When the two agreed to fight on the UFC 114 card, it was no surprise that the two were back at the arguing.

“(Beating Evans will) be like a moral victory for me,” Jackson said. “Rashad, he has no title. He couldn’t even hold onto the belt after one fight. Why am I even fighting this guy? Then I did The Ultimate Fighter and I know why I’m fighting this guy. Because I want to teach guys like this a lesson — to keep his mouth shut when you aren’t on the same level as the next man.

“It’s not up there with a title shot or even a big accomplishment. Who is this guy? He has done nothing compared to what I’ve done. I’m the first ever undisputed champion of my sport. So fighting this guy is kind of like a step backwards.”

The bad blood between these two doesn’t run one way, as Evans had much to say about Rashad as well.

“It’s just the way he is — just like that last comment,” Evans said. “Who am I to fight him? Who is he to fight me? I beat Forrest (Griffin). You didn’t beat Forrest, bro. You lost. You almost got finished in the second round.”

So as the two are set to square off tomorrow evening, will the hype sell this fight?

First of all, I know you’ve probably been asked this many times but your first fight in the UFC was in Montreal, how do you feel fighting on Canadian soil again?

Oh it’s awesome to be back, being in front of the Canadian fans gives me goosebumps.  There are so many great fighters from Canada, and it’s been amazing to move up the ranks with them.

With your training did you do anything different, and what skills did you focus more on?

Like any other fight, I prepare hard, and train for specific opponents.

I heard you spent a few weeks in Thailand, how was that?

It was awesome, I do it every year, just to get out and train my Muay Thai.

Johnny Hendricks is a well-rounded wrestler, is there anything special you did to prepare yourself for him?

I’ve prepared my wrestling, working on escapes, but I just plan to take the fight to him.

You’re known as a submission guy, do you see this fight going to the ground?  If so, do you think your BJJ can counter his wrestling?

Like any MMA fight, go out there and see what happens.  I know what to do when it happens.

What do you think you bring to this fight that could possibly give Hendricks his first loss?

I’m here to win, I’ve trained hard for the fight, and I’m proving that on Saturday.

You fought on the same card with Hendricks at UFC 107, did you get a chance to catch his fight?

Yeah, I got a bit of it and then watched it again online to see how he fought.  It wasn’t the most exciting finish, but it was still impressive.

Any final thoughts you’d like to share?

I’d like to thank all the fans for the support, and hope to bring the win home.

Since TJ’s inception into the UFC he’s been nothing but impressive.  His first fight went the distance were he won in a split decision.  His second fight against Dong Hyun Kim didn’t play out the way he wanted but he did what he did. In his last fight he was able to pull off an impressive TKO victory over Kevin Burns, which won him Knockout of the night honors.

It seems TJ might be facing his toughest opponent against Hendricks, but he believes he has what it takes to be the one to give Hendricks his first loss in MMA.

Along with TJ, there are many prominent Canadian fighters making their way to the octagon this Saturday.

Jason MacDonald, who was released from the UFC last year, is making his return after going 3-1 in smaller organizations.  As well Tim Hague who went 1-2 in his UFC career is back in after a release was issued not just two months ago.

UFC Veterans Sam Stout and Patrick Cote are also set to fight on the main card against different opponents.  Cote’s last fight was against Anderson Silva well over a year ago.  So here’s hoping cage rust doesn’t set in.

Other then the three main fights, this is looking to be a UFC 58 in the making as these talented fighters from Canada are facing off against their American counterparts.  Here’s hoping Canada brings home the win, like the Olympic hockey team.

During the fight Shogun discoved and exposed the cracks in Machida’s almost impenetrable game.  Machida had never lost a round in his 15 pro fights, but Shogun broke apart his game with leg kicks and tenacity.

However the Los Angeles crowd mostly reacted with disbelief when Machida won the unanimous decision with identical 48-47 edges on all three judge’s scorecards.  Dana White even disagreed with the decision so he did something about it.  He ordered a rematch almost immediately following the fight.

A good sportsman Shogun is, he didn’t let the decision get him worked up.

“This is all in the past for me right now,” Rua said through a translator. “And what gives me comfort is the fact that I’m having another shot at a title, and I’ll fight for the world championship again.”

The pressure is on Machida in the rematch to prove he’s still a confounding opponent. Machida, who had surgery on his left hand one week after the victory, has studied everything from sumo to boxing, yet he built his streak of eight consecutive UFC wins on a game grounded in the traditional martial arts, rather than wrestling.

