UFC 134 takes place on Saturday night from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and has an exciting main card.

Here are my picks for tonight’s featured bouts.

UFC Middleweight Championship – Anderson Silva (28-4) vs. Yushin Okami (27-5) – Okami has the right skill set to actually pull off this upset, but he lacks the one thing that he truly needs to win …. aggression. Chael Sonnen had success against Silva by coming out fast and not letting Silva get settled in. If you watch Silva’s fights, he likes to take the first two minutes to dance around and develop a timing for his opponent. Once he has found it, he starts to dance a little and that is when the fight is usually over. Okami can’t let Silva get comfortable, but I fear he will. For that reason, I see Silva scoring a knockout in the second round.

Light Heavyweight Bout – Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (19-5) vs. Forrest Griffin (18-6) – Griffin won the first fight and I think he wins the second. I think this is a bad matchup for Rua because Griffin is a “dog” that will keep coming at him and push a pace that Shogun can’t handle. I see Rua tiring again in the middle of the fight, which will allow Griffin to control the fight on the ground and with his boxing. I pick Griffin by decision in an upset.

Heavyweight Bout – Antonio Minotauro Nogeuira (32-6-10 vs. Brendan Schaub (9-1) – I love the heart that Nogueira has, but I think his chin has taken a beating over the years and eventually Schaub will catch him with a knockout punch. Nogueira has the edge on the ground if the fight goes there, but he lacks the wrestling ability to takedown the likes of Schaub, who is a strong and burly heavyweight. I pick Schaub to win this fight by knockout in the first round.

UFC Lightweight Bout – Ross Pearson (14-4) vs. Edson Barboza (8-0) – Pearson is a tough fighter that likes to scrap, but it would be difficult to prepare for the type of leg kicks he will see against Barboza. After being hit with a few of those, it can completely throw a fighter off his game. For that reason, I see Barboza winning by decision as he will land the most effective strikes and control the pacing and style of the fight.

Light Heavyweight Bout – Luiz Cane (12-3) vs. Stanislav Nedkov (11-0) – Cane has been an all-or-nothing fighter as of late. His last three fights have ended in the first round, two of them saw him getting knocked out. In this fight, he takes on a fighter in Nedkov that can go to the ground and stay standing. If Cane can keep the fight standing, I think he can win, but he doesn’t have great technical skills, and I think that opens the door for Nedkov to get him to the ground and control him. I will take Nedkov to win his debut by decision in this one.

Weigh ins for UFC 134 took place on Friday afternoon and each of the competing fighters made weight for Saturday’s card.

In the main event, UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva, received a hero’s welcome from the Brazilian fans as he weighed in at 184 pounds while his opponent, Yushin Okami, came in at 183 pounds.

The 183 pounds was somewhat surprising for Okami, who typically fights near 200 pounds come fight night.

Following the weigh in, the two had a mild stare down, but lacked intensity leading up to the fight.

In the co-main event, both Forrest Griffin and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua came in at exactly 205 pounds. The two also had a distant stare down where they didn’t get to close to each other. This fight is a rematch of an upset for Griffin back in 2007. Griffin was booed heavily by the crowd while Rua had the full support of the arena.

For complete weigh-in results from UFC 134, check out the jump.

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Forrest Griffin put his name on the map with a win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua back at UFC 76 in 2007.

Was it a fluke?

Or does Griffin have Rua’s number?

That is what we will find out this Saturday when the two meet again in the co-main event of UFC 134.

Here is a breakdown of this contest.

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (19-5) – The former Pride and UFC champion is coming off a loss to Jon Jones at UFC 128 where he was overwhelmed by the young phenom. Rua was coming off a lengthy layoff due to a knee surgery, and looked tired early in the fight. When Rua fought Griffin the first time, he also looked winded early in the fight and was nearly lifeless in the closing moments before being choked out. Rua is an intense striker that likes to push forward and he has some solid submission skills on the ground.

Forrest Griffin (18-6) – Griffin is also a former UFC champion but is at a bit of a stand still in his career. He has won two straight fights, but been somewhat unimpressive in both outings. Griffin was a huge underdog against Rua the first time, and is an underdog again this time. Griffin will look to use his boxing against Rua and again tire him out by pushing a furious pace. Griffin has an under-rated ground game, which he has shown over the years. If he can stay on top of Rua, he should put himself in position to win.

Who Will Win: Griffin has all the chance in the world to win this fight. He tends to do better as an underdog than a favorite, but he is entering the hostile crowd of Brazil. Rua tends to struggle when he can’t start quickly and I think Griffin will be smart and keep Rua off-balance. I look for Griffin to win a decision this time around.

UFC 134 takes place on Saturday, and has one of the better cards the UFC has put on in a while.

Our friends on at BetOnFighting.com have released odds for four of the main card bouts.

In the main event, Anderson Silva is the favorite (-450) to retain his UFC Middleweight Championship over Yushin Okami (+350). Silva (28-4) is looking to avenge a DQ loss to Okami (27-5) from 2006. Silva threw an up kick to Okami, when he was on his knees, which ended the fight. Okami is a big, strong wrestler, but not as aggressive as the likes of Chael Sonnen. Still, if Okami can get his hands on Silva, he could find a way to win the fight.

In the co-main event, Maurico “Shogun” Rua will look to avenge a loss to Forrest Griffin from back at UFC 76 in 2007. Rua (19-5) is considered the favorite to win this time, with odds of -220. Griffin (18-6) comes in with odds of +180. It should be noted that Rua was a heavy favorite the first time these two met, but Griffin managed to push a pace that Rua couldn’t handle and went on to score a submission in the closing moments of the third round.

For the available odds for UFC 134, including Schaub vs. Nogueira and Barboza vs. Pearson, check out the jump.

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I waited a week to release my latest light heavyweight rankings as I wanted to see how the UFC 133 main event turned out.

Rashad Evans did as I expected and beat Tito Ortiz, but his performance was very impressive and it made me consider putting him on top of the list.

You have to consider the quality of opponents that Evans has over Jones. Granted, Jones has been unphased in any fight. But, he also hasn’t fought the best of the best throughout his career.

Still, I left Jones on top for now, but No. 2 is a lot closer than he was a few months ago.

1. Jon Jones (13-1): Jones will defend his UFC championship next month against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, in his biggest fight to date. Jones has yet to face any adversity, but a win over Jackson would prove that he can handle almost anyone in MMA. Wrestling will likely be the key in this one, as I don’t think Jones will want to slug it out with Rampage.

2. Rashad Evans (16-1-1): Evans bulked up in his time away from fighting and he looks like a determined fighter. He seems angry based on what happened with Greg Jackson and Jones, and it seems to have improved his skills as opposed to hurt them. Evans is next in line for a title shot. Only time will tell if he and Jones will finally square off.

3. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (32-8): Rampage has had some issues away from the cage, having his trainer decided to leave camp over “creative differences.” Still, Rampage says he is ready to go. He will face a fighter unlike anything he has really seen. It will be interesting to see how Rampage plans to attack Jones at UFC 135.

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