UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira takes place tonight from the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Ore. The fight card is filled with interesting matchups, headlined by the main event of heavyweight legends Randy Couture and Antonio Minotauro Nogeuira. Here are my thoughts on the fights.

Heavyweights (265 lbs. max) – Randy Couture (16-9) vs. Antonio Nogueira (31-5-1): This fight is crucial for both fighters to win to keep their career meaningful and to stay in the heavyweight title picture. Both are coming off second round TKO losses, and both look to be on the downsides of their career. Couture is in his mid-40’s and though he is in great shape, his body has to be wearing down. Nogueira is only 33, but looks like he is in his 50’s because of all the wars he has been in through his life. Essentially I see Couture having the edge in this fight because his striking seems to be more advanced than Nogueira. Nogueira can only win by submission, and Couture is very good at avoiding submissions. I see Couture out-striking Nogueira on the feet and in the clinch and scoring some occasional takedowns to earn the decision victory.

Light Heavyweights (205 lbs. max) – Keith Jardine (14-6-1) vs. Thiago Silva (13-1): This co-headline fight is also a crucial fight for both athletes. Each is coming off a loss and both are trying to stay relevant in the light heavyweight contender picture. I think Jardine has the edge in this fight because of his experience against other top fighters. Silva has just one marquee fight, and that was a first round KO loss to Lyoto Machida. That was Silva’s first loss and many times you see fighters come out more tentative after getting knocked out for the first time. Silva can’t do that in this fight or else he will certainly lose. Jardine does have a suspect chin that Silva could connect on, but ultimately I see Jardine using his kicks and unorthodox striking to pick up the decision win.

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With UFC 100 a week away on July 11, I decided to look back at what got the UFC to this point. Here is my take on what I believe are the 10 most significant fights in UFC history, helping the company become what it is today.

1. Stephan Bonner vs. Forrest Griffin – Ultimate Fighter Finale 1: This fight was not only the most memorable fight to watch, but may also be the fight that really pushed the UFC into the next level of mainstream popularity. Following the debut season of The Ultimate Fighter, a show which UFC President Dana White and co-owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta funded out of their own pocket, the finale took place live on Spike TV, which was airing live fights for the first time in the history of cable television. The UFC knew it needed something big to happen to not only keep a cable television deal, but earn future advertisers, and also prolong its reality show for future seasons. Bonner vs. Griffin delivered just that. The two fought to the very end and both were so even, it was impossible to decide a clear winner for most fans. The fight at one point drew 10 million viewers, which was just what the UFC needed. The back-and-forth, non-stopped action gave the UFC an identity to fans that had never seen it before and got the ball rolling that has allowed the UFC to snowball into what it is today.

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Here’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

- UFC 95 featured eight wild stoppages, Diego Sanchez’s successful debut as a lightweight, and a shocking (and somewhat controversial) loss for Josh Koscheck.

- MMA heavyweight Tim Sylvia is trying his hand at boxing, while boxing heavyweight Hasim Rahman is trying his hand at MMA. Of the two, we’re guessing that Rahman’s failure will be more epic.

- Georges St. Pierre’s camp has responded to BJ Penn’s accusation that he greased during their welterweight championship match last month by releasing a 17-page statement and a video showing that what his cornerman did was simply part of a breathing technique.

- Living legends Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will likely be fighting at UFC 101 in Augusy — which may also be when BJ Penn and Kenny Florian face off for the UFC’s lightweight title.

- New York Assemblyman Bob Reilly droned on and on and on about how MMA is like prostitution and how it breeds more violence in society And your point is?

- We tried to get inside the head of 0-13 fighter Scott “LionHeart” Blevins.

- WEC 39 goes down Sunday night in Corpus Christi, Texas, with featherweight champion Mike Brown making his first title defense against Leonard Garcia. Watch the action live on Versus [versus.com] starting at 9 p.m. ET, and come back to CagePotato on Monday morning for results, videos, and commentary.

