On Saturday night, UFC 148 will air on pay-per-view and will be headlined by one of the most eagerly-anticipated MMA fights of the past few years. The main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena will feature UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva once again defending his title against Chael Sonnen in a rematch of their 2010 fight at UFC 117. In that fight, Sonnen shocked the world as he followed up months of trash-talking by winning the first four rounds of their title match before falling victim to a triangle armbar and tapping out in the final round.
The lead-up to this epic rematch has been much the same as the first, with Sonnen talking a nonstop line of trash in his inimitable old-school wrestling heel style and Silva getting more or less fed up with Sonnen's antics. This match will certainly be heated and the crowd is sure to be off the charts. Sonnen will try to shock the world once again and hand Silva his first-ever loss in the UFC and his first loss since 2006.
The co-main event is also destined to be a raucous crowd-pleaser, as Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz will meet for the third time in a rubber match between the two.
Closer to home, San Jose hero Cung Le will be in action, taking on Patrick Cote. Le's original opponent for the card was Rich Franklin, who was reshuffled into the main event of UFC 147 against Wanderlei Silva when Vitor Belfort suffered an injury. Franklin won that fight and Le may have a more winnable fight with Cote as an opponent.
Here is the full card for Saturday's UFC 148:
Preliminary Card on Facebook
Lightweight bout: Rafaello Oliveira vs. Yoislandy Izquierdo
Preliminary Card on FX
Lightweight bout: Gleison Tibau vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Lightweight bout: Melvin Guillard vs. Fabrício Camões
Middleweight bout: Constantinos Philippou vs. Riki Fukuda
Lightweight bout: John Alessio vs. Shane Roller
Main Card
Bantamweight bout: Ivan Menjivar vs. Mike Easton
Featherweight bout: Chad Mendes vs. Cody McKenzie
Welterweight bout: Dong Hyun Kim vs. Demian Maia
Middleweight bout: Cung Le vs. Patrick Côté
Light Heavyweight bout: Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz
Middleweight bout: Anderson Silva (c) vs. Chael Sonnen
For more on mixed martial arts in general, check out everything we have to offer over at MMA Fighting and Bloody Elbow.