UFC 134 will be UFC’s first foray into Brazil since 1998, and the card has been stacked with a number of Brazilian fighters.
The main event will feature Anderson Silva, the best Brazilian fighter in the world and greatest mixed martial artist ever, defending the middleweight championship against Yushin Okami.
Silva will have the home-field advantage in this fight and a perfect 13-0 record in UFC to back him up. The only blemish on his record in the last five years was a disqualification loss to Okami in January 2006, before either man was working for UFC.
Okami, meanwhile, finally gets a title shot that he earned last November with a victory over Nate Marquardt. He got leapfrogged by Vitor Belfort for a title shot in February, but there is nothing standing in his way now.
Where: HSBC Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
When: Saturday, August 27 at 6 p.m. EST
Watch: Facebook under-card fights at 6 p.m. EST, preliminary fights at 8 p.m. EST on Spike TV, Main Card fights at 9 p.m. EST on pay-per-view; online pay-per-view streaming (must pay $44.99) at UFC.tv, Yahoo! Sports, UStream, Android or iPhone
Fight Card
Middleweight Championship: Anderson Silva (c) vs Yushin Okami
Light Heavyweight Bout: Mauricio Rua vs Forrest Griffin
Heavyweight Bout: Brendan Schaub vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Lightweight Bout: Ross Pearson vs Edson Barboza
Light Heavyweight Bout: Luiz Cane vs Stanislav Nedkov
Lightweight Bout: Thiago Tavares vs Spencer Fisher
Middleweight Bout: Dan Miller vs Rousimar Palhares
Welterweight Bout: Paulo Thiago vs David Mitchell
Bantamweight Bout: Raphael Assuncao vs Johnny Eduardo
Featherweight Bout: Yuri Alcantara vs Felipe Arantes
Bantamweight Bout: Yves Jabouin vs Ian Loveland
Welterweight Bout: Erick Silva vs Luis Ramos
Anderson Silva’s Keys to Victory
Silva is the fastest fighter in mixed martial arts. He can end a fight faster than anyone else, just ask Belfort. He needs to keep this fight standing and use his lightning quick striking to wear down Okami as the fight moves along.
Yuhsin Okami’s Keys to Victory
Okami’s best bet to win this fight will be to wrestle Silva to the ground and control the fight for five rounds. He has adequate power in his striking but is not likely to knock Silva out. He needs to take a page out of the Jon Fitch handbook and grind out a victory.
What They’re Saying
Chael Sonnen, who has never been shy about saying anything, told the Sherdog Radio Network that Okami should be a “clear favorite” in this fight.
“Yushin’s gotta be a clear favorite. Yushin’s much better than Anderson. Yushin beat Anderson the last time they fought. It’s real hard to imagine how Anderson would win, but that doesn’t mean he can’t…”
It’s funny the way Sonnen spins Okami’s DQ victory over Silva as a legitimate win.
Main Card Fight To Watch That’s Not The Main Event
Brendan Schaub vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Nogueira will get a hero’s welcome from his home crowd. He will have butterflies in his stomach walking out to the octagon for his first fight since February 2010, and this will be his last shot to stay relevant in the heavyweight division.
Schaub is emerging in the heavyweight division, and he looked good against Mirko “Cro Cop” at UFC 128. A loss here will set him back for a long time, but a win will give him his fifth straight win and a big name to add to his resume.
Preliminary Fight To Watch
Rousimar Palhares vs Dan Miller
Neither guy is making a push to be a top contender in the middleweight division, but that doesn’t mean they don’t put on good fights when they step into the octagon.
Both men specialize in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and have a good repertoire of submissions that they can use to finish a fight. Expect them to go the ground early and someone to make a mistake that will lead to an exciting submission victory.
Main Event Prediction
There is going to come a day where Silva isn’t the most dangerous fighter on the planet. Unfortunately for Okami, that time is not now. He has only come close to being defeated once— against Sonnen last year—and he won’t fall victim to Okami’s wrestling in this fight.
Silva wins via TKO in the third round.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com