UFC 126 Could Go Down As Greatest Fight Card In The Company's History

Just hours removed from an unbelievably intense weigh-in staredown between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and hungry challenger Vitor Belfort, fans are foaming at the mouth in anticipation for Saturday night’s UFC 126 fight card.

The Pay-Per-View event, which will take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev., precedes Super Bowl XLV.

Twenty-four hours before the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers collide on the gridiron; fight fans will witness what is essentially MMA’s version of the Super Bowl with a card that is ultra-stacked from top to bottom.

Stylistically, every single fight—including the five PPV bouts, two Spike TV preliminary matchups and the Demetrious Johnson-Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto fight that will stream live on Facebook, has potential to produce more fireworks than a fourth of July party at the White House.

The Silva-Belfort main event by itself is a blockbuster matchup and one that many pundits recognize as the biggest middleweight title fight that the UFC has ever promoted. In fact, in their native Brazil, this bout is being dubbed “The Fight of the Century” and for good reason.

At the young age of 19, Belfort was one of the first Brazilians to make a name for himself in the Octagon. With his lightning-quick hand speed and devastating knockout power, Belfort won the UFC 12 heavyweight tournament.

Seven years later, he defeated Randy Couture due to an unfortunate doctor’s stoppage to become the UFC light heavyweight champion, but he was never able to rule the division.

Silva, on the other hand, is the most dominant champion the UFC has ever seen. In 2006, Silva destroyed Rich Franklin to claim the gold and he has defended it a record seven times since.

Along the way he has beaten names like Dan Henderson, Franklin for a second time, Demian Maia and most recently, submitting Chael Sonnen.

He’s even gone up in weight to fight at 205 pounds and made quick work of James Irvin and former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.

Simply put, Silva is one of the greatest martial artists to ever put on a pair of gloves, but Belfort could finally be the man to put an end to his reign.

Now 33 years old, Belfort has overcome some horrible things in his life and the fact that he was even able to perform at a high level throughout the past 15 years just goes to show you how talented he truly is.

“The Phenom” has evolved, and this was evident in his return at UFC 103 when he decisively knocked out Franklin in devastating fashion in the first round.

Granted, injuries have kept him on the shelf for over a year, but it would be absolutely foolish to count him out in this fight.

Neither fighter likes each other, which was put on display during the pre-fight press conference and epic staredown at the weigh-ins.

Silva has stated that if given the opportunity he’s going to hurt Belfort really badly, but Belfort has showed no signs of fear. His confidence is through the roof and he isn’t going to be afraid to stand toe-to-toe with a man who many consider the best in the world.

Clearly this is a fight that has a very high chance of going down in the record books as a legendary matchup, and the same could be said about almost every other bout on the card.

The co-main event is another huge draw featuring former champions and two of the sport’s most recognizable names in Griffin and Franklin.

Say what you want about these two light heavyweight icons being “past their prime,” but both are still top-ranked competitors who are known for putting on incredible wars for the crowd.

Speaking of the light heavyweights, two of the division’s most promising young stars will clash in an explosive matchup that may even surpass the intensity of the main event.

Jon Jones and Ryan Bader realize what is at stake in this fight; the winner moves up into title contention and the loser remains in “prospect status,” and both men have their eye on the gold.

Let’s also not forget the UFC debut of former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres, who will duke it out with the always exciting Antonio Banuelos.

If you thought Torres’ incredible WEC battles with Takeya Mizugaki and Yoshiro Maeda were impressive, you haven’t seen anything yet.

Now training under elite coach Firas Zahabi, Torres is still an aggressive fighter but with a more technical approach.

This is his first fight in the UFC and you can tell he’s anxious to make his mark, as is Banuelos, who realizes a win over Torres would catapult him to the very top of the bantamweight food chain.

In addition to the PPV, fans can also watch three compelling preliminary fights via Spike TV and Facebook. The popular social media site first partnered up with the UFC for the Fight for the Troops 2 event and now, due to popular demand, it will stream the bantamweight bout between the debuting Japanese sensation “Kid” Yamamoto and “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.

Then on Spike, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone dukes it out with Paul Kelly and a returning Michihiro Omigawa takes on Team Alpha Male’s Chad Mendes.

In the 18-year history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, we have seen some memorable fight cards, but this Saturday’s UFC 126 could prove to be the best of all time. Of course, this isn’t a paper sport and anything could happen.

Some fights might fail to live up to expectations, but it’s highly unlikely that you won’t get your money’s worth ordering this event.

To get you even more pumped up and giddy for the fights, Heavy MMA is hosting a pre-fight show called “Fight Day.”

It will be hosted by Heavy’s own Megan Olivi and Dave Farra and will also be streamed live here on Bleacher Report in addition to Fox Sports and other outlets, starting at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Mitch Ciccarelli is the sexiest columnist in MMA. A staff writer for Heavy MMA, featured columnist for B/R and host of Crouching Tiger Hidden Leprechaun MMA Radio, Ciccarelli is also a future United States Airman, beginning basic training this March. He is also engaged to Eva Mendes and Jessica Simpson.

Follow Ciccarelli on twitter, unless you have herpes.  @MitchCiccarelli