UFC 134 Fight Card: Power Ranking the Event's Brazilian Fighters

On Saturday, August 27, the UFC makes its long-awaited return to the birthplace of MMA: Brazil!

And on that Saturday night there will be 12 fights, all of which are sure to be outstanding, promising to entertain the 30-40 million people who will be watching.

The main event of the evening has UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva looking to defend his title against the last man to defeat him, Yushin Okami.

The co-main event is a light heavyweight battle between former champions Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Ultimate Fighter 1 winner, Forrest Griffin.

The rest of the main card has Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira facing off against Ultimate Fighter 10 runner-up Brendan "The Hybrid" Schaub. Next a lightweight battle between Ross Pearson and Edson Barboza and a light heavyweight matchup with Luiz Cane taking on Stanislav Nedkov.

Of course, with this being the return to Brazil, the UFC wanted to do it right. Therefore, half of the fighters on the card (14) are Brazilian.

Here are the power rankings for the Brazilian fighters on the card.

14. Luis Ramos

Luis Ramos (19-6) is a welterweight who will be taking on Erick Silva in the preliminary portion of the card.

Ramos will be making his UFC debut and comes in riding a three-fight win streak. He has won six of his last seven.

In his career, he has won four fights via (T)KO, four via submission and 11 via decision.

13. Felipe Arantes

Felipe Arantes (13-3 [2 NC]) is a featherweight making his UFC debut and will be taking on Yuri Alcantara on the preliminary card.

Arantes' last fight ended in a no-contest, but before that he was riding a seven-fight win streak.

Arantes has won six fights via (T)KO, four fights by submission and three fights via decision.

12. Raphael Assunção

Raphael Assuncao (14-4) is making his bantamweight debut and will be taking on Johnny Eduardo as part of the preliminary card.

Assuncao has gone 1-3 in his last four and could very well be fighting for his job at the event.

Assuncao has won two fights via (T)KO, seven by submission and five by decision.

11. Thiago Tavares

Thiago Tavares (15-4-1) is a lightweight fighter who will be taking on Spencer Fisher in the Spike TV prelims, as part of the undercard.

Tavares has gone 1-1-1 in his last three and is another fighter who could be fighting for his job come Saturday night.

Tavares has won one fight via TKO, 11 via submission and three by decision.

10. Erick Silva

Erick Silva (12-1 [1 NC]) is a welterweight, and a UFC newcomer, who will be fighting Luis Ramos on the undercard.

Silva is riding a three-fight winning streak and a nine-fight unbeaten streak. He is another fighter who has not lost since 2007.

Silva has won two fights by (T)KO, seven by submission and three by decision.

9. Paulo Thiago

Paulo Thiago (13-3) is a welterweight fighter who will be taking on David Mitchell as part of the preliminary card that will be aired on Facebook.

Thiago has gone 1-2 in his past three fights, with the past two fights having been unanimous-decision losses to Martin Kampmann and Diego Sanchez.

Thiago has fallen on hard times and he could arguably be higher on this list, but he needs an emphatic win Saturday night to prove he is still a top contender.

Thiago has won two fights via (T)KO, eight by submission and six by decision.

8. Luiz Cane

Luiz Cane (11-3 [1 NC]) is a light heavyweight fighter who will be taking on Stanislav Nedkov as part of the main card, which will be televised on PPV.

Cane has gone 1-2 in his past three fights, earning a win over Eliot Marshall via first-round KO in his most recent fight, following a 10-month layoff.

Cane has won 10 fights via (T)KO and one via submission (soccer kicks).

He's a scary guy to be across from in the Octagon.

7. Johnny Eduardo

Johnny Eduardo (25-8) is a bantamweight fighter making his UFC debut against Raphael Assuncao on the undercard.

Eduardo comes in riding an 11-fight win streak, with nine finishes; he hasn't lost since 2007.

In his career, Eduardo has won six fights via (T)KO, 13 via submission and six by decision.

I have a good feeling about Eduardo and I think he could make a run at the belt.

6. Rousimar Palhares

Rousimar Palhares (12-3) is a middleweight fighter and will be taking on Dan Miller as part of the preliminary card on Spike TV.

Palhares is 4-1 in his last five fights, with the lone loss being in the fight to Marquardt, where he did not defend himself at all times—and it cost him dearly.

Palhares has won one fight by TKO, nine by submission and two by decision.

5. Yuri Alcantara

Yuri Alcantara (24-3) is a UFC newcomer and is making his debut at featherweight when he takes on Felipe Arantes on the undercard.

I have high hopes for Alcantara and he has an incredibly high ceiling. He has won 10 fights via (T)KO, 12 by submission and only two by decision. This guy is a finisher.

His last fight was his WEC debut, at WEC 53, which he won via first-round knockout.

He is currently riding an 11-fight win streak, with 10 finishes.

Oh yeah, and he has 16 first-round finishes too.

Wow.

4. Edson Barboza

Edson Barboza (8-0) is a lightweight in the UFC who will be taking on Ross Pearson on the main card.

Barboza is, obviously, riding an eight-fight winning streak. In that time, he has six (T)KOs, one submission and one decision.

Additionally, two of his TKOs were due to leg kicks. Ouch.

At only 25 years of age, Barboza has all the tools to be a contender in the lightweight division, probably sometime soon.

3. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira (32-6-1 [1 NC]) is a heavyweight who will be facing off against Brendan Schaub on the main card.

Nogueira comes into this fight after an 18-month layoff, during which he was rehabbing in the wake of several surgeries.

Nogueira has gone 1-2 in his last three, including suffering the first two knockout losses of his career.

Throughout Nogueira's career, he has won two fights by (T)KO, 20 by submission and 10 by decision.

2. Mauricio Rua

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (19-5) is a former UFC light heavyweight champion who will be taking on another former champion in Forrest Griffin on the main card.

Shogun is coming off a title fight loss in his first defense to Jon Jones. Overall in the UFC, Shogun is 3-3; he is 1-2 in his last three fights.

Shogun has won 16 fights by (T)KO, one by submission and two by decision.

1. Anderson Silva

Anderson Silva (30-4) is the current UFC middleweight champion and he will be taking on the last man to defeat him, Yushin Okami, as the main event of the evening.

I don't think anyone will be surprised by my decision to place Silva as the top Brazilian fighter on the card.

Silva is on a 14-fight win streak (13 in the UFC) and has won 17 fights by (T)KO, six by submission and seven by decision.

The man is an animal. Look for him to destroy Okami come Saturday night.

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