Jose Aldo-Mark Hominick, Lyoto Machida-Randy Couture Confirmed For UFC 129

Seems like we don't have to wonder if Lyoto Machida will fight in lieu of his boy Jose Aldo after all.

Rather, the two Black House standouts (the UFC Featherweight kingpin and the highly-technical Karateka) will both have their fights seen by the multitudes at the former Skydome, the Rogers Centre in beautiful Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on April 30th.

MMA Junkie confirmed the bout earlier today.

It should come as no surprise that this epic event, headlined by an intriguing Welterweight title clash of former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields and reigning UFC Welterweight World Champion Georges "Rush" St. Pierre, would see another proud Canadian warrior in a main card attraction, let alone the evening's co-main event.

The Aldo-Hominick bout is one that's already being discussed by pundits, fans and experts of our exciting little sport.

This past week, MMA Live experts Jon Anik, Franklin McNeil and perennial UFC Lightweight fan-favorite Kenny Florian discussed Aldo's defense of the title and how for the first time ever, somebody may have a close-enough-to-clear edge over the lightning fast Black House Muay Thai speed demon known as Aldo.

The early consensus seems to be that if Aldo boxes with Hominick, he's setting himself up for a loss—something that would have come at WEC 51 when Manny Gamburyan seemed to blast Aldo and stun him a few times in the first round.

Hominick may do well to analyze that fight; keep in mind the fact that if he can not only stun Aldo, but also pull the trigger when Aldo is stunned, he could leave his home country as not only UFC Featherweight kingpin, but also as possibly the pound-for-pound "best f**king Featherweight in the world, period."

While the Brazilian Cobra needs to beat Hominick in order to remain a champion, the Dragon will be coming off of his second career loss (albeit a somewhat debated split decision loss at UFC 123 in Auburn Hills to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson) in order to face a UFC Hall of Famer in a bout that could be Machida's toughest to date.

Joe Rogan's Hero will be riding a three-fight winning streak that includes recent UFC castaway Brandon Vera, fellow UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman and brash Boxing Legend James Toney to face the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

While it'd be prudent of Couture to mind the Karate of Machida, the former champ should be mindful to keep Couture off-balance and make him slip, a la UFC 91 (the event in which Brock Lesnar beat Couture for the belt by TKO, when Couture slipped and ate Lesnar's Hammer Fists from Hell), in order to prevail.

Machida's style is definitely a defensive-offensive style, in which he throws his opponents off-guard with his Karate style, which has frustrated all except current champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and former champion Jackson up until this point.

That being said, his style has become fairly easy to figure out, as many will see it coming during their bouts with Machida. Having a style that everyone else has figured out is a bad style to have when he faces the Natural, who earned his nickname by utilizing the aggressive Boxing style of former foe and current UFC 126 headliner Vitor Belfort in a way that worked against "The Phenom."

Couture may be nearing his 50s and he may be crazy enough even to challenge Shogun to a standard three-rounder, but he's still the same Master Strategist he always was and Machida has to play the role of counter-strategist in Toronto.

With all the questions on the table about whether Hominick can beat Aldo, whether the win at UFC 121 was a legit win that showed us "the real Jake Shields," and now the question if Lyoto can pull off arguably the biggest upset of his still young career, one thing is for certain:

The Great White North is in for one heated night of excitement come April 30th.