Despite a slow start to 2010 with “Sugar” Rashad Evans unanimously defeating Thiago Silva at UFC 108, the UFC is in for a big year. In the first half of the year, every title will be defended; this is a big start to the new decade for a company with great expectations going forward.
At UFC 109: Relentless, there will be a number of key fights starting off in the Welterweight Division covering up to Middleweight.
In Welterweight, Matt "The Terror" Serra will do battle with Frank Trigg. Serra looks to redeem himself for his past two losses to rivals Georges "Rush" St. Pierre (UFC 83; lost Welterweight Title) and Matt Hughes (UFC 98; Fight of the Night Honors) Trigg looks to avenge an ugly loss to Josh Koscheck back in September.
Brazilian submission specialist Demian Maia, coming off a loss to Nate "The Great" Marquardt, is ready to take on fellow submission fighter Dan Miller. Miller’s latest fight was a loss via unanimous decision at the hands of Chael Sonnen. Sonnen and Marquardt will also fight on the 109 card.
The main event from Las Vegas on February 9th will feature two UFC Hall-of-Famers. Randy "The Natural" Couture and Mark Coleman will go at it in the Light Heavyweight division. The legendary pair wrestled one another in a freestyle match at the 1989 Olympic Festival at Oklahoma State where Coleman won the match by one point. This fight will mark the oldest combined age of fighters to go head to head in the UFC.
In Sydney, Australia, 11 days later, the UFC will present UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez. The main event bout between Antonio Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira and Cain Velasquez will play a huge factor in the Heavyweight title picture and essentially will determine the #2 contender behind the winner of the Carwin-Mir bout.
In the co-main event, Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva makes his 185 lb. debut against the U.K.’s Michael “The Count” Bisping. Silva, in dropping down to middleweight, needs to rebound from losses to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rich “Ace” Franklin at 205. Bisping’s time in the UFC ought to be much smoother with Dan Henderson gone. He needs a big win here over one of the greatest of all-time. This should have been Yoshihiro Akiyama’s fight with Silva.
On March 21, the UFC will head to Bloomfield, Colorado to make its Versus debut. Headlining the card will be a Light Heavyweight bout between newcomer Jon “Bones” Jones and Brandon “The Truth” Vera. “Bones” needs a quick rebound from his DQ loss to Matt Hamill in Rd. 1 at TUF 10 Finale. As for Vera, he needs to once again prove that “The Truth” hurts.
Later in the same week, the UFC makes its return to New Jersey for a doubleheader, in title matches that is.
UFC Welterweight Champion Georges “Rush” St. Pierre looks to silence the #1 contender, Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy. Hardy, who came out of the blue (in terms of the title picture), earned a shot at the Welterweight Title after beating Mike “Quick” Swick. This will be the young Brit’s first UFC fight in The United States. “Rush” should make quick work out of Hardy as he did with Thiago “The Pitbull” Alves at UFC 100. Right now there is no logical competition for “Rush” at 170, hence, now is the time to move up in weight.
In the co-main event it will be another title match, this one for the Interim Heavyweight Title. Frank Mir takes on Shane “The Engineer” Carwin for the title. Both men want a shot at UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, Mir has split two bouts with the champ already; while the undefeated Carwin is still waiting for his shot.
The UFC makes its Abu Dhabi debut in April featuring another championship doubleheader.
Anderson “The Spider” Silva will be defending his UFC Middleweight Title for the first time since UFC 97: Redemption against Thales Leites, this time against fellow Brazilian Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort. Silva ran through Forrest Griffin in Philadelphia at UFC 101: Declaration, proving that he is the best in the world right now.
Frank Edgar has earned a shot at the UFC Lightweight Championship in the spring. Even though Gray Maynard appeared to be the most likely choice, Edgar will challenge B.J. Penn next. The undefeated Maynard has a win over Edgar, but will have to wait his turn due to a lackluster performance against Nate Diaz at Fight Night 20. “The Prodigy” is the best in the world at 155 bar none; he has proved that time and time again.
On May 8 the UFC returns to Montreal’s Bell Centre featuring a Light Heavyweight Championship rematch between Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. The undefeated “Dragon” will try to prove that UFC 104 was no fluke as he still heads a deep Light Heavyweight division. PRIDE’s famous “Shogun” looks for revenge and to be called champion. Their October 24th fight was too close to call; many believe that the judges were at fault in their decision.
Kimbo Slice will be taking on Matt Mitrione. The Heavyweight division only will continue to grow due to TUF 10. Kimbo, the internet street fighting sensation/bodyguard from Miami looks to launch his UFC career at the age of 36. Mitrione needs to make a name for himself quickly and become a formidable young competitor in the very deep Heavyweight division.
In probably the most anticipated non-title fight of the 1st half of the year, welterweights Paul Daley and Josh Koscheck will do battle in Montreal. The ever-emerging Daley looks to continue to climb the welterweight ranks and a victory against Kos would be his best yet. Instead of facing off against Paulo Thiago again, Kos draws the young British striker. Kos remains one of the top welterweights in the world, yet has already had his chance at gold. Daley would be an intriguing next opponent for GSP, expect his name to be thrown around in discussion IF he defeats Kos.
Finally, at UFC 114, the quite anticipated bout between TUF 10 coaches will go down in Las Vegas. Now that the “A-Team” gig is behind him, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson returns to the Octagon to face “Sugar” Rashad Evans. These former champions meet for the first time and can now bring closure to their rivalry with the winner possibly getting a shot at the Light Heavyweight Title.
For the 3rd time their careers will cross paths, this time in Canada. After coaching in TUF 11 which debuts on SPIKE on March 31st, Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell will face his biggest rival “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz. This will be their first fight in which a title won’t be involved. Liddell and Ortiz helped shape this sport into what it has become and their rivalry is one of the best ever.
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