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Reuben Duran (8-4-1, 1-2 UFC) vs. George Roop (12-9-1, 2-5 UFC):

The first bout of the night on March 16th, 2012 at UFC 158 features George Roop vs. Reuben Duran. Roop is a strange bantamweight. Standing over six feet tall, he is easily the tallest bantamweight in the division. His height allows him to use his reach to knock shorter, smaller opponents out. He’s not the most durable fighter but he does have nice knockouts over good opponents like Josh Grispi and Chan-Sung Jung. Duran is coming off a knockout loss over Hugo Viana and I think Roop will replicate Viana’s success. Roop by KO

Yves Jabouin (18-8, 3-2 UFC) vs. Johnny Eduardo (26-9, 1-1 UFC):

It’s getting harder and harder to pick against Nova Uniao products and Eduardo is certainly one of them. His striking is solid and his leg kicks pack a punch. Jabouin is an accomplished striker in his own right but I’m going to go with my gut and take the prospect from the hot camp. Eduardo by decision.

T.J. Dillashaw (6-1, 2-0 UFC) vs. Issei Tamura (7-3, 1-1 UFC):

Dillashaw is going to continue his run in the UFC with another victory over Tamura. His strikes are going to set up his wrestling game Tamura will be flat on his back for the entire fight. Dillashaw by decision.

Rick Story (14-6, 7-4 UFC) vs. Quinn Mulhern (18-2, 0-0 UFC):

Story was dealt a fortuitous hand when Mulhern was forced to replace Sean Pierson. Mulhern has never fought in the UFC while Story is a grizzled veteran. Though Mulhern is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt, I don’t think his guard is offensive enough to actually submit the veteran. Look for Story to grind on Mulhern for three rounds and take a decision. Story by decision.

Daron Cruickshank (12-2, 2-0 UFC) vs. John Makdessi (10-2, 3-2 UFC):

This should be a striking affair and it could be a dark horse for fight of the night. I anticipate these two are going to duke it out with Cruickshank gaining the upper hand with his jab. I think he can ride that jab all the way to a victory on points. Cruickshank by decision.

Dan Miller (14-6, 1 NC, 6-5 UFC) vs. Jordan Mein (26-8, 0-0 UFC):

Mein is going to have his hands full in his first UFC bout. Dan Miller isn’t quite the same fighter as Jim Miller but he certainly has some strong submissions. He is coming off a submission victory over Ricardo Funch and I anticipate much of the same against Mein. Miller by submission.

Darren Elkins (15-2, 5-1 UFC) vs. Antonio Carvalho (15-5, 2-1 UFC):

Both of these fighters are on win streaks and both are going to bring the action. I think it will be interesting to see how Carvalho’s judo game matches up with the tough wrestling of Elkins. I’m thinking the judo player will be able to swivel his hips enough to avoid takedowns and land strikes. Elkins by decision.

Bobby Voelker (24-8, 0-0 UFC) vs. Patrick Cote (18-8, 5-8 UFC):

Word is that Cote’s cut went as planned, which was my main concern going into this bout. As long as Cote is in shape and not drained from the cut, he is the better fighter than Voelker. Voelker has never fought in the UFC and that is going to show against Cote, who has taken on greats like Anderson Silva in the past. Cote will be able to use his strong chin and nimble striking to stop Voelker. Cote via TKO.

John Makdessi snapped out of a two-fight losing skid by defeating Sam Stout to close out 2012.

Now, he’ll look to secure a second straight victory when he meets Daron Cruickshank Saturday night at UFC 158.

Makdessi (10-2) started his UFC career with wins over Pat Audinwood and Kyle Watson, and recently talked with Fighters.com about his upcoming bout.

“Cruickshank comes in to fight and he is an aggressive fighter with a wrestling background and a Tae Kwon Do style,” Makdessi said. “At this level, I don’t really focus on my opponent too much, I just focus on how I fight my fight. It doesn’t matter what he brings, if my mind is right physically and mentally it’s going to be an exciting fight.”

He continued, saying, “To make it my fight, I need to just flow. I am a big believer in just letting your mind and body take over. Sometimes thinking too much slows you down in there, and I just need to go out there and let my body react to everything. Action/Reaction you know what I mean? We train everyday, repetition, to train our body and muscles to react to any scenario. Being prepared, being explosive, and being active are the keys.”