“There’s not too much that’s going to change,” Machida said. “I’ve worked on certain areas of my game to improve, but for the most part I’m going to come in and apply my strategy. … The great thing about the rematch is that we’re both a lot more familiar with each other than we were the first time we met, so I think it just makes the chance all that much greater for a better fight this time around.”

Rua spent six months training for Machida last year, and he ratcheted up his work level for the rematch, even perhaps getting a head start while Machida recovered from surgery.

“I’m training for all situations so I can get no surprises when the fight starts,” Rua said. “But actually I have to also think on different game plans and different approaches to the fight in case Lyoto comes up with something different. I have to be prepared.”

Rua largely hurt Machida with a nonstop attack of leg kicks, preventing much of Machida’s unorthodox style from ever getting off the ground. Yet such a strategy sometimes doesn’t show up on the scorecards in MMA, where judges must weight multiple disciplines and methods of showing progress in a match.

Some judges highly value leg kicks, which were used by Jose Aldo and Matt Hughes in recent weeks to dominate fights. Other judges aren’t impressed by the kicks, which cause soreness and movement-hindering bruises, but no blood or drama.

Rua would love to see more concrete guidelines for scoring such an attack, since he clearly got little benefit from the strategy at Staples Center.

“I don’t think about controversy or any thoughts or what happened, because I think this can only hinder an athlete,” Rua said. “The fight sometimes doesn’t end really as the fans want, because it’s not easy to do whatever you want. Obviously I always fight trying to look for a knockout, and that’s what I’ll do again. But Lyoto is a great fighter, so it’s not an easy thing to achieve.”

However there’s one person who thinks the fight will end fast, but not in Kimbo’s favor.  Matt Mitrione believes he’s going to end the fight quickly and violently.

“I think I’m going to punch him in his face and I think he’ll go to sleep,” Mitrione says. “I’m hard-nosed and I’m aggressive and I will take the fight to him and it will be the fight that the Houston Alexander-Kimbo fight should have been. And I will dot him in his face and I think once he tastes his own blood it will make him think, ‘This shit kind of sucks.”

It’s funny how effective the Kimbo-Alexander fight was for getting fans to buy into the next fight, with the promise that it will be a war.

However, this writer among many more, believes Mitrione is right.  He’s going to punch Kimbo and put him to sleep.  But it won’t be the last of Kimbo that’s for sure.

Dana White told the press and the pre-fight conference that the winner will indeed receive a title shot.  It was to be Fitch-Alves II who would face off against GSP, but the UFC wants a fresher matchup for the current champ.

As of Wednsday, both fighters were unaware of the high stakes on the fight.  Both fighters told press that they are focused on their fight first.  Daley went on to say if he were to win, he would consider turning down the fight.

“As much as I am confident,” Daley said. “I don’t want to go in there with negative things in the back of my head. I rather be 100% confident, 100% focused, I want to know everything in my personal life and in training is 100%. A good structure to my training, everything’s working how it should be to prepare for such a huge test. Cause once you fall from top of the mountain, it’s hard to get back up.”

Daley, whose fight this Saturday is only his third inside the Octagon, holds (T)KO UFC wins over Martin Kampmann and Dustin Hazelett.

Koscheck, coming off wins over Frank Trigg and Anthony Johnson, has shared the cage with St-Pierre before, losing by unanimous decision at UFC 74 back in August 2007.

Brown will be facing a tough opponent in the Armenian Judo expert and Former Ultimate Fighter finalist Manvel Gamburyan.  While Gamburyan is a tough fight for Brown, he is very confident in his match-up.

“I’ve got the reach which is rare for me because I’m 5’6” but I’ve actually got some reach here and I always do really well against shorter guys. I feel good with the power edge and with the technical striking edge. I think that’s (standing) my area and I’m not easy to takedown so I think it’s going to be a hard fight for him.”

Manvel believes there is no pressure going into the fight, as the two are headliners on WEC’s first PPV show.

“First of all, there is no pressure in my fights.  I just look at a fight.  Any fight is a fight, you know?  I can’t take anything away from Brown.  He’s a gamer.  I respect him as a person.  Right now he’s my enemy, but it doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy.”

To Gamburyan, April 24^th is very important to him, not only because he showcases on WEC, but because it is Genocide Remembrance Day for the Armenian people.

“It’s a special day for me,” said Manny when talking about what it means to compete on this particular date.  “Do or die, man.  I’m a die out there, bro.  I’m a do everything so I can win.”

If any one fighter wins the battle, it will mean a war against the winner of Urijah and Jose.  Both fighters are looking for that win, and that title shot.

