
Main card
- Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
- Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
- Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
- Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
- Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Ben Rothwell
Preliminary Card
- Light Heavyweight bout: Elvis Sinosic vs. Chris Haseman
- Light Heavyweight Bout: Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
- Welterweight Bout: Chris Lytle vs. Brian Foster
- Middleweight Bout: C.B. Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic
- Light Heavyweight Bout: James Te-Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac
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In my opinion, this is the best card UFC has put on in quite sometime. That main card is absolutely STACKED, and even the prelims have some potential show-stealers.
Oddly enough, the main event between Big Nog and Cain Velasquez, while a very good fight, is still perhaps the fight I'm least looking forward to. That's just how stacked this card is. Regardless, this should be one heck of a fight. Cain Velasquez has been on a roll that I don't think anyone ever saw coming, and this is by far and large his biggest fight to date. How will he do? Well, I'm not too sure; it really all depends if he will be able to defend the submissions Nogueira will throw at him while on the ground. Big Nog is undoubtedly the better striker, while Cain Velasquez is the better wrestler, so this fight should be mostly spent on the ground, where Big Nog is absolutely superb (perhaps even the best Heavyweight in the entire division off his back), and a place Cain is yet untested at. So, it'll be interesting to see how this one goes. I have Big Nog winning with a Guillotine in the 3rd Round, but I won't be shocked if Velasquez grinds out the decision.
Wanderlei Silva and Michael Bisping both need wins big time, Wandy especially. Hopefully, Bisping shows up in this one with the mind-set of putting on an exciting fight, rather than hitting and dodging for 3 straight rounds to a decision. The latter is very possible, and if that happens I will be sorely disappointed. However, I don't think Wandy will let that happen. He's way too aggressive, and I think he will have full confidence coming into this fight. Bisping's stand-up and ground skills are is absolutely nothing to fear, so Wandy should bulrush this guy from the get-go. If not, then we're probably in for one boring ass fight; however, I don't think it'll turn out that way. I see Wandy knocking Bisping out in the 2nd Round.
Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos will be the Fight of the Night, easily. In my opinion, George Sotiropoulos is without a doubt the most underrated fighter in the UFC Lightweight Division. Since TUF 6, the guy has been undefeated, with impressive win after impressive win. And now, here comes his toughest fight in Joe Stevenson. Joe Daddy lost his mind for a while there trying to become a boxer rather than sticking to what got him to the big game, but in his last two fights he has gone back to what he does best, which is wrestling, GNP, and working for submissions. When Stevenson has a good training camp and the right mind-set, he is a very hard man to beat. And I don't George will be able to. I think fighting in his home country of Australia will put a lot of extra pressure on Sotiropoulos, and against a guy like Joe Stevenson... you need to be completely 100% both physically and mentally. I'm sure George will show up in perfect shape, but I think the nerves will get the better of him this time around, unfortunately. If not though, then I very well can see Joe Daddy, as talented as he is, get outclassed in every way imaginable.
Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader intrigues the fuck out of me. Ryan Bader is an AWESOME wrestler, with humongous power in his hands. In fact, I'd go as far as to call him a bigger version of Dan Henderson. However, Keith Jardine at this point is a crafty veteran, who can shock the World in any given fight. Bader, athletically and skillfully, should completely dominate this fight, but you absolutely still cannot count Keith Jardine out. He's a tough son of a bitch, with great knockout power, one hell of a work ethic, and tremendous heart. Bader I don't think has faced someone like that, and while everything points to him winning this fight rather easily, I still say Keith Jardine is by far and large Bader's toughest fight to date. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out.
And of course... it's always interesting/exciting to see CroCop fight. Ben Rothwell is a guy who will stand-up against CroCop, and also someone CroCop should KTFO. CroCop has yet to get that big Knockout in the UFC... well, I have a good feeling he's finally going to get that come February 20th, and I for one cannot wait to see it.