From Georges St. Pierre To BJ Penn The Next Few Months Are Looking Great

I have been as vocal a critic as anyone over the past few months regarding the UFC’s lame attempt at putting together solid main events.

UFC 108 was repeatedly bashed because of the supposed lackluster main event of Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva.

That card turned out to be better than expected due to what is called quantity or quality.

The UFC 109 main event actually goes down a notch as 46 year old Randy Couture takes on 44 year old Mark Coleman in what some have said is for a shot at the UFC light heavyweight championship.

Once again, the other bouts on the card look to be exciting and could help bolster another card that has gotten some negative attention.

Things start to heat up at the end of February when the UFC makes it way down under to Australia for UFC 110. The main event is an exciting heavyweight tilt between the young up comer, Cain Velasquez and the always dangerous Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

The rest of the card is stacked from top to bottom, starting with a co-main event which will mark the middleweight debut of Wanderlei Silva as he takes on Michael Bisping.

Ryan Bader takes a serious step up in competition as he battles Keith Jardine, Joe Stevenson looks to continue his dramatic makeover when he takes on the ever improving George Sotiropoulos and Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filipovic will see if there is anything left in his tank when he faces Ben Rothwell.

When the UFC makes its return to New Jersey the east coast fans will really be in for some great action.

There are two titles up for grabs at UFC 111. Georges St. Pierre will make his return to the octagon as he will defend his welterweight title against Dan Hardy.

The new and improved Frank Mir will look to capture heavyweight gold for the third time when he takes on Shane Carwin in an interim heavyweight championship bout.

The rest of the card is full of matchups that will make any fight fan smile. In a rematch from their 2006 bout, former number one contenders Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves will collide.

Ricardo Almeida makes his long awaited welterweight debut when he faces the gritty, no-nonsense Matt Brown. Hometown heroes Jim Miller and Kurt Pellegrino are also scheduled for action that night.

And the hits just keep on coming!! As the UFC makes its first foray into the Middle East, they will do so with guns ablazing.

For the second month in a row, there will be two title fights on one card. Anderson Silva fresh off of elbow surgery will take on fellow Brazilian slugger Vitor Belfort for The Spider’s middleweight championship.

Also rumored for UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi is none other than lightweight kingpin BJ Penn. Dana White just announced yesterday that Frankie Edgar will get the next crack at Penn. While nothing is confirmed at this moment, all indications are pointing to this bout taking place on this card.

Last but not least is a battle between two legends of the sport as former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes takes on another Gracie. This time he battles Renzo Gracie, the man who beat Hughes’ former teacher Pat Miletich back in 2006.

Many readers pointed out that even though the UFC was presenting cards that a lot of fans felt were not pay-per-view worthy, they would eventually make up for it.

They are doing so in a big way! UFC Fight Night 22 is scheduled for the end of March and based ona report from Fighters Only, it looks like Kenny Florian will take on former Pride lightweight champion and UFC newcomer Takanori Gomi in the main event.

A bout of that magnitude and it’s free! I’d say the the spring is going to be very good to the mixed martial arts fan.

Lest we not forget the dynamic Jon Jones is scheduled to face Brandon Vera at UFC Fight Night 21. The first UFC event that will be shown on the Versus Network.

We will also be treated to a lightweight bout between Sean Sherk and Clay Guida and Anthony Johnson and John Howard locking horns in a welterweight bout.

The UFC will be putting on five solid shows from the end of February until the middle of May.

That should be enough, even for the spoiled fans like myself!