UFC 104: The Five Bullet Point Preview

Five fights, five bullet points per fight, five drinks for me at the bar for writing this for you. It's UFC 104 from Los Angeles, CA, tonight and here's your official Five Bullet Point Preview, y'all!

Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua

• Machida is still undefeated in his six-year career, going 15-0 with his latest win being his title victory over Rashad Evans at May's UFC 98.
  
  
• After his four of his first five UFC fights ended via unanimous decision, Machida has won his last two by KO.
  
  
• A long-time PRIDE veteran, Rua enters the cage Saturday at 18-3 and a TKO winner in his last two fights.
  
  
• Despite being a BJJ black belt, the 27-year-old Rua has won 83% of his fights via T/KO.
  
  
• The two have fought a who's who of UFC studs in their path to get here. Rua has faced Chuck Liddell, Mark Coleman and Forrest Griffin in his last three, while Machida has battled Evans, Thiago Silva and Tito Ortiz in his last three.
  

Cain Velasquez vs. Ben Rothwell

• The 27-year-old Velasquez is still unblemished at 6-0 in his three-year career, having last defeated Cheick Kongo at June's UFC 99.
  
  
• Velasquez's unanimous decision win over Kongo was his first victory not to come via T/KO.
  
  
• After nearly eight years in the game, this will be Rothwell's first tilt in the UFC as his contract was acquired from Affliction earlier this summer. However, this will be his first fight since last December. 
  
  
• At 30-6, Rothwell brings a ton of experience into the cage and has won 14 of his last 15 fights - the sole loss being to former UFC Heavyweight Champ Andrei Arlovski in July 2008.
  
  
• There is no real pattern in Rothwell's six losses and a slight edge in his wins (17 T/KO to 11 submissions).
  

Joe Stevenson vs. Spencer Fisher

• Both men enter the cage with a combined 67 pro fights to their credit.
  
  
• This is Stevenson's second match since moving camps to Arizona fight guru Greg Jackson. After losing three of his last four before that, Stevenson earned a unanimous decision win over Nate Diaz at June's Ultimate Fighter Nine Finale show.
  
  
• The 27-year-old Stevenson has earned Fight of the Night honors in his last two bouts. (40 fights and he's only 27? Wow.)
  
  
• The 33-year-old Fisher (23-4) has won his last three fights in a row, two by unanimous decision. He last defeated Caol Uno at UFC 99.
  
  
• There is no major trends in Fisher's style of victory, though four of his last five fights have gone the distance. Stevenson loves sinking in a choke for a win, but has gone the distance in his last two. 
  

Anthony Johnson vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

• Johnson missed weight by a good six pounds (!!!) at Friday's weigh-in, so this will be at an agreed catchweight of 176.
  
  
• A third-year pro, Johnson (7-2) has been one of the sport's fastest rising and most exciting prospects. His three UFC wins have come via T/KO.
  
  
• This is Johnson's first fight since having to bow out of a TUF 9 Finale bout against Matt Brown due to a knee injury.
  
  
• Yoshida (11-3) has amassed a 2-1 record while in the UFC and is coming off a first-round submission win over Brandon Wolff at UFC 98.
  
  
• If you're having a tough time remembering Yoshida, he was the guy that Josh Kosheck laid out with a highlight reel KO at the Fight For The Troops event. Yeah, that's him!

Gleison Tibau vs. Josh Neer

• Tibau (19-6) has been in the UFC for a long time, having competed for Zuffa since November 2006.
  
  
• This will be Tibau's fourth fight of 2009, a year in which he's gone 2-1.
  
  
• Neer is equally a veteran at 25-8-1 and has had several multi-fight runs in the UFC over a 6+ year career.
  
  
• Neer has lost two of his last three - both via unanimous decision. Of his wins, 10 have been KO's while 11 were via submission.
  
  
• When Tibau wins, it's either via submission (9) or decision (8). There are no trends to his losses. Regardless, both guys need to win here tonight.
  

Josh Nason has published MMA, wrestling and boxing blog Ropes, Ring and Cage.com since 2007. He is a contributor to Fight Magazine , Bleacher Report and appears regularly on Fight Network Radio. Follow him on Twitter.