The new king of the heavyweight division & Hall of Famer Randy "The Natural" Couture has his hands full when he defends his title and takes on Gabriel "Napao" Gonzaga in the Main event at the Mandalay Bay.

As well you have the No 1 contender match between the wounded Georges "Rush" St Pierre coming off his to Matt "The Terror" Serra and losing the crown of the welterweight division. St Pierre clashes with TUF veteran that is Josh "Kos" Koscheck who has been on a roll ever since his loss to Drew "The Master" Fickett which he had complete control of that fight back in October 2005, & pushing aside fellow TUF contestant Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez at UFC 69: Shootout to get ever close to that title match.

Apart from the featured bouts on the card, this is a very good card with the return of Frank Mir taking on the Antoni hardonk the Dutch Muay Thai expert trained by Ernesto Hoost, Renato "Babalu" Sobral takes on David Heath in the Light Heavyweight and Marcus "Maximus" Aurelio debuts & steps up to take on the energtic Clay Guida in the Light weight division.

Here is a preview to the bouts to be televised in the UK.

Kendall "Da Spyder" Grove v Patrick "The Predator" Cote

Grove will look to climb another step on the ladder of the middle weight division, and put another notch on the belt after defeating Alan Belcher by Submission in April. Cote a veteran in the UFC is also coming off a U.Decision victory to Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith at UFC 67: All or Nothing but wasn”t a impressive one if that, but a wins a win in the octagon.

Grove will look to end this one with his submission skills as Cote has a great chin and likes to trade which could spell trouble for the Hawailan Native who doesn”t look strong in that department as yet and Cote could look to exploit this weakness and give the TUF 3 winner his first loss.

Prediction: Cote by TKO

Rory “ Outburst” Singer for the victor.

Fight of the Night Predicition  

Joe "Daddy" Stevenson v Kurt Pelligrino

This bout is a solid contender where the winner could be given an opportunity for the belt, where the last title match”s aftermath resulted in both competitors failing drugs tests and Pelligrino”s teamate Hermes Franca receiving a 12 month ban & the champion Sean Sherk appealing the decision where he could be stripped of the the belt, a situation which is still ongoing.

Stevenson has been steam rolling through his challengers in the octagon and none of which have been slouches in the form of Yves Edwards, Dokonjonosuke Mishima & Melvin Guillard and in some style too.

Pelligrino will most likely come unstuck in this one for me as his wrestling skills will be countered by Stevenson strength and ground & pound skills, Pellegrino Jiu-Jitsu will be his main arsenal to take Stevenson out and grab a possible shot at the title. This an ever exciting light weight match up which i cannot wait for.

Prediction: Stevenson by Split Decision

Possible showdowns with Hueta (If victorious) or Thomas/Florian (UFN 11) 

Josh "Kos" Koscheck v Georges "Rush" St Pierre

I feel St Pierre got a reality check when he lost to Serra not because he was arrogant or took Serra lightly, but that the challengers in the division are getting hungrier and improving vastly in not only making a name for themselves, but one day becoming a champion. So with that said i going with Koscheck for this one as he is now and all rounder with his stand up improved leaps & bounds and his ever noticeable wrestling background.

For St Pierre to get back into the title picture he”ll need to keep his distance from Koscheck”s takedowns and hand power and either squeeze out a decision or look for a submission.

Prediction: Koscheck by KO

Match up with Serra or Hughes 

Roger "El Matador" Huerta v Alberto Crane

Another lightweight contest with the guy taking the division by storm in Huerta taking on another newcomer in the shape of submission guru Alberto Crane.

Crane brings his 8-0 record all by virtue of submissions bar one to cement his name in the UFC and add his name to the fray for title contention. 

Huerta decimated Halverson by Submission, then showing he could bang with Leonard Garcia in one of the fights of the year so far and then got past the tricky Doug Evans recently in June.

If Huerta continues his winning ways with this fight then i can see the UFC giving him a title shot and the end of the year. 

Prediction: Huerta by U Decision

Title shot against Penn/Sherk in November

Main Event

Heavyweight Championship Match

Randy "The Natural" Couture v Gabriel "Napao" Gonzaga

In Manchester I think everyone in the world of MMA got a wake up call that states Gabriel Gonzaga is no joke when he done the unthinkable and Ko”d Crocop and in that very instance spelled trouble for the new champion Couture.

A match up with Crocop would have suited Couture better than the one he has Saturday. Gonzaga has improved his stand up and is a experienced BJJ practitioner and was dominating Crocop on the ground before he high kicked the Croatian to a stunned capacity in Manchester.

The difference in this bout will be that Gonzaga is not the same striker as Sylvia and will cause Couture problems all night both standing & on the ground, realistically i think this will end Couture”s short but sweet reign in the heavyweight division.

Prediction: Gonzaga by TKO

Minotauro waits for the winner  

Conclusion

A great card produced that should provide for a great evening of MMA action, a suggestion that they need to extend the televised show with more fights and cut out the repeated promos, god have mercy!!!

Next Stop the O2 Arena on 8th September: UFC 75: Champion vs Champion.