UFC 102 Confirmed For August 29th, U.S. vs. Brazil?

[SinCitysmallGUY]

After months of speculation and rumored fight additions, the UFC has officially added UFC 102 to their calendar for August 29th, 2009.  Although the organization has not yet announced a location, the event is expected to take place in Portland, Oregon at the Rose Garden Arena, home of the NBA's Portland TrailBlazers.


According to the calendar entry, tickets will go on-sale to the general public on June 20th, with pre-sales for Fight Club members and newsletter subscribers on the 18th and 19th respectively.

The event will be headlined by a heavyweight contest featuring Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and the current rumored card is as follows:

Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Demian Maia vs. Nate Marquardt
Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva
Matt Hamill vs. Brandon Vera
Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Chris Tuchscherer
Nick Catone vs. Mark Munoz
Junior dos Santos vs. Justin McCully
Evan Dunham vs. Matt Veach
James Irvin vs. Wilson Gouveia


As an interesting side-note: there's a bit of a US vs. Brazil theme permeating this card, with no fewer than six bouts featuring American fighters matched up against Brazilian fighters.  This was most likely unintentional on the UFC's part, since the majority of the organization's roster hails from those two nations, but there have been "clash of the nations"-style events in the past, including UFC 58: U.S. vs. Canada, UFC 25: Ultimate Japan 3, and of course, the current season of The Ultimate Fighter featuring Team U.K. vs. Team U.S.

[gracie bjj]

i see the pattern also with the brazilians, i would have liked to see randy vs nog about 3 years ago, i think they are both on the tail end of thier careers unfortunately. that doesnt mean the fight will suck by no means though, it could turn out to be the fight of the night

[MB_722]

they should eliminate the unified rules. I hate the unified rules, so gay.

[Petrucci]

i see the pattern also with the brazilians, i would have liked to see randy vs nog about 3 years ago, i think they are both on the tail end of thier careers unfortunately. that doesnt mean the fight will suck by no means though, it could turn out to be the fight of the night

probably will end by decision... i dont think it will be a good fight to watch, maybe more like a chess game, but not exciting

[UGMT]

I'm pumped for Maia vs Marquardt.