Knee Rodeo: Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone vs. Kevin Gastelum

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Cowboy Cerrone is currently 31-7 and his head kicks are responsible for a lot of those wins. We all know he’s also up for surprise fights, with an eerie sense of when to text UFC President Dana White to volunteer to replace people who’ve pulled out (I’ve seen memes made out of it, man) so it was disappointing when Robbie Lawler pulled out of this fight and got replaced by Gastelum.

That’s not to say Gastelum’s a slouch. He’s a tough guy and his striking can be a nightmare but he’s really struggled to make 170 in the past, albeit he’s still ranked at number six and is a former TUF winner.

Cerrone’s striking combos are at a different level altogether (hi, Rick Story), though, and Jackson-Winklejohn has kept his grappling on point and his submission wins attest to this. Everybody’s unanimous here about Cowboy winning, but divided about the method, although most lean towards a KO win. That deadly Cerrone knee, thrown straight up the middle, should prove game-changing.

8List Critics’ Prediction: Cerrone wins by KO

Karateka: Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley vs Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson

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This is the co-main event, guys. C’mon we all know Woodley got lucky with that KO of Lawler and he’ll likely fold against such an unorthodox fighter as Wonderboy, who’s dealt with vicious wrestlers before (Exhibit A: Johny Hendricks) and had no problem sharpshooting spinning kicks from a distance.

Woodley has power (if he can wind-up) and a wrestling pedigree but has problems with…well, much everything else.There’s one lone holdout in the office for Woodley but he quickly got beaten down by baseball bats and soccer kicks.

Sorry, “Chosen One.” It looks like we’ll be shouting “And new…!” on Sunday.

8List Critics’ Prediction: Thompson wins by KO

Slug-O-Rama: Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Karolina “Polish Princess” KowalKiewicz

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This one is for the UFC strawweight championship and boy, are we hyped for it.

So, two Polish women beasts slugging it out in what might be five rounds should make for bloody awesome entertainment. Jedrzejczyk has absolutely demolished all the contenders in her division in a list that includes Invicta standouts and TUF alums like Jessica Penne, Valerie Letourneau, Carla Esparza, and Claudia Gadelha (twice, although I scored that rematch slightly for Gadelha). So this is really all about what KowalKiewicz will bring to the table.

On paper, its impressive enough: she’s  the former KSW Women’s Flyweight Champion and is ranked 5th in the world by Fight Matrix / Sherdog in the WMMA P4P rankings with a 10-0 record. Kowalkiewicz has certainly impressed in her three UFC fights but her messy, albeit effective, destruction of Rose Namajunas notwithstanding she’s still got a long way to get to that narrow specialist level that the champ operates on.

This one is unanimous in favor of the champ keeping her belt with a great finish. Likely in round 3 or 4. With how face-lifted the champ’s opponents become, we’d be very surprised if this made it to round 5 without a doctor’s stoppage.

8List Critics’ Prediction: Jedrzejczyk wins by TKO

Kings Collide: “The Notorious” Conor McGregor Vs “The Underground King” Eddie Alvarez

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This rubber match for the UFC lightweight championship is full of hype and is undoubtedly a huge crowd draw, but it’s already in danger of putting the UFC into the realm of freak show (hi, Bellator!).

Consider that McGregor has already had three fights outside of his division sans any kind of slap on the wrist, while others have been stripped of their title for the same fallow time. McGregor will again have a reach advantage but Alvarez seems to be way stronger and, let’s face it, tougher and grittier fighter, having come back from sometimes very troubling situations to pull off a win. Let’s not forget how he decimated Shinya Aoki.

It’s pretty certain that McGregor, for all the “touch butt in the park” jokes has better movement and more discipline in his striking than Alvarez (Ido Portal moves galore). Distance control and patience are also all in favor of McGregor. Having said all that, Alvarez may get hit but he’s gotten hit harder in the past and he’s eaten them gladly like NYC hotdogs if it means getting close and establishing his clinch game. His ability to recover fast is also not to be underestimated.

McGregor may have brought in BJJ star Dillon Dannis but Alvarez has honed his wrestling for years and with wrestling guru Mark Henry. So if Alvarez can establish his superior wrestling game and implement some GnP with all his signature pressure (hello, RDA), it’ll be a long night for McGregor.

I have a suspicion and a strong intuition that Alvarez can pull this off as a dark horse against UFC’s cash cow and motor mouth but it’s hard to argue against success, as my fellow 8List critics argue, and the wide range of cross-trained disciplines that have been effective for McGregor’s game. These are flourishes to fundamentals that have been largely unexplored and thus have no counters yet.

Will McGregor hold two UFC belts after Sunday? That would be a sight to see. Can’t we fast forward the week to the weekend?

8List Critics’ Prediction: McGregor wins by KO.

Who are your picks to win in UFC 205?

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