The 27-year-old Canadian will be one of several fighters from the country on the card, as Tristar Gym teammate Georges St-Pierre fights in the main event.

Fresh off victories, lightweights John Makdessi and Daron Cruickshank will square off at UFC 158. Officials announced the fight late Friday night.

UFC 158 features several welterweight bouts, including a main event for the title between Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz.

Makdessi (10-2) has won three of his five UFC bouts, including a victory over Sam Stout late in 2012.

Cruickshank (12-2) pushed his personal win streak to six straight with a devastating knockout over Henry Martinez via head-kick. Cruickshank has gone 2-0 since signing with the promotion.

Sam Stout and John Makdessi will collide at UFC 154, according to the UFC Canada Twitter account.

The bout takes place November 17 from the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Stout (19-7-1) improved to 7-6 in his UFC career with a victory over Spencer Fisher last June.

Makdessi (9-2) has gone 2-2 inside the Octagon, including defeats in each of his previous two bouts.

Both Stout and Makdessi are from Canada. The placement of the bout is unknown at this time.

UFC 145 takes place later tonight at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The event airs live on Pay-Per-View. The prelims will precede the PPV broadcast at 7pm ET on the UFC’s Facebook Page and 8pm ET on FX or Rogers Sportsnet.

In the main event, light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones finally takes on former friend and longtime rival “Suga” Rashad Evans.

In the co-feature, Rory MacDonald returns to the octagon after an extended layoff to take on Che Mills.

Heavyweights Brendan Schaub and Ben Rothwell meet, as both attempt to get back on track.

In a potential bantamweight title eliminator, Miguel Angel Torres takes on exciting prospect Michael McDonald.

Featherweight Mark Hominick attempts to rebound from his tough loss at UFC 140 as he takes on always tenacious Eddie Yagin

And rounding out the main card, lightweight John Alessio returns to the octagon, where he faces a tough welcoming committee in Mark Bocek.

Results and recap after the jump.

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Facebook, FX, Pay-Per-View, who cares? Following a solid performance at last week’s UFC on FUEL 2, the UFC is back again with their first big PPV event in quite awhile. UFC 145 goes down tomorrow from Atlanta, Georgia, following a move from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In the main event, Jon Jones takes on Rashad Evans in the long-awaited light heavyweight title fight. Before any of that craziness goes down though, we have the six fight preliminary card to look forward to. Split between Facebook (at 7pm ET) and FX (8pm ET), we’ll be treated to what appears to be, on paper, one of the best preliminary cards in awhile. Here’s a quick preview of the six preliminary bouts. The preview of the main card will be up for your reading pleasure in the morning.

-Maximo Blanco vs. Marcus Brimage

It’s about time Maximo Blanco moved to featherweight. The ridiculously vicious striker may not have fared well against Pat Healy in Strikeforce, but to be fair, Healy is the ultimate hype train derailer. In Brimage, Blanco faces a solid test. The TUF alum is a solid striker in his own right and has no problem making decisions go his way if needed. Having said all of that, you have to feel bad for poor Marcus Brimage. Blanco has solid wrestling, and almost downright scary striking. I think Blanco takes Brimage’s head off in under five minutes.

-Chris Clements vs. Keith Wisniewski

The first of many Canadians on the card, Chris Clement, is a well-established knockout artist. While it seems there is some sort of “Team Tompkins Curse” since the untimely passing of its namesake, Clements has done well for himself, and will look for his fifth straight win here. Wisniewski was on such a roll until he ran into Josh Neer’s elbows. A solid striker, who is even better in the grappling department, enters this, his third UFC fight, still winless in the organization. This fight could very well be the fight of the night, or perhaps knockout of the night, because Wisniewski is getting stopped.

-Mac Danzig vs. Efrain Escudero

Mac Danzig is on the edge. The TUF 6 winner is 2-5 in his last 7 bouts, including going 0-2 against Matt Wiman. With three quarters of his wins coming within the distance, the Fight Science lightweight still proves a tough fight for just about anyone. Just look at what he did to Joe Stevenson. Escudero had a tough Christmas, or at least a very tough time against “Christmas” in his last outing. Despite that, Efrain has put together some very solid wins over the last two years. This fight likely determines whose Zuffa career is coming to an end. I just don’t see things going well for Danzig here, he’ll likely drop a decision, and be yet another TUF winner on his way out of the promotion.

