UFC Fight Night 37 is set to take place in London this coming Saturday and it will be the first time Alexander Gustafsson is back in the cage since his tight title fight loss to Jon Jones. If Gustafsson can win this fight against the top prospect Manuwa then he will likely get his rematch with Jones, if Bones is able to defend his title against Teixera.
At UFC Macao I gave two predictions, both of which were correct. Kim and Mitrione were both able to win their fights due to knockouts which has brought my UFC record up another couple units.
2014 Record: 12-3 for +9.10 units.
Alexander Gustafsson vs Jimi Manuwa
To me this seems like a fight set up to ensure that Gustafsson gets his rematch with Jon Jones, which would be a huge PPV for the UFC. Yes, Manuwa is an up and coming undefeated propsect in the UFC, who has finished every single one of his fights in his career (13 of 14 by knockout), but he has not yet had to fight someone even in the top 10 of the light heavyweight division, so putting him up against a man who came very close to taking the belt from a man many consider the best fighter in the UFC period. I expect Manuwa to be out of his league in this one and I don’t expect him to be able to close the distance to get a knockout of Gustafsson. The Mauler should be able to win this fight based on his experience and cement his title shot.
Take Alexander Gustafsson -380 @ 5Dimes
Michael Johnson vs Melvin Guillard
This is a pretty weak co-main event, but it is still an interesting fight between two guys in the top 20 of the lightweight division. Michael Johnson is coming off a KO win over Gleison Tibau and he beat Joe Lauzon by decision before that. I expect Johnson to continue to move up the lightweight ladder with a win over Guillard in this one. After a strong start to his UFC career Melvin has lost 4 of his last 6 fights (no including the no contest against Joe Lauzon). His wins have not been over fighters as talented as Johnson.
Take Michael Johnson -135 @ 5Dimes
Alexander Gustafsson • jimi manuwa • Melvin Guillard • Michael Johnson