UFC Belem predictions: Will Machida bounce back in his hometown?

Prior to Saturday's UFC Fight Night 125 in Belem, Brazil, theScore's Themistoklis Alexis makes his picks for the evening's noteworthy bouts.

Main Card

Middleweight

Lyoto Machida (14-8 UFC, 22-8)
vs.
Eryk Anders (2-0 UFC, 10-0)

Impressive as Anders has looked in a pair of walks to the Octagon, he remains untested in a variety of areas.

Yes, Machida has dropped three straight by stoppage and is likely in the throes of his third act, but the elusive karateka remains capable of forcing Anders to give chase and taking him into the later rounds. It won't be pretty, but if the still raw Anders can't find a home for his haymakers early, Machida will pick his shots from distance and hope his foe's gas tank doesn't follow him to Rounds 4 and 5, where the local favorite should have an easier go of picking Anders apart.

Machida squeaks out a decision at home.

THE PICK: Machida

Women's Flyweight

Valentina Shevchenko (3-2 UFC, 14-3)
vs.
Priscila Cachoeira (0-0 UFC, 8-0)

Shevchenko's preference for working from the outside and scoring with counters brought her just a couple points short of a bantamweight title in her last outing. The verdict goes her way this time out.

Judging by Cachoeira's last fight - a second-round TKO of Rosy Duarte - her style should play right into Shevchenko's. The newcomer boasts a decent jab, but often wades into the pocket with looping hooks and overhands, punches the ever-methodical Shevchenko will soon be slipping and countering en route to a sweep of the scorecards.

THE PICK: Shevchenko

Lightweight

Michel Prazeres (7-2 UFC, 23-2)
vs.
Desmond Green (1-1 UFC, 20-6)

As career grapplers are wont to do when they meet in the cage, expect three rounds of striking between Prazeres and Green.

The stocky Brazilian won't have an easy go of bringing the longtime wrestler to the mat, meaning he'll likely ride what earned him a victory over a dangerous submission artist in Gilbert Burns two Septembers ago: incessant pressure and heaps of power kicks to Green's base, which the New York native will be reluctant to counter with takedowns out of respect for Prazeres' submission savvy.

Prazeres over a resilient Green on points.

THE PICK: Prazeres

Heavyweight

Timothy Johnson (3-3 UFC, 11-4)
vs.
Marcelo Golm (1-0 UFC, 6-0)

More often than not, Johnson picks up the W when he can make it a grinding, ugly affair, but he's struggled when he's shared the cage with athletic strikers. Golm is one of them.

Green as he is, the young Brazilian boasts the tools to give Johnson fits much like his fellow countryman Junior Albini did last summer. Expect Golm to remain fleet of foot and pick the grizzly vet apart before closing the distance for a knockout.

THE PICK: Golm

Bantamweight

Douglas Silva de Andrade (2-2 UFC, 24-2)
vs.
Marlon Vera (4-3 UFC, 10-4-1)

Vera's length and versatility should get him back in the win column.

The 25-year-old has made tremendous strides in his striking and learned to soundly deploy his long limbs from the outside under Colin Oyama's tutelage, which will serve him well against a banger in Silva de Andrade. Expect Vera to finesse the Brazilian from distance, rock him with a high kick as he did Brad Pickett last year and finish the job on the mat with a submission.

THE PICK: Vera

Middleweight

Thiago Santos (8-4 UFC, 16-5)
vs.
Anthony Smith (4-2 UFC, 28-12)

Smith has a way of rallying as time winds down and pulling a finish out of his hat. Santos won't waste time depriving him of the opportunity.

Tasked with a long, lanky dance partner in Smith, the Brazilian's key to yet another knockout lies in his kicks. Unless he overwhelms the Strikeforce alum with a tornado of haymakers as he did Jack Hermansson in October, Santos should chop away at Smith's legs before going high with a head kick and finishing him off early for his fourth straight stoppage victory.

THE PICK: Santos

Featured Preliminary Bout

Welterweight

Sergio Moraes (6-2-1 UFC, 12-3-1)
vs.
Tim Means (9-6 UFC, 27-9-1)

It's time Means got back to his elbow-throwing, face-smashing ways.

The 33-year-old staged three rounds of crisp kickboxing in each of his last two bouts, but he shouldn't show Moraes - a jiu-jitsu player coming off a KO loss to Kamaru Usman - the respect he did Alex Garcia and Belal Muhammad. Assuming his defensive wrestling holds up, it shouldn't be long before Means exploits his sizable edge in the striking department, backs Moraes to the fence, and uncorks his patented hellbows to get back in the win column by TKO.

THE PICK: Means