UFC 100: Nogueira vs. Velasquez Main Card Preview

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When the UFC makes its long-awaited debut in Australia, the great Aussie fans will be treated to a good one. They'll see a few of their own countrymen compete at the highest level on a card that's sprinkled with legends who have been major cogs in helping to build the sport into what it is world-wide.

After a couple of late scratches due to illness and injury the card still shapes up nicely and although it does lack a title fight, some of the outcomes will have an impact on the championship pictures in the near future.

Mirko Filipovic vs. Anthony Perosh

Cro Cop could be at yet another pivotal turning point in his career. Not only did he lose his last fight but in doing so he looked very average and even spoke of suicidal thoughts that he had following the sub-par performance. This isn't the first time the former Pride and K-1 star has been at a cross roads. Long considered by many to be the best heavyweight striker in mma, Cro Cop's knockout highlights are among the best ever. At 6'2", 220lbs. with feet as fast as a kangaroo, he's a danger to put anybody to sleep. When talking about his kicks he once said, "right leg, hospital. Left leg, cemetery." If he can find his way back to his former self he'll be more than handful for Perosh.

Anthony Perosh is a late replacement for Ben Rothwell who was forced to pull out of this fight due to an undisclosed illness. Perosh is an Aussie native who trains with Elvis Sisonic. With a 10-5 record as a pro, he's no stranger to tough competition. In 2006 he had two fights in the UFC but did lose both of those, to Jeff Monson and Christian Wellisch. Perosh knows how to finish fights, 7 of his wins have come by submission and the other 3 by knockout. Stylistically this could be a very interesting matchup for Cro Cop.

Ryan Bader vs. Keith Jardine

TUF 8 meets TUF 2 in this light-heavyweight contest. Ryan Bader, TUF season 8 winner, has as good a wrestling pedigree as anyone in the sport. His accolades include two state high school championships (Arizona) and three PAC 10 championships at Arizona State University. He's wrestled his way to a 10-0 record as a pro and although he's taken some criticism for grinding out a few "boring decisions," he's actually finished four fights by (T)KO and three by submission. The UFC has wisely brought him along at a realistic pace to this point, and he'll now face what is by far his toughest test to date.

Jardine is a very difficult fighter to figure out. After beginning his career at 11-1-1 he has dropped 5 of his last 9 fights. The confusing part is that he has a knack for winning fights as a huge underdog (Chuck Liddell) and losing fights as a favorite (Houston Alexander). One thing is for sure, Jardine shows up to fight. He's coming off of back-to-back losses for the first time in his career, losing to Quinton Jackson and Thiago Silva, respectively. He'll definitely be looking to get back on track against the less-experienced Bader.

Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos

Joe "Daddy" was The Ultimate Fighter 2 winner of the welterweight tournament and has been a big fan favorite ever since. He moved to lightweight in 2006 and snapped off four consecutive wins on his way to a title shot vs. BJ Penn. He was defeated via 2nd round rear naked choke in a blood bath and went on to drop 2 of his next 3 fights as well. Stevenson has now joined the ranks of Jackson's Submission Fighting and has been very impressive in his last 2 wins, both victories. A black belt in both judo and jiu-jitsu, he's a versatile fighter and can be dangerous no matter where the fight goes.

Australian-born George Sotiropoulos, a contestant of TUF 6, is also a jiu-jitsu black belt. He's looking forward to enjoying a home field advantage for the first time since joining the UFC where's currently 4-0. His 11-2 overall record is impressive, especially considering that one of his losses came by disqualification (groin strike) to highly ranked lightweight Shinya Aoki. Stevenson will be his toughest competition to date in the UFC and this opportunity is a step toward becoming a legitimate title contender.

Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping

Wanderlei Silva, crafty veteran, mma legend, and the man with the well-deserved scariest nickname in the sport. "The Axe Murderer" came to the UFC after dropping his last 2 fights at Pride and lost his debut to Chuck Liddell at UFC 79. He roared back at UFC 84 taking out Keith Jardine in 36-seconds and appeared to be back to his vicious self, but has since dropped back-to-back losses to Quinton Jackson and Rich Franklin. Silva doesn't seem to have figured out how to stalk opponents and cut off the octagon-shaped cage as well as he did the square ring in Pride. He's not a fighter that can ever be taken lightly as his right hand is still powerful and his knees from the clinch could total a stainless steel Delorian. A mistake by Bisping could lead to him being airmailed from Sydney to the outback.

We saw Bisping make that mistake at UFC 100 and Dan Henderson knocked him out cold. He came back at UFC 105 and looked great against a very tough Denis Kang. His record now stands at a very respectable 18-2 and although he might not have a reputation to for power, 12 of those wins have come by (T)KO. He didn't acquire 18 wins by making a lot of mistakes. Look for him to circle out away from Silva's power and look for openings to land big right hands of his own.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez

All indications are that Nogueira is coming into this fight in better shape than he's been in years.   A bonafide legend in the sport, Nogueira has been through as many classic wars as anyone in mma. He's 33-5 with a ridiculous 20 wins by submission. His Brazilian jiu-jitsu is widely considered the best that the heavyweight division has ever seen, but to mistake him for a ground fighter would be a problem for opponents as Nogueira can definitely box. He's been to battle with striking greats like Cro Cop, wrestling standouts like Mark Coleman, Dan Henderson, and most recently Randy Couture, and top level jiu-jitsu practictioners like Fabricio Werdum. "Minotauro" will be looking to draw on his big fight experience to take out a younger and less-experienced Cain Velasquez.

Velasquez' short but impressive career is punctuated by an undefeated record. Twice an All-American wrestler at Arizona State University, we've seen him dominate people on the ground with his strong and technical top position, but in his last fight he put his striking on display with a 2nd round TKO over Ben Rothwell. He'll be entering this fight as the younger and more athletic competitor, but it might be his game plan that decides this fight for him. He trains with a very solid team in American Kickboxing Academy, but exploiting weaknesses in an opponent who's so void of them makes for quite a task. Wrestling is obviously his bread and butter, but does he really want to go to the mat with a guy who has 20 submission wins? His standup is probably the area where he needs the most improvement so it might not be wise to try to box Nogueira either. Whatever the game plan is, he'll rely on his youth and athleticism to try to wear out his more weathered counterpart and possibly look for a late finish.