On Saturday, August 29, 2009, the UFC will make its first foray into the Beaver State with UFC 102 – Couture vs. Nogueira. The event will take place at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Oregon. The main event will be a homecoming for UFC Hall of Fame fighter Randy Couture, as he hails from the Portland area, where he established the famed Team Quest with Dan Henderson and Matt Lindland. Couture, who is the first fighter in UFC history to hold world championship titles in two weight classes (heavyweight and light-heavyweight) will be facing Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira, who is the first fighter to win both the UFC and PRIDE heavyweight championship titles. This bout has been talked about for years among hardcore MMA fans, as Couture and Nogueira have been considered the longtime faces of both the UFC and PRIDE before Zuffa (the UFC's parent company) bought PRIDE in March 2007. Even as recent as last summer, this bout had been talked about among mainstream MMA fans, as Couture held the UFC heavyweight title and Nogueira held the interim UFC heavyweight title. Unfortunately, both men have subsequently lost their titles in their most recent fights. Couture lost to Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 and Nogueira lost to Frank Mir at UFC 92 both via second round TKO stoppages. However, Couture was coming off nearly 15 months of inactivity due to a contract dispute and Nogueira was recently hospitalized due to a staph infection leading into those bouts, so many assume Saturday night's bout still has a lot at stake. The winner will likely jump right back into the heavyweight title picture, which is a familiar situation for both of these MMA legends.

The co-main event of the evening will take place in the always competitive light-heavyweight division, as Keith Jardine takes on Thiago Silva. Jardine is coming off a razor-close decision loss to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 96 in March, while Silva is coming off a TKO loss to Lyoto Machida at UFC 94 in January, which was the first loss of his career. Both fighters remain in the Top 10 light-heavyweight rankings and were on the cusp of a title shot before their recent setbacks. This means that both desperately need a win Saturday night if they hope to return to the title picture. That added motivation combined with their fighting styles, could make this the "Fight of the Night", as Jardine is known for his unorthodox fighting style and brutal leg kicks, while Silva is known for is great Muay Thai knees and vicious ground and pound. This one has sheer entertainment value written all over it.

In the middleweight division, we will see the return of heavy-handed TUF 1 standout Chris Leben, who is coming off a 9-month suspension for a positive steroids test after UFC 89. He is known for his KO power and will be looking to unload Saturday night, as he returns to his hometown of Portland, Oregon. His opponent will be Jake Rosholt, who was a 3x NCAA Division I champion and 4x All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State. Rosholt is coming off of his first MMA loss at UFC Fight Night 17 in February. That was the first UFC fight of Rosholt's career, after the UFC added former WEC middleweights to its roster. This bout should play out as a classic example of striker vs. grappler, as Leben will be looking for the KO on the feet, while Rosholt will be looking for takedowns to finish the fight via submission or TKO on the ground. The winner of this bout will make a big statement, as a force in the UFC middleweight division.

The next bout will help clear up who might get the next title shot in the middleweight division, against the reigning champion Anderson Silva. The bout will feature the former #1 UFC middleweight contender and 7-time King of Pancrase Nate Marquardt. His opponent will be the 2007 ADCC champion Demian Maia, who is currently 10-0 in MMA, who has submitted all 5 of his opponents in the UFC. Marquardt has been 3-1 since facing Silva for the middleweight title in July 2007. He has submitted Jeremy Horn via Guillotine Choke and TKO'd both Martin Kampmann and Wilson Gouveia, while dropping a controversial Split Decision to Thales Leites last summer. Meanwhile, Maia has been perfect since joining the UFC in October 2007, earning submission wins over Ryan Jensen, Ed Herman, Jason MacDonald, Nate Quarry, and Chael Sonnen. Both men have their eyes on Silva's belt, but will have to worry about each other before they get a shot at the champ.

The final fight on the main card will take place in the light-heavyweight division. The bout will feature two exciting stand up fighters, as Brandon Vera will look to make a statement in the light-heavyweight division against the always tough TUF 8 alumni Krzysztof Soszynski. Vera made a name for himself in the UFC heavyweight division earlier in his career, which included a 69-second TKO of Frank Mir. Last summer, he decided to finally drop down to light-heavyweight where he has wins over Reese Andy and Mike Patt with a Split Decision loss to Keith Jardine being the only bump in the road towards a light-heavyweight title shot. Soszynski was a semi-finalist on TUF 8 and has been a flawless 3-0 in the UFC, since the show concluded at the end of last year. He submitted his first two UFC opponents Shane Primm and Brian Stann via Kimura and then defeated Andre Gusmao via KO at UFC 98 in May. UFC 102 will air live on PPV starting at 10 p.m. EST / 7 p.m. PST.


Main Card:

-Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Heavyweight Bout)

-Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva (Light-Heavyweight Bout)

-Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt (Middleweight Bout)

-Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia (Middleweight Bout)

-Brandon Vera vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (Light-Heavyweight Bout)


Preliminary Card:

-Ed Herman vs. Aaron Simpson (Middleweight Bout)

-Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Chris Tuchscherer (Heavyweight Bout)

-Justin McCully vs. Mike Russow (Heavyweight Bout)

-Tim Hague vs. Todd Duffee (Heavyweight Bout)

-Nick Catone vs. Mark Muñoz (Middleweight Bout)

-Marcus Aurelio vs. Evan Dunham (Lightweight Bout)