-John Makdessi vs. Anthony Njokuani

I still can’t get Makdessi’s spinning back fist knockout over Kyle Watson out of my mind. While he ran into a brick wall named Dennis Hallman, “The Bull” is a solid Tristar product, who has a great training camp and an ever-growing skill-set to his credit. Njokuani always has a place in my heart (WEC NEVER DIE!), and his scrappy, yet technically proficient style is fun to watch. Neither man has much of a chance against solid wrestlers or grapplers, but thankfully, this will be a slugfest. While Makdessi can absolutely knock Njokuani out cold with a solid shot, if the latter gets reckless. I think the WEC veteran keeps Makdessi guessing with some takedowns and rangy strikes. Njokuani is taking home the decision win.

-Matt Brown vs. Stephen Thompson

Matt Brown is amazing. He may not be the best fighter, but he has managed to remain employed inside the octagon for a long time, and he made incredibly short work of Chris Cope, so I’m a fan. The ‘Karate Kid’ over here, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, takes a big step up in competition here, and hopes to remain undefeated in the UFC, following his highlight reel head kick knockout of Dan Stittgen not too long ago. I imagine this fight actually goes the distance, which should be a good test for Thompson. His keys to victory are body kicks, keeping the veteran at bay, and scoring points, as opposed to looking for that big knockout. Should he be able to avoid the ground, and I think he will, he should win this.

-Travis Browne vs. Chad Griggs

Undefeated Travis Browne is awesome. When he superman punched Stefan Struve’s head off, I needed someone to towel me off. While in his most recent appearance, he was less than stellar to watch, Travis Browne is still better than most of the mid-tier heavyweights in MMA. I mean, he’s not Eric Prindle. Chad Griggs is hoping to play spoiler again with those damn mutton chops. A fan favourite, who is tough, has heavy hands, and beat Bobby Lashley, Griggs considered dropping to 205, but opted to participate in more ‘HEAVYWEIGHT MMA!!!!!’ Griggs is a good dude, but not really a great fighter. Browne is a considerably better fighter, and I think Griggs is being overvalued in this fight. I suspect Browne has his way with him, but not in some spectacularly violent fashion, I think he wins a decision.

Well, it is now official.

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and No. 1 contender Rashad Evans each weighed in successfully Friday afternoon, making their title contest at UFC 145 Saturday night official.

Jones will be looking to defend his title for a third time, having already defeated former champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Lyoto Machida. For Evans, he’ll be seeking to capture his second UFC light heavyweight title.

In the co-main event, Rory MacDonald and Che Mills will square off, while heavyweights Brendan Schaub and Ben Rothwell collide in another key main card contest.

UFC 145: JONES VS. EVANS WEIGH-IN RESULTS

Main Card (PPV)

•  Jon Jones (205 lbs.) vs. Rashad Evans (204 lbs.) for Jones’ light heavyweight title

•  Rory MacDonald (169.5 lbs.) vs. Che Mills (170 lbs.)

•  Brendan Schaub (237 lbs.) vs. Ben Rothwell (263 lbs.)

•  Miguel Angel Torres (135.5 lbs.) vs. Michael McDonald (135 lbs.)

•  Mark Hominick (145.5 lbs.) vs. Eddie Yagin (144.5 lbs.)

•  Mark Bocek (155 lbs.) vs. John Alessio (155.5 lbs.)

Preliminary Card (FX)

•  Travis Browne (250 lbs.) vs. Chad Griggs (228 lbs.)

•  Matt Brown (171 lbs.) vs. Stephen Thompson (171 lbs.)

•  John Makdessi (158 lbs.)* vs. Anthony Njokuani (156 lbs.)

•  Mac Danzig (155 lbs.) vs. Efrain Escudero (156 lbs.)

Preliminary Card (Facebook)

•  Keith Wisniewski (170.5 lbs.) vs. Chris Clements (169 lbs.)

•  Marcus Brimage (145 lbs.) vs. Maximo Blanco (146 lbs.)

*Makdessi will surrender 20 percent of his purse to Njokuani

Check out Esther Lin’s full UFC 145 weigh-ins photo gallery at MMAFighting.com. Weigh-in highlights via MMA Fighting and the UFC.

