Each day this week, I’ll post a prediction for one of the main card fights at the upcoming UFC 97. We’ll also post quick and dirty predictions for the undercard fights on Friday as well.
These predictions will also be published in Brawl Sports, the Houston Chronicle’s MMA blog.
The most interesting thing about this fight is Cane’s nickname: “Banha” means “lard” in Portugese.
Cantwell was another victim of the WEC’s decision to fold the light heavyweight division into the UFC. He defeated Razak Al-Hassan in his UFC debut, but he’s up against a talented fighter in Luiz Cane in this match. Cane’s lone UFC loss came against James Irvin, and he only lost that fight because he threw an illegal knee while Irvin was down. Cane has defeated Soukoudjou and Jason Lambert during his UFC tenure, and beat fighters such as Andre Gustavo and Wagner Ribeiro during his time in Brazil.
Cantwell is a decent fighter, but he’s overmatched in this one. I believe Cane is on his way to great things in the UFC, and Cantwell is standing in his way.
PREDICTION: Luiz Cane by TKO (Round One)