South Carolina vs. Florida
Florida is considered one of the hottest teams in college football, as they have won their last five games by an average of 39 points. South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier would love to knock off his alma mater out of this year’s BCS championship title hunt. And he will try to defeat the Gators by rotating quarterbacks (Stephen Garcia and Chris Smelley) on every offensive play. The rotation system did not seem to bother either quarterback in last week’s 34-21 victory over Arkansas; they combined to throw for 219 yards with two touchdown passes and only one interception. It will not matter how well the QB duo performs if the Gamecocks defense cannot contain Tim Tebow, he accounted for seven touchdowns in a 51-31 victory at South Carolina last season. National coverage will begin Saturday at 3:30 PM on CBS.

UFC 91: Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight Championship Title
The main event of UFC-91 is a classic example of two contradictory styles going against one another, as Randy Couture puts up his heavyweight title against Brock Lesnar at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Lesnar is still untested as a fighter, as he going into only his fourth MMA fight this Saturday night. Couture is unstoppable coming into matches where he is an underdog with a 9-1 record. Lesnar is bigger, stronger, faster and hopes to neutralized Couture’s Greco-Roman wrestling style being a former NCAA wrestling champion himself. Couture has out-muscled larger opponents in his career and expects his experience to come into play in this fight. He hopes to avoid the takedown by moving side-to-side and using his hand speed and quick legwork to neutralize his opponent’s superior strength. If Lesnar can take Couture off his feet, the question will become: Can he keep him on the mat? Pay-per-view coverage will begin Saturday at 10:00 PM

Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins
The Dallas Cowboys hope the return of quarterback Tony Romo to the starting lineup will provide a spark and help them get a “W” in the win column this Sunday night in Washington. Since winning their first three games, the Cowboys have dropped four of their last six games and likely will need to win at least five of their final seven games to hopefully be considered for a playoff spot. Injuries could have a large role in determining if the Washington Redskins make the playoffs. They may have to go the rest of the season without running back Clinton Portis, who is second in the NFL in rushing with 995 yards. He injured his knee at the end of the first quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers two weeks ago and has not returned to the lineup. National coverage will begin Sunday at 8:15 PM on NBC.

The Love of Sports ranks the top 10 current pound for pound MMA fighters. The intro explains how the writer, E. Spencer Kyte, compiled the rankings.

1. Much like the BCS, strength of schedule counts. While Anderson Silva made like The Governator and kicked the bejesus out of “The Predator,” he still stands behind Georges St. Pierre, whose performance against Jon Fitch was far more impressive than “The Spider” showed against Patrick Cote.

2. You don’t fight, you don’t get ranked, simple as that. Randy Couture’s undoubtedly one of the best pound for pound practitioners in the business when he’s inside The Octagon. Problem is, he hasn’t set foot inside The Octagon since August 2007. Same rules apply to Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto.

3. After those other two, it all comes down to personal preferences.

1. Georges St. Pierre
“Rush” still stands at the top of the heap, primarily for the reason already mentioned above. The secondary reason would fall to #3 – he’s Canadian, I’m Canadian.

2. Anderson Silva
What else is there for this man to do? Regardless of how uninspiring his win at UFC 90 may have been, he’s still won eight fights in a row and doesn’t have a challenger at 185. Maybe Dana White should stop being critical of him and give him the dream fight against Chuck Liddell he’s been asking for.

3. Fedor Emelianenko
The more I think about “The Last Emperor” and his destruction of Tim Sylvia at “Affliction: Banned,” the more I think he deserves top billing on this list. As the fine folks at Fighter! magazine so intelligently said it, Emelianenko did to Sylvia in 36 seconds what it took Randy Couture five rounds to accomplish.

4. B.J. Penn
Personally, I really would’ve liked to see “The Prodigy” take another fight in between waiting for GSP in early-ish 2009. Kenny Florian was willing and waiting, but that’s just the fight fan in me complaining. A win over GSP would not only avenge an earlier loss, but also send Penn to the top of this chart.

5. Urijah Faber
Hurricane Ike could only delay Michael Thomas Brown’s destiny to be added to the roll call of challengers disposed of by “The California Kid.” Words can’t explain how much I’d love to see Faber tack on five or 10 pounds, move up to lightweight and really show if he’s as good as we think he is or simply the big fish in a shallow featherweight pool.

No Kimbo Slice? Oh, I forgot – he’s a fraud.