11 Predictions For UFC 181

6. Urijah Faber vs. Francisco Rivera

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_AgdP0Zerk Weight Class: Bantamweight Once again we find one of the biggest names in the UFC, Urijah Faber (31€“7), battling it out on the televised prelims of a UFC card. Once again, he's "headlining" the preliminary card, a slot that used to have no name attached to it, and that some MMA pundits still consider meaningless. However, Faber is in this position by request. The preliminary fights are actually watched by more viewers that the PPV events themselves simply because they're free. For Faber, a wider audience is key to his sponsors, so while he's not in title contention, he'd rather fight for as large an audience as possible. Faber is a vet who won't get a title shot again until team mate T.J. Dillashaw loses the bantamweight belt. Once that happens, however, Faber is more than deserving, so long as he keeps winning. That shouldn't be too much of a problem. At age 35, he's got a few more years in him, and he still has never lost in a non-title fight, inside or outside of the UFC. Francisco Rivera (10€“3 (1)) is coming off a loss to Takeya Mizugaki, and is ranked 11th in the division (Faber sits at 3rd). A solid fighter, there's nothing in his arsenal to suggest that he has what it takes to best Faber, and you can look for Faber to sink in a rear-naked choke sometime after the first.