The UFC announced Tuesday Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez and Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva as the two co-headlining bouts for UFC 108 on Jan. 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.The winner of the heavyweight main event will determine the title challenger next in line once Brock Lesnar recovers from his sickness and puts his belt up against Shane Carwin.
The Evans-Silva matchup pits the former 205-pound champ looking to avenge his training partner Keith Jardine's knockout loss at UFC 102.
"Thiago Silva is a good fighter, I'd like to fight him and I think he wants to fight me," Evans told FanHouse in September. "When I saw him after he fought Keith Jardine, he kind of gave me a nasty look that I interpreted like he wanted to take me on, and I'd like that."
Evans would have fought Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 107 as the culmination to their feud on The Ultimate Fighter 10, but Jackson passed on the fight to pursue a film role.
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Pretty awesome main event and co-main event. I think Noguiera will probably win the fight. Couture is a better wrestler than Velasquez and he got owned by Minotaro. If Velasquez wins this fight he becomes the best HW in the UFC (that's what Noguiera is now imo) and probably the 2nd best HW in the world behind Fedor.
I think Evans should beat Silva pretty easily mainly because of Silvas slow and plodding style. I just see Evans as to quick and if goes back to his wrestling it'll be a one sided fight.
I would love to see big Nog get back on track. It disguist me to see all these people talk about him like hes never been anything because theyve only seen him fight in the UFC...ignorance
Pretty inconsequential fight. Both these guys can't beat Lesnar or Carwin. So who cares. Lesnar is the #1 heavyweight in the world and Carwin is currently #2 in my opinion. But since they are not fighting anytime soon, the winner of this fight could jump to 2A. I think once this tournament is done, we will have the best heavyweight in the world, one who doesn't dodge competition and gets protection from Jerry the Punk Miller.
At the end of the day, we could see Carwin vs. Nog and that'll be a short fight that will prove Nog can be finished if you punch him hard enough.
exp I was hoping to see what else you talk about when commenting on an article that has no connection to fedor but you have managed to slip a discrete jab at fedor once again, I hardly ever comment
on mma fanhouse but I felt compelled to after reading your entry. To say Brock lesnar has proven himself to be #1 HW in the world after only 5 fights is a ridiculous statement, it actually only underlines your lack of knowledge of the sport and how uneducated you are. I am a fan of carwin but to say he is #2 in the world further proves my point, carwin is an exciting fighter but against gonzaga it wasn't the best performance but I hope he proves me wrong. In my opinion I believe the top HWs in the UFC at the moment are Big Nog, JDS (I think he will be the next champ) and Cain, until
Brock gets 1 or 2 more Ws of course. And big nog has been punched hard enough to test his chin but you obviously have only seen the frank Mir fight because you are a mma crossover
It's not lack of knowledge but just tough luck for dodgers. Listen. Nobody cares who wins Basketball championship in Europe. You don't call them number #1. NBA champions are always number one. The same with the UFC. Fedor may be a more "decorated" fighter than Brock or Shane but he has decided to take himself out of the running for that spot. So he is not counted. When he comes and fights for the title and actually holds a championship, he'll be number 1. And it's you who are bringing Fedor to the discussion. I don't count anyone who is not in the major leagues the number 1 in anything. You are just bitter that your god has a title that I can buy from RadioShack for 2 bucks.
rabble rabble rabble rabble
You want to hate Fedor then it's to be expected. But, hating Noguiera? Seriously? You are probably only hating on him because Fedor beat him twice like a rented mule.
:yawns:
Stick to tennis.
I guess Anderson Silva was a bum with his 2-2 Pride record but then all of a sudden when he comes to the UFC he is the best ever? I guess Machida was a bum for fighting in the minor leagues in Pride in Japan but once he came to the UFC that all of a sudden changed!
Deh, Deh, Deh
Hyperbole aside I think these two guys are the two best UFC HW's.
They both have the best wins in the UFC and whoever wins will undoubtedly get the winner of Lesnar and Carwin. Personally, I think they will probably beat the winner of that fight.
haha.. exp and his fedor trolling in a non fedor article.. like exp trolls for fedor articles.. i troll for exp's ridiculous comments. sure buddy.. lesnar is #1.. hahahahahha.. you so crazy.
Shut up Stoker.
You and EXpee called Rogers a tomato can ... after you said he would knock out Fedor. LOL. He gets put to sleep and now he's a tomato can?
hypocrite is hypocritical!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Great matchup here. Really excited with the Big Nog vs. Cain fight. I don't see Nog avoiding all the takedowns, but Cain will have to be careful with the submission game. We know Nog can take a beating on the ground if he has to and Cain doesn't have the most devastating GnP by any means. We'll see how hard it is for Nog to be able to get it back to the feet or get to a top position. I'd give the edge to Nogueira, but we'll see. Fun fight for 108!
Nice try johnnieboy, but it was YOUR cronies who said that after the fight liar. And for your love of Fedora Johnny5fingers stop using them to choke your little emporer. I think they're cutting off circulation to your pea sized brain.
What are you in middle school?
HAHAHAHAHA
Stoker ... says Rogers will knock out Fedor then pouts like a whiny baby when Fedor wins.
wah wah wah boo hoo wah wah boo hoo
Keep stoking those flames ... little irrelevant Stoker
I love it ... you are just spinning in circles ... HAHAHHAHAHAHAH
Uh deh deh uh it was yoo taht sed him wuz de tomatoe kanz not meez deh deh
wow ... poor little stoker
Can you guys stop talking about fedor, I like the guy I think he is an exciting fighter but I don't worship him. And his fight with Brett Rogers is over now, he got result so get over it, let's get excited for the next mma events to come up.
@exp the ufc is not the NBA of mma, that's just shows how narrow minded you are, you seem to be only concentrated on the ufc and that they are all that matter in the world of mma and I feel sorry for you, it shows that you are not a true fan, if you were a true fan of mma you would enjoy watching WEC, dream, strikeforce, bellator etc there is so much talent out there that I feel sorry for you that you don't open your mind and look beyond the ufc, the ufc is the best at the moment but only 2 years ago Pride fv were the big dog, I understand that you are a Machida fan but who else do you like? Could you name your top 5 fighters?
I wonder if there is any truth to Lesnar retiring. If so, even better. I think Cain will probably destroy the Nog. I like to see Shane vs. Mir and the winner goes against Velasques for the unified title of heavyweight champion of the world. Lesnar may not be the same after mono.
Mir has to get past Kongo first.
I am sorry. I didn't even post the right link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE7LtLBO1Pc
@exp like I asked in my last comment above who are your top 5 fighters?
P4P? Oh it's simple. It's Anderson Silva, GSP, Lyoto Machida, BJ Penn, and Mike Brown.
I wasn't talking p4p top fighters I wanted to know who your favorite fighters were, not who you think is p4p, so once again who is your 5 favorite fighters?
Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, Jose Aldo, Mousasi, Maia