fili for three rounds. Pepey is likely to garner some respect back from the betting public after a few good performances, but I still expect Fili to be a decent-sized favorite heading into this one. Shayna Baszler vs. Amanda Nunes, UFC Fight Night 62 As well, a women’s bantamweight bout between Shayna Baszler and Amanda Nunes was also added to UFC Fight Night 62. Baszler is coming off of a brutal TKO loss to Bethe Correia while Nunes was TKOed by Cat Zingano in her last outing. Overall I’ve been more impressed with Nunes as of late and I expect her to win this fight, but Baszler is a crafty veteran and you can’t totally count her out of this one. Clay Guida vs. Robbie Peralta, UFC Fight Night 63 A featherweight fight between Clay Guida and Robbie Peralta was added to UFC Fight Night 63, set for April 4 at Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. This is the guy where we’ll find out if Guida is completely shot or not, because stylistically he should have no problem getting Peralta to the ground and grinding him out for the W here. Peralta has terrible takedown defence so it should be no problem for Guida to get him down. But if he can’t, and this fight stays standing, Peralta will torch Guida in the striking department. I’ve always been high on Peralta so it wouldn’t shock me if he won this fight, but I really think this matchup stylistically favors Guida and I expect him to pick up the W. Justin Jones vs. Ronald Stallings, UFC Fight Night 63 As well, a middleweight bout between Justin Jones and Ronald Stallings was also added to UFC Fight Night 63. Jones lost his UFC debut via decision to Corey Anderson while Stallings was TKOed via cut by Uriah Hall. We didn’t get to see much of both men but we did see that both have no problem standing and banging in the center of the cage. This fight could go either way, but I feel like Stallings is a bit more of a finished product and I’ll go with him to get the win here. Nick Catone vs. Vitor Miranda, UFC on FOX 15 And finally, a middleweight bout between Nick Catone and Vitor Miranda is set for UFC on FOX 15, which takes place April 18 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Catone hasn’t fought in over a year and has been extremely inactive over the last few years. As for Miranda, he is coming off of a brutal head kick knockout over prospect Jake Collier. Catone will be looking to take Miranda down to the ground in this one while Miranda will be looking to keep it upright and knock Catone out. It’s a close fight and the lines will be tight, but based on his inactivity level, fading Catone might not be a bad idea in this spot.
