Nate Diaz vs. Rory MacDonald

Two tough guys trying to make some noise in a UFC welterweight division desperately looking for some new faces circling contendership. Both Nate Diaz and Rory MacDonald are a few years away from scratching that level, but these are exactly the sort of fights each needs to point to when they eventually start making claims. With each of them coming off of tough losses, someone needs to avoid dropping their second straight fight tonight.

I'm still haunted by what Joe Stevenson was able to do to Diaz in their fight at ‘The Ultimate Fighter Finale' back in 2009, but I think he actually has an edge in the wrestling department over MacDonald. Less of a pure wrestler and more of a Judo specialist, Diaz comes at funky angles and has the advantage any time this fight hits the mat. MacDonald is no slouch in any one major area, but he may not be able to find a phase of the game where he edges out Diaz. Perhaps some hard work in the clinch, but we'll have to see.

I like Diaz in this fight. He's a good bit more experienced at competing at the UFC level and he should be able to handle the young Canadian. At only 21 years of age, the fact that MacDonald is even fighting professionally is amazing. He'll be a monster once he gets some more work in the cage.

My pick: Diaz