Thomas Almeida’s first round knock out was swift and savage

Belfort, 38, has fought Henderson twice before, and he’ll be looking to cap off the trilogy with an explosive finish.

Other main card matches consist of a co-main event fight pitting hometown hero and one-time title challenger Glover Teixeira against decorated wrestler Patrick Cummins; Thomas Almeida versus Anthony Birchak; and Fabio Maldonado versus Corey Anderson.

Welcome fight fans, to my picks and predictions for UFC Fight Night 77. In a turn of events that proved unfortunate for the former Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion and former PRIDE two-division world champion, and also felt like a moment of deja vu for the MMA world, Henderson would lean in the wrong direction and pay dearly by hitting the canvas after Belfort’s stuck a head kick. Henderson has only won just two of his last seven under the UFC banner, but he is coming off of a victory over Tim Boetsch at UFC Fight Night: Boetsch vs. Henderson. Hallmann has fought a few tough competition and had a few moral wins in those fights but not actual wins.

Teixeira finished Patrick Cummins by TKO at 1:12 of the second round in a fairly dominant performance. However, overall Henderson has lost three of four and six of eight fights. He entered this contest with a UFC record of 8-7 with 17 career stoppages, with 15 coming by way of knockout. In the final fight of the prelims, referee Keith Peterson was premature in stopping the fight between Gleison Tibau and Abel Trujillo, believing the latter was out from a rear naked choke when he was very much still conscious.

Almeida landed a flurry of strikes near the end of the first with Birchak against the cage. Birchak dropped straight down and fell back with his right leg tucked under him. Vitor relies on his explosion and power to blitz opponents and overwhelm them early while “Hendo” stalks his victims and waits to land his powerful right hand, nicked-named the “H-bomb”. It was a scary sight and a visceral, highlight-reel knockout.

It was a 16th KO win for Almeida (4-0 UFC) as the Brazilian continued to build on his impressive UFC form on home soil. Birchak had his moments in the fight and showed no fear of Almeida’s striking, but it’s hard to win a stand-up war with the Brazilian. While he might not ever morph into a serious contender, he can be an action fighter who lives in the middle of the pack.