In some of the prelims, Chris Lytle, Stephan Bonnar, and Keith Jardine will look to avoid losses that may spell the end of their tenures in the UFC. Jardine's situation is particularly precarious as 3 of his last 4 losses have been by knockouts in the 1st round. He goes up against Ryan Bader, a 3x Pac 10 wrestling champion with power in his punches. True, the step up in class for Bader is great, but given Jardine's glass chin and lack of experience against a wrestler of this magnitude, there is little reason to wonder why Bader is a -160 favorite in this fight.

Former PRIDE star Mirko Filopovic is also on this card and looking to come back from yet another defeat in the UFC. Once considered one of the most feared, violent strikers in the world, Cro-Cop is a shell of his former self. He has however made a significant change in his training regime, going to Amsterdam to work at the well-respected Vos Gym with the hopes that the change will help with his current career down-spiral. Unfortunately, while training recently, the former Croatian special forces policeman suffered a nasty cut above his eye that required stitches. And even though Filopovic will be facing a fighter who is literally a last-minute replacement for Ben Rothwell, who had to back out of this encounter due to illness, Cro-Cop's sliced eyebrow has to be a concern just days before the fight. If he doesn't win this bout, UFC fans will more than likely see the last of Mirko in the octagon.

Onto the headliners.

ANTONIO NOGUEIRA -105 vs. CAIN VELASQUEZ -125

It is widely felt by many that Minotauro, or Big Nog, as Nogueira is referred by, might be one of the best submission experts in MMA. His resume includes a who's who of fighters, several of which are in the Hall of Fame. Nogueira has 32 wins in his career with 20 of those victories coming by submission. He holds black belts in Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, while his boxing game is much under-rated. It will be here that Big Nog might need to keep this fight, standing up and striking, as Velasquez is a bruising, relentless, 2x time All-American wrestler but does not possess the boxing experience of his opponent. Even if Velasquez can get this on the ground, Nogueira's guard and submission techniques will be the toughest test yet for the undefeated 27 year old from California. While many feel that Cain Velasquez may be the future of the heavyweight division, nothing has really prepared him for the likes of Minotauro. PICK-NOGUEIRA

MICHAEL BISPING +135 vs. WANDERLEI SILVA -165

Silva is another veteran of the MMA wars with 43 fights in his career, many of which were against championship caliber opponents. He is on a run though where he needs to make a statement with a big win as he is just 1-4 in his last 5 bouts. Dropping to middleweight class at 185 might be huge for Silva as reportedly in his training, he is as strong, if not stronger than his former 205 fighting weight. Bisping is a former TUF Champion who is off a lackluster victory in his last fight while being a highlight reel knockout in the bout prior to that. It is the latter encounter that makes Bisping a worrisome proposition, as his stick and jab circling style got him in a lot of trouble against Dan Henderson, and his lack of power punching may get him into trouble against the Axe Murderer Saturday night. Silva should want this to be a brawl, from start to finish as he is fully aware that Bisping can not hurt him with strikes. Eventually his leg kicks will stop Bisping from circling the ring and from there it might get ugly. Wanderlei is a desperate fighter in this bout and that spells trouble for The Count. PICK-SILVA

JOE STEVENSON -245 vs. GEORGE SOTIROPOULOS +195

Since Stevenson has joined Greg Jackson's Team Jackson in Albuquerque, Joe Daddy has been training harder, fighting better, and has been most impressive with wins over Nate Diaz and a complete destruction of Spencer Fisher in back-to-back victories. Prior to that, Stevenson fought some of the best fighters the UFC offers in Diego Sanchez, Kenny Florian, and BJ Penn. And while it is true that those bouts ended in losses for the 27-year old father of 4, it is mentioned because native Aussie Sotiropoulis has fought no one near the fighters Stevenson has and this is obviously his biggest bout of his life. Stevenson is the more accomplished wrestler and if he can get within the Australian's reach, he should have little difficulty with imposing his will on the much less experienced fighter. PICK-STEVENSON

Stan Lisowski has compiled a 10-2 record with his MMA predictions. As of this writing, he is hitting 60% winners in the NBA for the season, while he is on a 67% run his last 18 basketball programs. Be sure to check out all of Stan's action in the picks portion of this site. Please note, a 5-Star Selection is scheduled for Saturday 2/20.