Nogueira vs. Velasquez, Bisping vs. Silva official for "UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez"

Not that it mattered to the Australian ticket buyers, but two fights are finally official for the UFC's first trip Down Under.

And while the event is already an official sell-out – as it was after just hours of public ticket sales – it also now has a name: "UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez."

Nogueira (32-5-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Velasquez (7-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) were expected to meet in the main event of UFC 108 on Jan. 2, but a severe case of staph infection forced "Minotauro" out of the bout.

Prior to the cancellation of the Jan. 2 bout, UFC president Dana White announced that the winner of the contest would receive a heavyweight title shot.

"Nogueira vs. Velasquez is a great matchup between the present and the future of the heavyweight division," White stated. "Nogueira showed in the (Randy) Couture fight that he still has plenty left to offer at the top level of the game, and Velasquez was devastating in his win over Ben Rothwell, so with both guys in top form, we're definitely going to see a No. 1 contender emerge from this fight to take on the winner of the Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin title fight."

Of course, the bout could immediately gather even further attention should current heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar's ailments require major surgery.

Nogueira briefly held the UFC's interim heavyweight title, which he earned by defeating Tim Sylvia in February 2008. Nogueira's lone loss in the UFC came in his next bout, a TKO defeat to Frank Mir in December 2008. The former PRIDE champion bounced back with a win over Couture in the main event of UFC 102 in August.

Meanwhile, Velasquez has long been touted as one of the heavyweight division's most-promising prospects. The American Kickboxing Academy product has earned five-straight UFC wins since debuting in April 2008.

Silva (32-10-1 MMA, 2-5 UFC), fighting at middleweight after slimming down from 205 pounds, looks to snap a two-fight losing streak. The MMA legend and longtime PRIDE title-holder is just 1-5 in his past six contests, which have included decision losses to former champ Rich Franklin and Chuck Liddell.

Silva was originally expected to face Yoshihiro Akiyama, but the matchup was scrapped in favor of a bout with "The Count."

Bisping (18-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC), meanwhile, recently rebounded from a devastating July knockout loss to Dan Henderson with an impressive second-round TKO of Denis Kang earlier this month at UFC 105. Bisping, who could have earned a title shot with a win over Henderson, has now won four of his past five fights (three via knockout), all of which came after a drop from light heavyweight to middleweight.

Source: http://mmajunkie.com/news/17194/nogueira-vs-velasquez-bisping-vs-silva-official-for-ufc-110-nogueira-vs-velasquez.mma

UFC 110 fight card

Here is the updated card for the event:

MAIN CARD

• Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
• Michael Bisping vs. Wanderlei Silva
• George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Stevenson
• Ryan Bader vs. Keith Jardine
• Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Ben Rothwell

• Chris Haseman vs. Elvis Sinosic
• Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski*
• C.B. Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic*
• Chris Lytle vs. TBA*
• James Te Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac*