First up is the Lightweight Championship fight between current Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez and Current Dream champ Shinya Aoki.  Aoki is making his North American debut, and is considered to be the #2 lightweight fighter in the world.  Aoki is a strong Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Shooto fighter who is known for his devastating ground game.  Melendez on the other hand is a wrestler with minor training in BJJ.  This fight could go either way but I can see Aoki taking this fight by a 2^nd round submission.

Next on the card is a light heavyweight championship fight between current champ Gegard Mousasi and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.  Mousasi is a powerful Kickboxer with a record that could make him a legend in the sport.  He’s fought guys like Goodridge, Sokoudjou, Babalu, and Dennis Kang.  King Mo however is a newcomer in MMA, but holds an amazing record where 5 of his 6 wins have come by a KO victory.  King Mo is also a National NCAA wrestling champion.  In what could be the most explosive fight on the main card, it’s a tough call, but King Mo by a first round TKO victory.

Now onto the fight that everyone has been waiting for.  The title fight between current Middleweight champ Jake Shields and former Pride Champ and UFC Veteran Dan Henderson.  Both fighters bring something to the fight, with Shields best attribute his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Henderson’s wrestling, boxing, and experience.  This fight could go either way, but I’d call Dan Henderson by KO victory in the 2^nd round.

Keep an eye out for other fights on the card such as Mayhem Jason Miller.

First up, the Middleweight Champion fight between current champ Anderson Silva and top Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specalist Demian Maia.  Anderson Silva is coming off somewhat of an explosive fight against Forrest Griffin where he won by a first round verbal KO.  Griffin has gone undefeated in the octagon and is looking to keep heading down that road.  However he’s got some trouble as Demian Maia is also coming off amazing wins, except for the one KO loss to Nate Marquardt back in August.  This fight is going to be tough to call but I see Demian Maia going to the ground for a Submission victory in the 2^nd round.

Frankie Edgar and BJ Penn are set to fight for the Lightweight Title belt.  BJ Penn is a legend in the sport and has fought legends in the sport.  Coming off a deadly battle against Diego Sanchez, BJ Penn is ready to finish this fight.  Frankie Edgar on the other hand is coming off some all but amazing fights.  Only twice in the cage has he finished the fight.  It’s easy to say that Edgar is outmatched in this fight and BJ Penn will win by either Submission or KO.

Now the legend vs legend fight, UFC Vet Matt Hughes versus MMA Legend Renzo Gracie.  Gracie, as we all know, comes from the most famous family in MMA history.  He is an amazing BJJ artist, as well as a never quit fighter, much like his cousin Royce.  Hughes has had the honor of defeating a Gracie, along with many other legends such as BJ Penn, GSP, and Carlos Newton.  In the end Renzo Gracie by Submission in the 1^st round.

Other fights on the card are Terry Etim and Rafael Dos Anjos, and Kendal Grove versus Mark Munoz.  These fights take place Saturday April 7, 2010 on PPV.

Also headlining the fight, is a heavyweight match-up, between 6’11 Stefan Struve and short chubby TUF 10 winner Roy Nelson.  Both fighters are very well rounded, and ready to get the show started.

Also on the card is Ultimate Fighter 9 winner Ross Pearson fighting the powerful German Kickboxer, Dennis Siver.  TUF 1 veteran Nate Quarry is set to take on heavy handed Jorge Rivera.

The Preliminary card is stacked full of great fights as well from Yushin Okami, Caol Uno, and Andre Winner.

UFC Fight Night 21 takes place March 31, 2010 on SpikeTV.

The test, 6’11 Dutch Kickboxer Stefan Struve, who is riding a three fight win streak inside the Octagon.  The two are set to meet at Ultimate Fight Night 21 as the co-main event.

“Stefan definitely has a height and reach advantage,” Nelson responded when asked about his opponent.  “But it’s just one of those things that, as a fighter, you have to deal with.  You have to look past it and do what you need to do to get the W.”

Besides the huge reach advantage, Struve also brings a very well rounded game into the fight.  Even though most fighters bring a game plan to face their opponents, Nelson prefers to just be ready for anything and take what his opponent gives him instead.

With over ten years of experience under his Gracie black belt, there isn’t much that Nelson hasn’t already seen in a fight.

“It’s going to be a feeling-out process. If I feel like I’m winning the stand-up, I’ll probably keep it standing. But if I’m losing the stand-up fight, I’ll look to go to the ground. Hopefully I can win the ground stuff.”

Because of his already long list of wins over other veterans, Nelson believes a win over Struve could place him in the top tier of the UFC heavyweights.

“I feel that I’m right in the mix. Stefan Struve’s right in the mix too, so I think whoever wins will be in the mix for the title hunt. We’re co-headlining the card so we’re definitely people that the fans want to watch.”

While Nelson has always had the skill and ability to compete in the UFC, he chose to travel a different path. It’s been a long journey for Nelson to get to this point, but now that he is in the UFC, he feels at home.

“When I first started fighting, we considered doing the UFC and then I went a whole different route just to kind of build myself and build myself with fans. All roads will always end with the UFC. I just knew that eventually I would be in the UFC, so I just kind of did my own thing.”

Now that Nelson is finally in the UFC, he’s ready to fight the best and he feels that with his experience and skill set that he can be a problem for anyone including current UFC heavyweight champion, Brock Lesnar.

“I think in a matchup with Brock (Lesnar) I’d do pretty well; as Frank Mir would say, ‘as long as you’re a big guy.’ You have to be big with Brock so you can’t get muscled. I think styles make matches and I think that I matchup pretty well with anyone in the UFC.”

“I was a little weird with it at first (helping Hardy out against GSP). We hit it off. He’s humble; he worked really hard. I’m rooting for him now.”

Serra, who enacted one of the great upsets in UFC title fights when he defeated GSP in April 2007, explained: “You learn a lot more from your losses than when everything goes great. I know how he fights. We wanted to work on the floor. With good guys in bad positions, escaping submissions.”

“I’m not the guy’s trainer; I was there to help him out. I’ve been in his shoes. I’ve been there before, I did what I could for him. He came in with skills (on the ground), and we just wanted to put him on the end of armlocks, difficult situations, and to me he’s a good dude, and he knows the game. If he comes across as rash, that just selling fights.  He knows it’s a fight and entertainment business. With Dan Hardy, you love him or hate him…”

As for Hardy’s chances against GSP “Mixed martial arts…It’s a game of inches. He’s got a good shot. Some people are beaten before they get in. He’s not. He really believes, and that’s a big part of it.”

This comes a major setback, as fans have been waiting for this rematch for sometime now.  But of course, we are all hoping Alves get’s better and is able to fight soon.  Someone close to Alves has said that he should be fine and it’s nothing serious, but Jersey officals are just being cautious about the fighters health.

Looks like we are all going to have to wait to see this much anticipated rematch.

Bocek is on the verge of reaching the top tier of the lightweight division.  He’s riding on a three-fight win streak heading into his fight with Jim Miller.  Miller is also 3-0 in his last three bouts and considered to be a close shot for the UFC lightweight title.  Miller has never been defeated, only losing twice by decision.  Bocek has been stopped twice, once by submission and once by TKO.  In the end it’s a tough call, as both fighters have excellent grappling skills and both are BJJ experts.  If I had to chose at the last second I would go with Jim Miller by Submission victory in the 2^nd round.

Ben Saunders vs. Jake Ellenberger

The Killa B became the first man ever to stop The Irish Hand Grenade Marcus Davis. He appeared much faster than in his previous visits inside the octagon. With his improved speed, long reach, and devastating clinch, it’s easy to see how Saunders is getting the recognition that he has. Ellenberger made his UFC debut against former WEC champion, Carlos Condit. The fight was a closely contested fight that had Condit on the ropes for much of the first round, In fact, the fight was merely inches away from being stopped in Ellenberger’s favor. The takedown attempts will come quick too. Although Ellenberger is pretty good at boxing, messing around with Saunders’ reach advantage would be foolish.  I expect Killa B to KO Jake Ellenberger in the 1^st round.

Thiago Alves vs Jon Fitch II

Last time they fought Alves was not the man he is today.  Both men came off that fight to go on and win more fights.  Alves on one side and Fitch on the other were able to clear up the welterweight division.  But both men have lost to GSP, Alves having lost recently at UFC 100.  This is a close matchup but I would say Thiago Alves by Split decision.

Shane Carwin vs Frank Mir

This is one of the best heavyweight matchups in a long while.  Both men are coming off amazing wins, however Carwin is also coming off 11 amazing victories.  Before Mir’s win over Cheick Kongo, he took a vicious beating by the hands of Champion Brock Lesnar. Shane Carwin was originally suppose to battle for the heavyweight strap against Brock Lesnar, but then, well, you know what happened.  Carwin is a national wrestling champ, and Frank Mir is a former UFC Champ.  Shane Carwin by KO victory in the 1^st round.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy

I don’t have much to say, just Dan Hardy by any means necessary.

“I’m trying to get into China,” he told fans at a question-and-answer session Tuesday. “I don’t need anti-Chinese government stuff on my fighters.”

Hardy, on the other hand says of his tattoo, a Tibetan Buddhist prayer written in Sanskirt. “It’s basically just like a prayer for focus,” Hardy said. “It keeps me walking the path that I should be walking without veering off and distracting myself.”

The tattoo is a well known Buddhist mantra “Om Mani Padme Hum” which has no political significance in relation to China. There is not anything shocking about a Buddhist mantra just as there is nothing shocking about Jon Jones’ “Phillipians 4:13″ tattoo.  In fact, given that Buddhism is more philosophical system than straight-up religion it should be considered even less controversial.  The situation has even led to a Facebook group “Boycott the UFC – Dan Hardy’s “Tibetan tattoo’ wiped out to please China” springing up.

If the promotion needs to photoshop harmless Buddhist mantras from it’s fighters skin just to “get into China” is it really an area that needs to be expanded into?

Severn is — among other things — a UFC Hall-of-Famer, a former WWE and NWA star and the owner of a black belt in three different martial arts disciplines. He made his Octagon debut at UFC 4 in 1994 and was crowned the UFC Superfight Champion a year and a half later with a victory over Ken Shamrock, the first of his three titles in the now world-famous fight league. Severn was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame five years ago.

And Dixon? He’s a father of three — his youngest son, Anthony, is six months old — and is trying to balance his fledgling fighting career with petroleum engineering courses at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.

Severn who is now 51 holds an all time record of 91-16-7, which adds up to 114 professional fights.  Dixon on the other hand is 5-2.

“Who would pass up a great opportunity to fight a great man like Dan Severn? With his accolades and everything, it’s quite an honour just to be in the same ring as the guy,” Dixon said. “He was one of the guys in there with the bare fists when it first started. I remember watching him as a little guy and watching (Royce) Gracie and Shamrock and all those guys.”

While Severn will undoubtedly be the star attraction, Dixon, a 6-foot-1, 265-pounder who trains with Calgary’s Dynamic Martial Arts, expects there’ll be some fans on his side, too.

“It’s up in my neck of the woods, as well, and I have a lot of fans and friends and family coming,” Dixon said. “But I’m also a fan of Mr. Severn, so if I wasn’t fighting him, I’d probably be cheering for him. If I knew somebody who was fighting him, I’d probably cheer for him, because he’s a legend.”