MATT HUGHES VS. THIAGO ALVES Matt got handled pretty soundly by GSP the last time he was out there in the Octagon. He is looking to redeem himself and squash any talk of retirement. He says he’s still got some fight left in him. I hope he at least has enough to fight Matt Serra! We’ve been waiting for this fight since TUF6. Thiago has been mouthing off like a crazed lunatic about how he is going to beat the daylights out of Hughes. I know it’s par for the course with MMA to trash talk but this may be going a bit overboard. I predict a Hughes comeback win. I don’t think this fight will go the distance at all.

MICHAEL BISPING VS. JASON DAY Jason Day took this fight on short notice as Bisping was supposed to face Chris Leben. Leben turned out to be a piece of junk. He had to spend some time in jail for parole violations. So, England’s Bisping takes on a hungry Canadian in Jason. Even though I’d take Bisping against Leben, Day comes in with an impressive 10 win streak. It looks like Day will not make Bisping’s day on Saturday.

FABRICIO WERDUM VS. BRANDON VERA Fabricio has a recent win in UFC80. He is a tough opponent and will be quite the handful for Brandon Vera. With one more win, Werdum will force the UFC to look at him for an eventual title fight. Vera is in his way. He has some pretty solid jiujitsu skill himself and will look to cement his own title shot in this one. Even though Fabricio has more experience, I’m going to have to side with my fellow San Diegan, Vera. KO in the 2nd. Go PADs!

THALES LEITES VS NATHAN MARQUARDT This is a match between two pretty solid fighters. They both are on unbeaten streaks, but Marquardt has the pedigree. Thales has some serious ground game skill while Nathan is the standup guy. I have a soft spot for the standup game so Nathan FTW as they say on the Interwebs!

MARCUS DAVIS VS MIKE SWICK Marcus the “Irish Hand Grenade” Davis is looking at a pretty short fight. Probably less than a round the way Swick works. Basically, Swick is QUICK! They are both standup specialists but I’d have to give the fight to Davis since he’s actually a converted boxer. This may turn out to be the fight of the night the way these guys bang.

So that’s it. Get your shrimp on the barbie. Fill up on bangers and mash. Slurp down a few pints and get some MMA “fightage” on. Saturday should prove pretty interesing even without Chuck Liddell fighting. If you believe *that*, I’ve got a fag(—That’s a cigarette you loser!) you can suck on!

Matt Serra Vs. Georges St-Pierre figures to be the marquee matchup of the night. Of course, that’s what we thought when GSP fought Hughes in UFC79. GSP completely discombobulated Hughes and we were all left wondering if that was the last we’d see of Hughes fighting in the Octagon. Serra missed that fight because of a back injury he received during training. I think we’re going to see a replay of that fight except just plug in Serra for Hughes and watch GSP just demolish Serra with an array of ground and pound with an arm bar or rear naked choke for good measure. GSP will be crowned Champ and then we get our long awaited fight between the leftover shells of men that will be Serra and Hughes.

Travis Lutter Vs. Rich Franklin These two are both trying to shake recent losses to the same guy from their memories. Anderson Silva handed them both a big “L” in their fight record. I’m kind of on Franklin’s side for this one since he fought more recently than Lutter in UFC77.

Nate Quarry Vs. Kalib Starnes I’m only able to give my thorough Newbie investigation results on this one: I just don’t like the way Kalib looks! He’s got a freaky wall-eye in his promo photo and “The Rock” just looks the part. Of course, Quarry’s a cheap lousy ripoff of the *REAL* Rock but we’ll see if we’re going to smell what he’s cooking!

Charles McCarthy Vs. Michael Bisping We haven’t seen McCarthy do anything since 2006. Bisping fought last year in UFC77 but lost. It was his first loss after four consecutive wins. I think he’ll get back on track and continue with a win over this event’s Couch Warrior.

Mark Bocek Vs. Mac Danzig I think *THIS* will be the fight of the night. Big Mac was unstoppable in TUF6 and I believe he’ll be a force to reckon with for years to come. Bocek won the decision in UFC79 but I don’t think he has enough meat stuffed in his colon to defeat the Mad Vegan Danzig. As a fellow veggie-freak myself, I’m pulling for Danzig to smack some green upside Bocek’s head. BTW, we’re still friends right Mark? I may have to buy him a bunch of beers if I ever meet him in person… sheesh!

Chris Wilson vs. Jon Fitch This is a “trap” fight if I ever saw it. Jon Fitch hasn’t lost a match in FIVE YEARS, 14 straight. Not quite Patriot territory but still pretty respectable. Wilson is debuting in the UFC with this fight. It really looks like another win for Fitch, but you never know. Hence, the trap.

Chris Leben vs. Alessio Sakara We last saw Sakara at UFC80:Rapid Fire. He won easily in the first round over James Lee. Leben is part of the OG crew of the Ultimate Fighter. That’s TUF#1 for all you non-gangstas! They are both strikers and love to knock or be knocked out. If they both stick to their standup game, this fight will be over before the ring girl can get the card ready for the second round.

