UFC 126: 5 Things To Watch for on the Super Bowl Card

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The UFC brings one of its strongest cards in recent memory to the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday.

UFC 126 includes a superfight between Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort, a Light Heavyweight bout between former champions Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin, and the anticipated showdown between Jon Jones and Ryan Bader.

With such an intriguing card, fans can expect a tremendous amount of buzz leading up to Saturday. Welcome to part one of the "Road to the Super Bowl Card" series. Sit down and kick back. It’s time to get this hype train rolling. Here are 5 things to watch for at UFC 126.

Added Heat to the Pound-For-Pound Debate

After Anderson Silva's close encounter with Chael Sonnen at UFC 117, fans and media outlets are starting to give Georges St. Pierre the edge as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

St. Pierre is fresh off an impressive five round lashing of top Welterweight contender Josh Koscheck.

The slim margin for error and expectations of perfection make every outing for Silva and St. Pierre important. Both fighters are neck and neck in consideration for pound-for-pound king.

Since his arrival in the UFC, Silva has left a path of destruction. He is undefeated in the octagon and the longest reigning champion in UFC history.

The most notable of all Silva's accomplishments has been his success at heavier weight classes. This is something St. Pierre has yet to do. In August 2009, Silva made a mockery of former Light Heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin with a first round KO.

Having avenged each of his two losses, St. Pierre is technically undefeated in his MMA career. His primary criticism comes from a lack of finishes, but his destruction of world-class fighters trumps everything.

Both fighters are worthy of the top spot, and it makes you wonder why we get so worked up over trivial things like pound-for-pound status. Why can't we just enjoy the history that is unfolding. Years down the road, fans will look back and revel in the moments that we are fortunate to see in the present.

With that said, fans may never see Silva and St. Pierre compete against one another. This is frustrating to most fans seeing as only one weight class separates them. Until someone loses or they meet in the cage, the pound-for-pound debate will rage on. This brings us to the most important question.

If Silva dominates Vitor Belfort on Saturday, would it be enough to erase his last couple of performances and put him over in the pound-for-pound rankings?

Belfort’s Game Plan

With the biggest fight of his career approaching, you have to wonder about the strategy Vitor Belfort hopes to implement on fight night.

On the feet, Belfort is as fast and dangerous as they come. He has the one punch power to end Anderson Silva’s reign, but if his entire hopes rest in landing a fight-ending punch, he could be in for a long night.

The technical brilliance and elusive swagger of Silva has been otherworldly. Luckily for Belfort, former contender Chael Sonnen may have spelled out a blueprint for dealing with the proposed pound-for-pound king.

Keep in mind, Belfort doesn’t possess the same skill set as Sonnen. They are completely different fighters, and ultimately, Belfort will have to find his own way.

Still, it can’t hurt to study what Sonnen did to make "Superman" look human. Against Silva, Sonnen never gave the champion an opportunity to setup his offense. He was aggressive and kept Silva guessing with a mixture of strikes and takedowns. The weakest part of Silva’s game is his wrestling, and Sonnen exploited that weakness in every way.

Belfort may not have Sonnen’s wrestling ability, but he is more than capable of dragging the fight to the ground. Due to his preference for violence on the feet, people tend to forget about Belfort’s ground game. Belfort, who is a black in BJJ, earned a bronze medal at the 2001 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships.

While Belfort is capable of holding his own on the feet, it’ll be interesting to see if he varies up his attack and shoots in for a few takedowns. If the bout stays standing and Belfort can’t land the big punch, does he have the technical tools to outpoint Silva for 25 minutes?

Franklin’s Stock Rising as a Light Heavyweight

The UFC Light Heavyweight division is more competitive than it's ever been. There are a plenty of notable contenders for Mauricio "Shogun" Rua's title, but one name in particular is continuously shuffled beneath the deck.

Former Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin has constantly competed against marquee names.

His last four opponents –– Chuck Liddell, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, and Dan Henderson –– are all former champions and future Hall of Famers. Despite his wins over Liddell and Silva, Franklin fell short against Belfort and Henderson.

The split decision loss to Henderson could've easily gone either way. It's easy to ignore Franklin's accomplishments with trivial criticisms, but "Ace" has proven time and time again that he deserves to be considered amongst the MMA elite. A win over former Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin would go a long way in driving that point home.

Griffin is still listed as a top five Light Heavyweight in many publications. Franklin has a great opportunity to propel himself into title contention. Rashad Evans is scheduled to challenge for the title at UFC 128. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will likely get the next shot if he gets past Thiago Silva at UFC 130. The bout between Ryan Bader and Jon Jones is also a title eliminator.

UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture could also be in the mix if he upsets Lyoto Machida at UFC 129. There are many scenarios to consider when sorting out such a stacked division. Could a victory over Griffin place Franklin in a number one contender's bout?

Prospects Becoming Superstars

UFC President Dana White and matchmaker Joe Silva should be applauded in their handling of prospects Jon Jones and Ryan Bader. It's rare in combat sports to see the kind of match-up fans will get to tune into on Saturday.

What makes this bout between high level prospects so interesting?

The easy answer is that fans have a genuine investment in both fighters involved.

We have watched these men shed their image as prospects and become contenders. Bader's rise to the top can be traced all the way back to season eight of "The Ultimate Fighter". Fans watched his success on the reality TV show spill over into the UFC.

Despite recent blunders in casting, TUF allows fans to see what it takes to turn a dream into a reality. We were all there when Bader fought through the house and KO'd Vinny Magalhaes in the finale to win season eight.

As for Jones, fans were instantly enamored with his enigmatic style after his cataclysmic tooling of Andre Gusmao and Stephan Bonnar. Those two bouts alone had more than enough action to put together a solid highlight reel. By the time Jones was done with Matt Hamill at the TUF 10 Finale, many were already calling him the future face of the Light Heavyweight division.

The UFC jumped on this hype by featuring Jones in a couple of headliners on free cards. Fans watched as Jones manhandled respectable MMA veterans Brandon Vera and Vladimir Matyushenko.

The fight between Jones and Bader is special because they are in the prime of their careers. With both fighters being so young, they will obviously improve and get better with experience, but it doesn't get any better than this. Two young fighters will vie for greatness as they continue to climb the Light Heavyweight hierarchy. Who will be the first to falter?

Emergence of the Lighter Weight Classes

With the UFC/WEC merger in the books, the time has finally come for the lighter weight classes to be featured on the main card of a major UFC event.

On Saturday, former WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres is scheduled to face longtime WEC veteran Antonio Banuelos.

If you aren't familiar with the lighter weight classes, you are definitely in for a treat. The amount of excitement and intensity these guys bring to the cage is unrivaled.

Heavier fighters better bring it, or they may find themselves losing out on some post-fight bonuses.

The bout between Torres and Banuelos should be a solid opener to a great main card lineup. On the Spike TV Prelims, a Featherweight bout is also slated between rising star Chad Mendes and top ten Featherweight Michihiro Omigawa.

The addition of the lighter weight classes is sure to bolster future cards. You would do well to remember the names of Jose Aldo, Dominick Cruz, Joseph Benavidez, and Urijah Faber. These are the future faces of the UFC.

It all kicks off on Saturday. How will the lighter weight classes fare in their first taste of action on the big stage?