While UFC 129, which takes place at the Rogers Centre in Toronto on Saturday, will be the largest mixed martial arts event ever held in North America, it has a decidedly non-New Jersey flair.
Because this will be the first UFC event held in the province of Ontario, the promotion loaded up the card with Canadian fighters. There are 10 on the card, and nine of them are facing Americans, none of who have North Jersey ties.
The Jersey-loving UFC fanatics have to wait until May 28, when Tom River's Frankie Edgar once again puts his lightweight title on the line against Gray Maynard. It takes place at UFC 130 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas as is a rematch from their draw on New Year's night, an amazing contest that could stand the test of the other 364 days of 2011 as fight of the year.
It also represents some of the fallout from UFC 128 at the Prudential Center, which was stacked with fighters from the area.
The headlining match, on pay-per-view, features Georges St-Pierre defending his welterweight belt against Jake Shields, who held titles at welterweight and middleweight in Strikeforce and EliteXC. Jose Aldo puts his featherweight title on the line against Mark Hominick as the co-main event, but casual fans will tune in to see legend Randy Couture's final match.
Before calling it a career, Couture, a 47-year-old freak of nature, will take on fellow former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. It is one of just two fight son the card that does not have a Canadian, and the other is Jason Brilz against Vladimir Matyushenko.
Ex-WEC lightweight champ Ben Henderson makes his UFC debut against Mark Bocek in the opening pay-per-view match.
The pay-per-view has been moved up an hour, to 9 o'clock, a move Zuffa announced before UFC 128 but did not employ until this event. UFC 128 ended well past midnight in Newark, and even after 2 a.m. the post-fight media session had not fully broken up.
While waiting for the main card, viewers can get to their computers and smartphones on Saturday evening at 6 o'clock, go the the UFC's Facebook page and wet their beaks on the following fights that comprise the entire undercard, with all these matches being Americans (listed first) vs. Canadians:
Pablo Garza vs. Yves Jabouin
Kyle Watson vs. John Makdessi
Ryan Jensen vs. Jason MacDonald
Charlie Valencia vs. Ivan Menjivar
Daniel Roberts vs. Claude Patrick
Then at 8 o'clock, head to Spike TV and watch Jake Ellenberger meet Sean Pierson, and Nate Diaz take on Rory MacDonald.
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