“I think if I get a win—especially if I look good doing it—then I’ll be right in the spot (No. 1 contender) and I should get a shot at the winner of Aldo-Faber.” Mike Brown said.

Aldo is a deadly fighter, finishing his last 6 WEC bouts with terrifying KO victories.  His recent destruction was of Mike Brown who was coming off a 10 fight win streak.  Urijah Faber on the other hand, is coming off one win after being defeated by Mike Brown once again.  For Faber, he isn’t counting out Aldo, but he doesn’t care if the rest of the world is counting Faber out.

“He’s a fabulous fighter and there is merit to all the credit he’s getting,” Faber said. “I’m impressed by him. But his vulnerability is that I’m the better fighter.”

Faber has only lost to two people in his career, once against Tyson Griffin and then Mike Brown twice.

“This sport, you never know what is going to happen,” Faber said. “Too much crazy [stuff] could happen. But the one thing I know, and that I think anyone who is going to fight me knows, is that you’ll get the best of what I have that night and I’m going to keep coming and keep fighting and keep trying to find a way to win.”

Jose Aldo is a beast no matter what Faber says. He’s ranked No. 6 in the Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound rankings and he’s on a nine-fight winning streak. He’s justifiably earned comparisons to the pre-UFC 112 version of Anderson Silva.

This fight will definitely be a battle, and expect it to end fast.

What Henderson forgot to say, was that he’s ready for a second 5 round war.  Last October Hendo and Donald Cerrone fought for the interim lightweight belt, and it was indeed a war.

“That was an absolute war,” said Ben Henderson in the cage immediately after the bout. “Now I don’t ever want to do it again.”

But they are doing it again, this Saturday at WEC 48 on Pay Per View.  This battle has more at stake, as last time they fought for the interim and this time they are fighting for the real deal.  The belt to prove who the best lightweight is in the WEC.

When they first met, the two would battle it out in a submission fest, where Bendo would spend close to four minutes in Cerrone’s submission attempts through the bout.  But every time Bendo was caught, he would sneak out in any way possible.  No matter how Cerrone caught Bendo, Henderson was more then able to continue, at one point where he gave thumbs up with his only free arm.  By the end of the bout, Ben Henderson was able to score a decision victory, due to his impressive submission escapes and attempts.

Henderson enters the rematch on a ten-fight winning streak, dating back to his second career fight. Cerrone got back on the winning track with a second straight Fight of the Night performance against Ed Ratcliff.

Cerrone was able to get the submission in that bout, as he has in ten of his eleven career wins. Had Henderson’s arms not been made of rubber and his will of steel, Cerrone might have eleven submissions in twelve victories.

“I think you have to have fights where you’re just dominant, and you show the world that you’re that much better than your opponent,” Henderson said on his radio appearance. “But you have to have those fights where the fans, the crowd know that you were pushed to your limit, and you went out there and you showed your heart and soul. You gave it everything you had.”

Despite his promises to the contrary, he and Cerrone will be giving everything again on Saturday night.

During the interview, Mayhem walked into the ring, and asked for a rematch against Sheilds.  No one is to sure how and who started the brawl, but what ensued will go down in MMA history along the lines of Coleman/Rua back in Pride.

Shields team, members of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu including Melendez and the Diaz brothers, stormed in and took Miller to the ground.  Gus Johnson got in on the action trying to break the fight up yelling, “Gentleman, we’re on National Television.”

After the fight broke up, Shields apologized, and Miller wasn’t allowed to the post fight conference.  He did have time to get on his twitter and say “Whoops”.

On a side note, Miller was able to dominate in his fight against Tim Stout.  Miller was able to pull of a TKO victory against Stout in the first round.

That’s why he’s my favorite; he’ll knock a dude out then get into the cage against one of the toughest camps and start a brawl.  Hopefully this isn’t the last of Miller we see in Strikeforce.

Shields fought a tough fight against an MMA legend in Dan Henderson, but during the fight he was able to counter Hendo’s wrestling.  On the ground Shields was able to get in some ground and pound and a few submission attempts.

For Shields is what a great win, but Hendo almost had him in the first 30 seconds when he rocked Shields with a heavy punch that dropped him.

“I was dizzy for a while there,” said Shields. “I didn’t know where I was in the first minute.”

Shields scored a takedown with just over a minute left in the first setting the tone for the rest of the fight. One of the top welterweights in the world, Shields used his hands well to set up single leg takedowns the rest of the way. Once the fight hit the ground, Shields dominated a tired and sluggish looking Henderson. He passed Henderson’s guard pretty easily and got to mount way too often against a top level fighter.