Minotauro Nogueira Has Slight Edge Over Cain Velasquez in UFC 110

Sports News - February 9th, 2010 - Written By Bryan

After an exciting UFC 109 from Las Vegas, the Ultimate Fighting Championship now shifts continents and will take place in Australia for the first time ever. UFC 110 features an explosive fight-card that hosts an array of the top contenders in different weight classes. Headlining the event from Acer Arena in Sydney will be a heavyweight bout that sets veteran Minotauro Nogueira against undefeated newcomer Cain Velasquez. Both fighters sport varying fighting styles and will make for an unpredictable fight with a title shot on the line.

The 33-year-old Nogueira has plenty of experience in MMA, as he has tabbed a career record of 32-5-1 overall. The 240lb Brazilian relies on excellent stamina, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and reliable boxing skills during his match ups. This combination has allowed him to be successful over his career. He last fought in the UFC during UFC 102, when he faced Randy Couture as the feature event. Nogueira won on a unanimous decision. Prior to that however, he suffered a tough loss to Frank Mir by knockout in the second round of the fight. Despite the loss, Nogueira has won three of his last four UFC match ups.

Nogueira is an expert at submitting his opponents and will look to gain the advantage on Velasquez. He is widely perceived as possessing the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu of any fighter in the UFC.

Velasquez is a graduate of Arizona State University in which he received a bachelors degree in Education. He sports an unblemished 7-0 record in his MMA career. More impressive is that six of his seven victories have come by way of knockout. Only one match in his last five have gone past the second round. He is considered a very well-rounded fighter with little weaknesses. This makes him very difficult to prepare for.

Velasquez is a very relentless fighter and Nogueira will have to relay on all of his experience to gain the advantage in this match up. Nogueira will have the slight edge if the fight goes to the ground, as his submission skills are virtually unparallelled. Velasquez has a very solid "ground and pound" game as well however, as he wrestled in college.

This fight is being marketed as the biggest match up this year for UFC, and could be a candidate for top fight of the year.

Australia was eager to host the UFC fight.

“We knew we had an unbelievably passionate fan-base in Australia, but we are blown away by the speed of the sell-out. We had a massive uptake of tickets to the Australian members of our Fight Club and newsletter readers, and tickets were completely gone within hours of going on sale to the public,” said Marshall Zelaznik, the Manager of International Development for UFC.

Oddsmakers aren't quite sure what to make of this fight, as both fighters have been installed with similar odds. Nogueira has been established as the slight favorite according to the UFC Betting Lines at Bodog sportsbook, going off at -120. Velasquez sports the underdog role, but with odds at -110.

UFC 110 can be see live on pay-per-view on Saturday, February 20th. Contact your local cable company for details.