Main Card:

Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira

Light Heavyweight bout: Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva

Light Heavyweight bout: Brandon Vera  vs. Krzysztof Soszynski

Middleweight bout: Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt

Middleweight bout: Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia

Undercard:

Heavyweight bout: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Chris Tuchscherer

Middleweight bout: Ed Herman vs. Aaron Simpson

Heavyweight bout: Justin McCully vs. Mike Russow

Heavyweight bout: Tim Hague vs. Todd Duffee

Middleweight bout: Nick Catone vs. Mark Muñoz

Lightweight bout: Marcus Aurelio vs. Evan Dunham

The Ultimate Fighting Championship seems to be the hottest promotion to hit the Pay Per View market since the WWF in the late 1990s. The UFC is completely dominating the sports industry as they promote monthly super-fights on PPV at a charge of $45 and (can you believe this?) if you have Direct TV, they charge $55 to watch it in HD. So if you have “D-TV”, it might be worth it to head down to your local bar, watch UFC 102 on their big screen in hi-def, order 10 Bud Lights (Coors Light if you’re Brock Lesnar) and a plate of wings. It would cost the same and you would get more bang for your buck. UFC 102 will take place this Saturday Night, August 29^th at 10pm EST/7pm PST at the Rose Garden in Porland, Oregon.

This month’s headliner features Randy “The Natural” Couture facing off against Antônio “Minotauro” Nogueira. Everyone’s gotta tip their hat to Randy because, at 46 years old, he is fighting top notch athletes. He stood toe to toe with Brock Lesnar at UFC 91, who fought 45 pounds heavier than Couture. Although he lost to Brock, the Natural has notable victories over much larger and younger opponents: Tim Sylvia, Tito Ortiz, and Chuck Liddell. It is worth noting that Randy has been pestering Dana White for a match between him and the 30-1 Russian dominator, Fedor Emelianenko. Unfortuantely, Fedor and the UFC have not come to any sort of agreement to join the promotion. But it just goes to show you that the 16-9 UFC Hall of Famer will take on anyone. This fight is #2 of Couture’s remaining 3 fight contract with the UFC and, as always, he will be looking to do some damage.

If Randy faces the Nogueira that fought Frank Mir, then The Natural could possibly destroy him within one round. Brock Lesnar said in an interview (about the Mir-Nogueira fight) that “Frank Mir’s hands looked really good because Nogueira looked really bad”. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master claims that he had just recovered from a staph infection going into his match with Mir at UFC 92, however, he gave the glorified karate kid props for a solid performance. Big Nog has a record of 31 wins and 5 losses, with 1 draw and 1 no contest. The no contest decision was due to an accidental headbutt in a match with the mad Russian Fedor at Pride Final Conflict 2004. The favorite in this bout seems to be right down the middle for most fans but Sylvester Stallone, director of the upcoming action flick The Expendables, claims “everytime I meet a fighter before a fight, he loses”. Nogueira was in his home country of Brazil and on the set of the Sly’s new movie, seemingly to promote the UFC event and (maybe) there to support his opponent Couture, who has a part in the film.

Both men are coming off demoralizing losses – Couture losing to Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight Title and Frank Mir defeating Nogueira for the Interim UFC Heavyweight Title. You can definitely assume that these contenders are going to bring their “A” game to Portland, which is Randy’s hometown. Couture is the first UFC fighter to hold a championship in 2 different weight classes while Nogueira is the only man to hold the PRIDE Heavyweight Title and UFC Heavyweight Title. The Natural claims that his trainer has the Nogueira playbook down pat. But will Randy be able to execute that plan? He is the finest Greco Roman Wrestler in the sport, but on the flipside, Antonio is one of the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu artists in the world.

Another main card fight is Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine taking on Thiago Silva. These two light heavyweights are also coming off losses and need this win to stay in contention for Lyoto Machida’s title belt. Silva, now 13-1, after losing to Machida at UFC 94, is determined to bring himself back up to the number 1 contender spot but the Dean of Mean stands in his way. Silva, undefeated before his match with the light heavyweight champ, has a track record of rocking his opponent in the first round. Jardine, however, has gone the distance 6 times in his career with fighters like Brandon Vera, Quinton Jackson, and Chuck Liddell. If this fight goes past the first round, then it’s likely that The Dean will take Silva to school.

Thiago, a 26 year old Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Blackbelt, is looking to rectify his previous loss and will come out like a wrecking machine when that bell rings. He claims, in an interview, to have studied Jardine and will adapt to his moves. But because Jardine has such an unpredictable Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde style of fighting, Silva might not be able to rock his world.

Dana White should rename this event to UFC 102: Desperation because it seems, going into the showdown, almost every fighter is looking to exorcise their own demons from battles they have lost in the last year or two. Brandon Vera is no exception, losing his last 3 out of 5 bouts. But on the contrary, his opponent Krzysztof Soszynski is on a 6 fight winning streak, capturing “Submission of the Night” honors in his 1^st two matches as a UFC fighter. Originally, Truthboy Vera was supposed to face Matt Hamill but he pulled out due to an injury while training.

Another comeback story on the horizon, Chris Leben looks to put his personal history aside and score a win against Jake Rosholt. Leben had dealt with a DUI charge and also tested positive to steroids after his previous fight with Michael Bisping. This is Chris’ first fight coming off his 9 month suspension. The 3 time NCAA wrestling champion, Rosholt, had his first loss at a UFN event back in February of this year. Hence, both men have something to prove and look to take another step toward main event status in the middleweight division.

Last but not least, the undefeated submission specialist Demian Maia will take on Nate “the Great” Marquardt. Maia’s professional MMA career started less than 4 years ago and his list of accolades is a mile long. Not only does he hold numerous grappling and wrestling awards, he earned four “Submission of the Night” bonuses in his last five fights. However, the great Nate will be his toughest challenge to date. Marquardt has risen to champion status on more than one occasion. They don’t call him “the Great” for nothing as he captured the King of Pancrase Middleweight Championship in 2004, the Ring of Fire Middleweight Championship in 2000, the Pancrase Spirit Tour Championship in 2002, and the list goes on. Nate was defeated by Anderson Silva in a UFC Middleweight Championship match at UFC 73, but in Marquardt’s defense, everyone loses to Silva.

Spike TV will broadcast a portion of the undercard matches free of charge. Check your local listings for times. The Cory P “Under-Rated Undercard” bout would have to be the Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Chris Tuchscherer fight. Gonzaga, at one point of his career, was the number one contender for the UFC Heavyweight title. Tuchscherer trained with Brock Lesnar and has a professional record of 17-1. This fight will be Chris’ UFC debut. Enjoy UFC 102 and I will be back next week with my take on the results with “The Rundown of All Rundowns”.