This is why you have to love the UFC, they are giving us a free card on Saturday night (12/08) on FX (preliminaries)/FOX(main card) which is easily good enough to be a Pay-Per-View, which is an incredible gesture from Dana White to the fans. If this fight were not on free television, I would pay money to watch it, without a doubt. It is the perfect weekend for another UFC on FOX because it’s the first Saturday night without college football (other than the Heisman Trophy presentation) in months, and people will be looking for a sport to fill their Saturday evening. On this card we get to see Benson Henderson defend his UFC Lightweight Championship against dangerous contender Nate Diaz and UFC Legend B.J. Penn return to the octagon to take on up-and-comer Rory MacDonald. Let’s get into it, here are my fight predictions and picks for UFC on FOX: Henderson vs Diaz:

Preliminary Card (FX): John Albert OVER Scott Jorgensen, Dennis Silver OVER Nam Pham, Marcus LeVesseur OVER Abel Trujillo, Henry Martinez OVER Daron Cruickshank, Joe Proctor OVER Ramsey Nijem, Mike Easton OVER Raphael Assuncao, Yves Edwards OVER Jeremy Stephens

Main Card (FOX):

Mike Swick (15-4) vs. Matt Brown (15-11) – Welterweight Bout - Matt Brown is a veteran of the UFC who has rebounded from a three fight losing streak in 2010 and won three of his last four fights. He takes on Mike Swick, another fighter who is not a stranger to UFC fans, as he was a member of Season One of The Ultimate Fighter and has been active since. This should be an exciting fight as two veterans square off, I think it will be a great matchup, but I give the slight edge to Swick. The Pick: Swick by Decision

B.J. Penn (16-8-2) vs. Rory MacDonald (13-1) – Welterweight Bout - This is the fight that I am looking forward to the most on this card, because UFC legend B.J. Penn makes his return to the octagon for the first time in over a year to take on one of the best young fighter in the sport, Canadian Rory MacDonald. For Penn, who is about to turn 34 years old, the questions have always been “how hard did he train? What kind of shape is he in?” and in this fight I think Penn shows in great shape and ready to battle. I’m not sure it will matter, because I do not think that casual fight fans know how good Rory MacDonald is, and this surprises me. MacDonald, just 23 years old, has won his last three fights over Che Mills, Mike Pyle and Nate Diaz. His only loss was in the third round to Carlos Condit, he will be a household name after this fight, he should be already. The Pick: MacDonald by TKO in the second round.

Mauricio Rua (21-6) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (14-1) – Light Heavyweight Bout - This should be an excellent fight between 31 year old Rua, who is another legend of MMA, and 25 year old up-and-comer Gustafsson. Rua has been on an alarming trend over his last six fights, where he has fought some of the greats in the sport, but seems to be alternating wins and losses. His last fight was a win, so if that trend continues, this will be a loss. Gustafsson’s only career loss was by anaconda choke to Phil Davis at UFC 112, and he has won five consecutive fights since. I am a huge Rua fan, and am surprising myself a little with this pick, but in what many MMA fans would call an upset I am picking Gustafsson.  I think he uses his considerable length advantage to keep Rua off of him and wears the Brazilian star down, finishing him in the third. The Pick: Gustafsson by submission (rear naked choke) in the third round.

Editor’s Note: I made these picks earlier this week. I have been thinking about this fight a lot, and I’m still picking Gustafsson in round 3, switching it to TKO.

Lightweight Championship Bout: Benson Henderson (17-2) (c) vs. Nate Diaz (16-7) - This is going to be an intense battle between two of the hottest fighters in the sport, Ben Henderson is extremely well rounded and does not have any glaring weaknesses, while Nick Diaz is known for his dangerous hands and Jiu-Jitsu black belt. Diaz has won his last three fights over Jim Miller, Donald Cerrone and Takanort Gomi, while Henderson has never lost in the UFC and has just lost once since 2007 (One loss in his last 16 fights). This will be a back and forth contest, Diaz has the hands and jiu-jitsu skills to end the fight at any moment, but I am giving the nod to the champion in a decision. The Pick: Henderson RETAINS By Decision

UFC PICKS RECORD (by event):

UFC 154: St-Pierre vs. Condit -

Preliminaries (5-2) Main Card (2-3) Overall (7-5)

UFC on FUEL TV: Franklin vs. Cung Le -

Preliminaries (1-2) Main Card (4-1) Overall (5-3)

UFC 153: Silva vs. Bonnar -

Preliminaries (5-1) Main Card (4-2) Overall (9-3)

UFC 149: Faber vs. Barao -

Preliminaries (4-2) Main Card (2-3) Overall (6-5)

UFC 148: Sliva vs. Sonnen II -

Preliminaries (3-2) Main Card (5-1) Overall (8-3)

UFC 146: Dos Santos vs Mir -

Preliminaries (4-3) Main Card (4-1) Overall (8-4)

UFC on FOX 2: Evans vs. Davis -

Main Card (3-0)

OVERALL RECORD:

Preliminaries (22-12) Main Card (24-11) Overall (46-23)

Main Events (6-1)