Yushin Okami vs. Evan Tanner Tanner is the typical UFC “couch potato” turned main eventer in this match. He hasn’t fought since 2006. Ring rust will be a factor for this guy but he does hold a 34-6 record so he’s not completely useless. Okami, with his 22-4 record isn’t anything to sniff at either. These guys can do both the ground and pound and submission work. It’s anyone’s guess on this one but I’ll go out on a limb and give it to the couch tater. I’m kind of in Evan’s same boat as I’ve been pretty cozy with my couch for the last year too!

Heath Herring vs. Cheick Kongo We have some big BIG boys here at the 250 pound mark. They can do more than waddle around the octagon though so be on the lookout for a classic match here. Kongo is the striker while Herring is the ground game specialist. Kongo has won his last four fights including one against the tough Cro Cop. Herring hasn’t faired so well lately so he will have to expose Kongo’s weak ground game and try to put him to sleep. But that’s the trick isn’t it? I think Kongo will knock Heath down and out and back to palukaville with a clean KO.

Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson Good fights like these don’t come to the UFC every month. Silva hasn’t lost in two years. He’s also the Middleweight Title holder here. No iterim crap. Middleweight Freaking Champ! He has a 20-4 record and has fought some tough dudes. He’ll be facing Dan Henderson who has a 22-6 record with most of that coming from PRIDE where he dominated. He lost a close fight to Quentin “Rampage” Jackson the last time he fought. Dan has also mixed it up with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, the current interim UFC heavyweight champ. Let’s not forget wins over Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Renato Sobral and Murilo Bustamante. We definitely have a fight to lick our chops to! I’ll give this one to Henderson. He’s fought with some of the greats and he comes into the UFC hungry for wins.

UFC 82: Pride of a Champion promises to be a great event. Cheers to all you MMA StarBuckers willing to tough this one out on Yahoo! Leave some soy mocha for me!

Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia(26-3-0) vs. Antonio “Minotauro” Rodrigo Nogueira(30-4-1) — This is actually one of the only good matches on the program. We have the classic stand up vs. submission fight with Sylvia vs. Nogueira. This figures to be a great Heavyweight Title, excuse me, Interim Title match. These two have plenty of experience under their respective belts. The Minotauro is a Jiu Jitsu expert having been an instructor before stepping into the Octagon. I’m leaning towards the Minotauro choking out the Maine-iac. I guess it’s my West Coast bias since my Chargers aren’t playing this week because of the Pats!!

Frank Mir(10-3-0) Vs. Brock Lesnar(1-0-0) — Can you say, “Freak Show?” That’s what this match is. Any way you slice it, this can’t be good for the integrity of the UFC can it? Let’s say the great conditioning and solid wrestling skills, combined with the unconventional methods of a WWE veteran gets Brock another win. Does this mean that Mir is a bitch and that any kook with a yen for MMA can fight his way into a UFC contract? It certainly seems so. Brock hasn’t paid his dues in the MMA world. Mir was born into it as he was the son of a martial arts instructor. He also has a respectable record that includes a championship in the UFC. Brock’s star power in the WWE is the ONLY reason this match made the main fight card. I’m hoping our cable televisions don’t melt when they name the winner of this fight. I have to side with Frank and hope that his MMA experience is what’s cookin’ on Saturday!

Jeremy “Gumby” Horn(88-16-5) Vs. Nate “The Great” Marquard(28-7-1) — These guys are part of the old guard in the UFC world. Between Gumby and Great, they’ve racked up about 145 fights. Gumby has at least 4 titles(Championships) that he holds to this day plus maybe up to 15 other smaller titles. He has been around and around so tricking him is out of the question. It will take the technique and pedigree of Marquardt to beat Horn. He holds black belts in BJJ and Pancrase. He also has won many Pancrase tournaments over the years. Throw in a few Ring of Fire victories and we’ve got ourselves a fight. I’m thinking that the years have taken their toll on Gumby and that Nate will win by submission.

Rob “Monster” Yundt(7-0-0) Vs. Ricardo “Big Dog” Almeida(8-2-0) — They basically pulled both of these fighters off the street for this match. Monster took this fight on a little more than a weeks notice. Almeida has been out of the fight game for about three years so everything will be new for these two. Aren’t there other more worthy opponents to put up on a pay per view event? Our satellite televisions won’t be abuzz for a weird fight like this. I guess since TUF7 doesn’t go on the air until April, the UFC has to bring in new blood this way. I think somehow the Monster will give Ricardo a black and bruised eye and send him back to the couch.

Gleison Tibau(26-3-0) Vs. Tyson Griffin(10-1-0) — In this Lightweight fight fest, we have Griffin coming off wins over some very good competition. That competition being Clay Guida and Thiago Tavares. We’ve already seen Clay’s fight with Huerta in the Ultimate Fighter Finale last year so we kind of know what Griffin is capable of. Tibau has been on a mini roll as of late by stacking up three wins in a row. They are both very good ground specialists and have the stamina to go the distance. I look to see Tyson submitting Tibau late in the second round.