UFC 101 Preview: The Main Card

As if it were not enough to have the World Series champions in town, Philadelphia will also get UFC 101 “Declaration,” which will fill the Wachovia Center this Saturday with fight-starved fans of the Eastern Time Zone. B.J. Penn’s long-overdue lightweight title bout with Kenny Florian will headline the event, as Florian will look to unseat the Hawaiian and join the growing list of “The Ultimate Fighter” alumni who have held UFC gold.

Considering the dearth of quality mixed martial arts on this side of the Union, the UFC will back up that featured bout with current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s showdown with former light heavyweight titleholder Forrest Griffin in a match that could earn Silva a top-five victory in his third division. Those two potentially historic matchups are joined on the main card by Amir Sadollah’s latest attempt to get his UFC run started, Kendall Grove and Ricardo Almeida looking to move up at the other’s expense and a lightweight tussle between Kurt Pellegrino and Josh Neer.