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

– Congenital amputee Kyle Maynard’s MMA debut went about as well as we thought it would.

– Clearly bored with the garbage-ass challengers he’s been getting in the UFC’s middleweight division, 185-pound king Anderson Silva will go up to light-heavyweight again to face Forrest Griffin at UFC 101 in August. Meanwhile, Nate Marquardt and Demian Maia will be facing off to determine who really deserves the next middleweight title shot.

– Gina Carano looked hot at Kevin Randleman’s wedding.

– Despite some intense infighting, Team U.S. was able to put its first victory on the board on the last episode of The Ultimate Fighter, while coach Michael Bisping vanished into thin air.

– Japanese promotion DREAM is putting together the greatest MMA freak show in history with their “World Superman Championship,” which will feature steroid-snitch Jose Canseco, pituitary case Hong Man Choi, Bob Sapp, and five more warriors, hopefully fighting to the death.

– Speaking of freak shows, Fedor Emelianenko used his 70-pound weight advantage to toss around Shinya Aoki in a grappling exhibition at the last M-1 Challenge event.

– Less than two months after Nick Diaz and Scott Smith scored victories at “Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz,” the two will be fighting each other at “Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields.”

– Sign of the apocalypse #783: Kung Fu Football.

– Kim Couture’s wife pulled out of her upcoming fight against Miesha Tate, and Tate responded by telling everyone that Kim and The Natural are getting a divorce. Real classy.

– By forcibly retiring Chuck Liddell, is Dana White looking out for his friend’s health or his company’s wallet? Little from column A, little from column B?

Georges St. Pierre
Nickname: Rush, GSP
Height: 5’10
Weight: 170
MMA Record: 17-2
UFC Record: 13-2
Fighting Style: Kyokushin, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Georges began his training in Kyokushin karate to help deal with bullies at school. He did this until the age of 16, when his sensei died and he was forced to try something else. This is when he began to wrestle and take jiu jitsu with many of his fellow Canadian counterparts. St. Pierre has trained with many top fighters and coaches in his young career, recently making the move to train in New Mexico at Greg Jackson’s camp. He now trains with other top MMA fighters including UFC Light heavyweight Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine and Nate Marquardt.

GSP began his UFC career winning against Karo Parisyan and Jay Herion. Those victories earned him a shot at the vacant welterweight UFC belt. He eventually lost to Matt Hughes via an arm bar at 4.59 of the first round. He would later say that his loss to Hughes was the best learning experience of his career.

Pierre rebounded to defeat a who’s who list of UFC fighters including Jason Miller, Frank Trigg, BJ Penn and Sean Sherk. At this point he was the number one contender at 170 and again would fight Matt Hughes for the title, which Hughes held for almost five years. St. Pierre would run through Hughes and take the title in dominating fashion.

Although he eventually lost the belt to Matt Serra in a huge upset, GSP walked through other top fighters such as Josh Koscheck, as well as Matt Hughes for the third time. He again earned a shot to fight Serra to regain his welterweight championship.

Georges currently holds the UFC welterweight title after successfully defending it against John Fitch.
He is currently regarded as the top 170-fighter in the world and considered one of the top 3 pound-for-pound fighters in all of MMA. St. Pierre will defend his belt at UFC 94 against Hawaiian jiu jitsu specialist BJ Penn on Saturday, January 31.

–Written By TSR Contributor John Duke