UFC 135 Predictions: Before UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon “Bones” Jones and challenger Quinton “Rampage” Jackson throw it down in the Octagon as the main event at UFC 135, fans will be able to watch a great welterweight battle. As the co-main event at UFC 135, former 170-pound champion, (46-8-0) Matt Hughes [3/1 or +300 ML] takes on former No.1 contender and TUF semifinalist, UFC 135 Betting Odds favorite, (17-5-0) Josh “Kos” Koscheck [1/5 or -500 ML].
With one fight remaining in his UFC contract, this will be the first time that Hughes steps into the cage since last 
November at UFC 123. That night in Auburn Hills, MI, Hughes suffered the worst defeat of his long MMA career at the hands of BJ Penn. At just 21 seconds of the very first round, Hughes got caught and couldn’t recover in time. A vicious right hook by the Hawaiian landed flush on Hughes’ chin, buckling his legs.
On his back and disoriented, Penn pounced on Hughes and finished him with strikes to win the rubber-match of this great trilogy. Having already expressed to the world that he would not be want to be fighting at 40 years old, the 37-year-old, All-American could be entering the cage for the last time in his career. At the most recent UFC 135 press conference, Hughes addressed some of the retirement questions.
“I'm not saying if I lose I'm done, if I win I'm staying in,” he said. “Dana seems to think that if I go out and demolish Josh Koscheck, there's no way I'll retire. I'm telling you that that's not a true statement. Really, it doesn't matter about the outcome of the fight, it's how I feel afterwards.”
Hughes was originally set to fight Diego Sanchez at UFC 135. However, a broken hand forced the former TUF 1 winner to back out of the fight. Koscheck, who was coming off his second loss to UFC title-holder Georges St-Pierre, was offered to replace The Nightmare at UFC 135, which he accepted it immediately.
Claiming he had been waiting to fight Hughes for a very long time, Koscheck took this fight on a 19-day, late notice. We all remember how his last visit to the Octagon ended last December, as GSP broke his orbital bone with a steady doze of jabs. Kos claims the recovery time was long, but as you can see, UFC 135 Betting Odds makers have listed him as a huge favorite over Hughes.
My UFC 135 Predictions for Koscheck vs Hughes: I do like Koscheck to win this fight by decision. This will be a battle of two wrestlers looking to put one another on their back and dominate the fight from there. In the standup, Koscheck seems to have a little bit of an advantage in the speed and has a better chin than Hughes these days. I like Koscheck to win this one by decision.
