The stage has been set at Saturday's UFC 102 for Randy Couture, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Demian Maia and Nate Marquardt to convince UFC president Dana White into giving them a title shot.Neither fights are officially considered number one contender bouts, but that might change after Saturday, White told the press Thursday.
"Obviously the winner of [Couture vs. Nogueira] is in the mix," White said. "He's in the mix. These are two of the best heavyweights in the world."
Couture and Nogueira are vying for a shot at the winner of the Nov. 21 heavyweight championship tilt between champion Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin at UFC 106.
Meanwhile, Maia and Marquardt will look to throw off the UFC's initial plan for Dan Henderson to be the next challenger for middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
"I'm trying to figure out myself to be honest with you," White said. "I think what I'm going to do is, I'm going to see what happens on Saturday, see how this fight goes between Nate and Demian, and I'll figure it out after."
Notes:
- Marquardt was announced as the fifth recipient of the Tequila CAZADORES Authentic Spirit Award and his $1,000 prize will be donated towards the Sharon Antcliff Foundation, which takes care of people with early-onset Alzheimer's.
- Tickets are all sold out for the UFC 103 card headlined by Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort in Dallas, Texas.
- The UFC wants to run a show in Brazil eventually, but no plans for 2010.
- The UFC will go to Vancouver. "Let's just say we got it done and we're coming to Vancouver soon," White said.
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