The 2017 calendar year has wrapped up for the UFC, and at the beginning of the year, I made 10 predictions. Here’s how they turned out…
1.) Gegard Mousasi goes undefeated in 2017, potentially getting a title shot and becoming UFC Middleweight Champion.
He went 2-0 in the year, defeating Chris Weidman in the UFC and Alexander Shlemenko in Bellator. 1-0.
2.) Jimmie Rivera goes undefeated in 2017, potentially getting a title shot and becoming UFC Bantamweight Champion.
Rivera went 1-0 in 2017, though he had two canceled bouts and a total of four opponents pulling out on him. 2-0.
3.) Mickey Gall goes undefeated in 2017.
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Eh. So close. 2-1.
4.) Stipe Miocic loses his UFC Heavyweight title.
Again, so, so close. Just 20 days removed from it being true. Yes, I do think Ngannou defeats Miocic later this month to become the new UFC heavyweight champion. 2-2.
5.) Francis Ngannou goes undefeated in 2017 and gets in the UFC Heavyweight title picture.
Well. Yeah. 3-2.
6.) UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk gets dethroned.
It was a bold prediction and it happened. Rose Namajunas was the woman to do it. Not only did I make this prediction, but I also predicted Rose would win that fight, and was the only MMA OddsBreaker staff member to pick her to win. 4-2.
7.) Julianna Pena becomes UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion.
Ok, you can laugh at this one. 4-3.
8.) There is at least one women’s flyweight bout, potentially kicking off the division. 5-3.
Yup, it’s officially a division! It’s taking me a minute to remember the champion’s name, so that’s saying something. Oh yeah, Nico Montano!
9.) Joe Rogan remains on board as UFC color commentator. 6-3.
He did. Rogan renewed his contract for a year.
10.) Sage Northcutt makes a resurgence in the UFC’s 155-pound division and goes undefeated in 2017.
He only fought once, but he didn’t lose! He scored an impressive, one sided unanimous decision victory over American Top Team product Michel Quinones. 7-3.
70%! Last year, I went 3-7 with 30% and this year was the exact opposite.
