Lost In All of the Randy Couture News: UFC 88

The MMA world was rocked by news of Randy Couture's return to the UFC this week. However, let's not forget that there is a very big PPV taking place in Atlanta, Georgia this weekend - UFC 88: "Breakthrough". You have the biggest star in the history of mixed martial arts - Chuck Liddell - fighting in the main event, and hardly anyone has been talking about it due to the Randy Couture / Brock Lesnar news.

Chuck Liddell will be squaring off against the undefeated Rashad Evans in the main event of the card. This is a very big fight for both fighters - if Evans wins, he elevates his standing in the light heavyweight division and brings himself closer to a shot at the title. If Liddell wins, he virtually guarantees himself a shot at the title against Forrest Griffin in late 2008 or early 2009.

Like most UFC cards these days, the event is stacked from top to bottom. You have Rich Franklin taking on Matt Hamill. Then you have Karo Parisyan taking on Yoshiyuki Yoshida in a Welterweight battle. The main card is rounded out by Dan Henderson taking on Rousimar Palhares, and Nate Marquardt taking on Martin Kampmann in a Middleweight title.

That's just the main card.

The preliminary card is stuffed with interesting match-ups as well, including:

Thiago Tavares vs Kurt Pellegrino
Matt Brown vs Dong Hyun Kim
Jason MacDonald vs Jason Lambert
Tim Boetsch vs Mike Patt
Roan Carneiro vs Ryo Chonan

I mean - Jason MacDonald vs Jason Lambert on the preliminary card? That should tell you just how stacked this event is.

This should be a great event. Can Chuck Liddell fight his way back into contention for a shot at the light heavyweight title, setting up a Liddell - Griffin "mega" fight? Or will Rashad Evans build upon his sterling resume by defeating one of the UFC's most popular stars?

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