UFC 77: Hostile Territory Preview

With a UFC event coming up Saturday night, the middleweight title is on the line and there are some major implications in the heavyweight division.

Here are some previews for the main card fights:

Rich "Ace" Franklin vs. Anderson "Spider" Silva

Anderson Silva puts his middleweight title on the line in a rematch against the man he took it from.

Silva is coming off of two title defenses with wins over Travis Lutter via submission and Nathan Marquardt via TKO. Franklin is coming off of two wins after his devastating loss to Silva last October. Franklin has a unanimous decision win over Yushin Okami and a TKO win over Jason MacDonald in his last two fights and is ready to take back his belt.

Look for Franklin to come out striking, pushing the pace while Silva waits for him to make a mistake. Franklin will have to avoid the Thai clinch that put him in a lot of danger last fight. He has great striking ability and likes to throw with all of his opponents.

Franklin is looking to regain the title with his hometown crowd behind him. Silva will use his great striking and kicks to keep Franklin at a distance to try to finish him. Don't expect this to be a quick match—both fighters are experienced and will come in looking to execute their game plan to perfection.

This fight has 'fight of the night' written all over it and will not disappoint this time around.

Tim "The Maine'iac" Sylvia vs. Brandon "The Truth" Vera

With the recent retirement of UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture, this fight has some major title implication.

Tim Sylvia is coming off a loss in March to Randy Couture for the title and has not fought since due to back surgery. Brandon Vera was on a tear through the UFC Heavyweight division winning four fights in a row in very impressive fashion. Vera was set to fight Sylvia in March but contract issues prevented that from happening and took Vera away from fighting for 11 months.

Sylvia is a giant at 6'8" and poses many reach issues for the much smaller Vera. He is hungry and looking to impose his will on Vera in order to get his title shot back.

Sylvia will use his reach to keep Vera outside and look for a big knockout. Vera is a very good Muay Thai fighter and has great grappling as well. He will try and get inside of Sylvia's reach and look for the take-down and submission victory. The winner of this match should fight for the vacant title in the near future.

Alvin "Kid" Robinson vs. Jorge Gurgel

Alvin Robinson lost his UFC debut to Kenny Florian and Jorge Gurgel is coming off of back to back wins. Both fighters are Jui-Jitsu specialists, but the edge goes to Gurgel on the feet as he was a pro kick boxer.

Gurgel is looking to move his way up the 155 pound ladder in front of his hometown crowd while Robinson is in search of his first win inside the Octagon.

Eric "Ravishing Red" Schafer vs. Stephan "American Psycho" Bonnar

Eric Schafer is 1-1 in the UFC with his last fight being a loss to rising start Michael Bisping. Bonnar's last fight was a decision loss to Forrest Griffin followed by a nine month steroid suspension.

Schafer is a submission specialist and will look to take this fight to the canvas and avoid the tremendous striking ability of Bonnar. Bonnar will look to stand and use his gold glove boxing skills to finish this fight early.

Both fighters will bring it on Saturday as they both are in desperate need of a win to keep their UFC dreams alive.

Alan "The Talent" Belcher vs. Kalib Starnes

Belcher is a well rounded fighter and is looking to gain on his recent submission win at UFC 71 in May. He will be comfortable wherever the fight goes because he's hungry for another win in the Octagon.

Starnes had the biggest win of his career against Chris Leben at UFC 71 as well and is looking to move up the 185 ladder after a promising stint on The Ultimate Fighter. Look for both fighters to come out quickly, as they both like to push the pace. This fight could end up being one of the more exciting fights of the night on the main card.

There you have it—your main card preview.

The UFC has put together another great card for this event with excellent undercard fights as well. Fireworks will go off when the bell rings for the Championship fight at the end of the night so keep your eyes open for a some great fights!