A few observations from UFC 140: “Jones vs. Machida”:

-You know what the coolest thing about John Cholish is? His day job is on Wall Street, so the money he got for kicking Mitch Clarke’s ass probably paid for one suit, one pair of shoes and a shoe shine.

-Man, Jake Hecht elbowed the “hecht” out of Rich Attonito. Yuk-yuk-yuk.

-John Makdessi may have mounted zero offense and was easily handled by Dennis Hallman, but at the end of the day he was at least thrilled that Hallman did it all while not wearing a thong.

-Costa Philippou is to punching to the face what pepper spray is to an Occupy Wall Streeter. Which is to say, Jared Hamman was doomed from the start.

-Yes! Krzysztof Soszynski lost! A few more of those and he’ll be booted from the UFC and we’ll never have to spell out his name again!

-The Korean Zombie put away Mark Hominick in seven seconds when champ Jose Aldo couldn’t do it in five rounds? Giddyup! However, I hope this doesn’t mean Chan Sung Jung is next in line for a title shot. The dude needs a few more wins.

-Brian Ebersole put forth an uninspired performance and got a gift decision. The man is still an enigma, though. Where does he fit in in the grand scheme of things? Is he a future title contender or will he assume the role of Chris Lytle and be there to (hopefully) provide us with entertaining fights?

-I would say Tito Ortiz is just a shadow of his former self, but at this point it seems like his shadow has more durability than his fragile body.

-Is “Big Nog” a legend? Yes. Does Frank Mir have his number? Clearly. Now about that horrific arm break… man, if that isn’t a lesson in why you should tap out when a submission is definitely on, I don’t know what is.

-For one round it seemed as if Lyoto Machida actually had a chance. One round. Then Jon Jones deemed the sparring session was over and really began fighting, at which point Machida was left a bloody and unconscious sack of human flesh and bones quivering on the canvas. Folks, that’s not just a champ right there, that’s one of the greatest mixed martial artists the sport has ever seen.

UFC 140 takes place later tonight at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada. The event airs live on pay-per-view at 9pm ET/6pm PT. The pay-per-view broadcast will be preceded by prelim specials on ION TV at 7pm ET/4pm PT and Facebook at 6pm ET/3pm PT.

In the main event, Jon Jones puts his UFC light heavyweight title on the line against former champion Lyoto Machida.

In the co-main event, Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira meet in a heavyweight rematch.

Tito Ortiz takes on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in a light heavyweight bout.

Claude Patrick meets Brian Ebersole in a welterweight match-up.

Mark Hominick takes on The Korean Zombie in a featherweight bout.

Results, recap and bonuses after the jump.

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A few observations from UFC 129 “St. Pierre vs. Shields”

-How much do you want to bet that after knocking out Kyle Watson with a beautiful spinning backfist in the prelims, John Makdessi was already spending that “Knockout of the Night” bonus in his mind?  And how much do you want to bet that after Lyoto Machida’s KO of Randy Couture, Makdessi locked himself in a closet and cried.

-I remember when Ivan Menjivar was kicking ass in the Universal Combat Challenge and Charlie Valencia was kicking ass in King of the Cage in the pre-TUF era.  Good for them for getting a slot on a UFC card.

-Jake Ellenberger: when you absolutely, positively have to knock out a Canadian overnight.

-Rory MacDonald didn’t handle Nate Diaz so much as he handled him and schooled him and beat him like a tribal drum.  Does this mean MacDonald is now the Ultimate Fighter?

-Ben Henderson has proven once and for all that the WEC crew can hang with the boys of the UFC.  Now the only question left is whether the Strikeforce crew can hang.

-Vladimir Matyushenko is like a fine wine that has gotten better with age.  Also, a wine that can pound you unconscious.

-Thanks to Lyoto Machida’s front kick, it’s finally happened: all the techniques that were deemed lame and ineffective since UFC 1 first aired on pay-per-view are now valid and dangerous.  Of course, it took 17 years, and all those traditional martial artists who adapted now have black belts in jiu-jitsu and can wrestle, but hey, those flashy techniques can work. 

-Aside from a last round where Jose Aldo seemed to just give up, that 145-pound title fight was all about Mark Hominick getting beaten up.  Seriously, props to him for standing in the pocket and trying to use head movement, but yikes did the Canadian take some damage.

-Some day we will have a welterweight champ that’s exciting.  Until then, we have Georges St. Pierre.