UFC 123 Battle of Old Warriors

BJ Penn and Matt Hughes rekindle their rivalry at welterweight. BJ moves up after Frankie Edgar ran away from him for two fights and somehow won both. Matt Hughes is looking better and having fun after winning his last three fights. His losses were against Thiago Alves and Georges St. Pierre so certainly not to second tier fighters. Both of these guys are still close to the top of their games. I expect Penn to win by split decision. I don't see Hughes finishing Penn and I see Penn winning the first and second rounds with Hughes coming close in the third but not quite enough to finish Penn. In the other fight Lyoto Machida and Rampage Jackson are both old warriors who are close to the top of their games. Lyoto got smoked by Shogun Rua while Rampage looked sloppy against Rashad Evans. Expect Rampage to be better and Lyoto to be solid. I suspect Rampage will win by TKO or KO. Lyoto is still recovering from a tough loss and this is a very difficult fight to get back on your horse with.