The undefeated Askren (9-0) will have his hands full with Lima (21-4). The latter fighter rides into the bout on a nine-fight win streak armed with TKO finishes in three of his last four. At just 24, he has nearly three times the experience. He is three years Askren’s junior. In five straight fights, Askren has gone the distance and he will look for the second successful defense of his gold.

The Atlanta-based Brazilian, Lima (21-4) has had no trouble cutting fights short and he has stopped his opponent in 18 of his 21 wins.

Meanwhile, Askren pinned a Hungarian before losing to a star Cuban and left wrestling after competing at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The five-foot-11 Askren started training and fighting MMA, even though he kept his hand in wrestling as a college coach. Askren is coming off a split decision win over Jay Hieron, the Season 4 tournament winner.

A victory for Askren will raise his record to 10-0, including seven fights in Bellator. Askren, one of the all-time greats of collegiate wrestling and a former Olympian, in each of those bouts displayed the takedowns and ground control. A victory against the hard-hitting Lima is crucial to Askren. He is aware of the stylish Lima’s punching power, but he believes his progress in striking will allow him to be more aggressive.

In Bellator, he has yet to secure an indisputable finish via submission or knockout. In an April 2010 fight with Ryan Thomas, even Askren’s lone non-decision win for the organization resulted from a premature stoppage by a referee.

Lima has fought at Caesars Windsor before, stopping UFC veteran Terry Martin in just 74 seconds at MFC 29 in April 2011. He is riding a nine-bout win streak of his own. Since, earning a decision over Steve Karl and stopping Chris Lozano and Ben Saunders to win the Season 5 welterweight tournament and earn a shot at the champion, he has gone 3-0 in Bellator.

UFC betting Odds have this fight as a -115 pick’em.

Mir, 14-5 in his career, has won two of three fights since losing to Brock Lesnar at UFC 100 in a fight for the UFC heavyweight title. He forced Cheick Kongo to submit at UFC 107 and knocked out Mirko Filopovic at UFC 119. His last loss was via knockout to Shane Carwin at UFC 111.

Mir is a former heavyweight champion who uses a variety of styles in the ring, including Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, boxing, Kenpo Karate and wrestling. He has won eight of his 14 fights via submission.

Nelson, 15-5 in his career, has the ability to force opponents to submit, winning five fights that way, but he also has quick-strike capability that has led to eight knockouts. His style is a mix of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Shaolin Kung Fu. After beating Brendan Schaub in the finale of The Ultimate Fighter and then Stefan Struve at UFC Fight Night in March 2010, Nelson lost to Junior dos Santos by decision at UFC 117 in his last fight.

Both fighters are in their 30s and moving into the late stages of their MMA careers. A victory for either one in this fight could propel the winner to a shot at the top of the division.

MMA Odds for this fight will be available closer to May 28.

Torres, who is 39-3 with nine wins by knockout and 23 by submission, is a former WEC bantamweight champion. A black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Torres also features a Muay Thai striking style. Torres made his UFC debut at UFC 126 in February of this year, beating Antonio Banuelos by unanimous decision. Torres didn’t show off his full arsenal in the fight, largely playing it safe, so many expect him to show off the full skillset that made him one of the best submission bantamweights in the WEC in his second UFC performance.

Johnson also won on the UFC 126 card, defeating Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto by decision after three rounds. Johnson is 9-1 in his career with two knockouts and five submissions. Along with his speed, he’s known for his wrestling ability. Johnson’s stamina allows him to wear out opponents and once he’s able to force them to the mat, he has an array of holds that he can force submissions using.

Although Johnson doesn’t have the quick-strike ability that Torres does, he should have the advantage on the mat. The contrasting styles should make this one of the most exciting bouts on the UFC 130 card.

Bisping is a -340 moneyline favorite to win in UFC 127 Odds while Rivera is a +260 underdog.

Bisping made his name in UFC by winning season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter as a light heavyweight. He went on to win his next three UFC fights, including a controversial split decision win over Matt Hamill at UFC 75. He picked up his first UFC loss at UFC 78 against fellow Ultimate Fighter winner Rashad Evans in a split decision. Bisping subsequently moved to middleweight and is 6-2 ever since.

Rivera is in his 10th year as an MMA fighter and is a year away from turning 40. He has been fighting in UFC matches since UFC 44 on Sept. 26, 2003. He owns a 19-7-0 record and has won three straight going into his match with Bisping.

Rivera is known for his heavy hands, which is something Bisping has somewhat struggled with. But, Bisping is widely considered to be the better fighter as he is consistently on the main event while Rivera barely makes the main card most of the time.

This is one of the more anticipated matches thanks to the verbal sparring they have done in the months leading up to the fight. Bisping has expressed that he was hoping for a more high-profile opponent and that he’s “going to get battered” at UFC 127. Rivera has posted videos on YouTube that make fun of Bisping’s British accent, MMA record, background, and many other things.

Jones is a -325 moneyline favorite in UFC betting Odds.

These fighters have each had just 12 fights in their careers, but they have already made a lot of noise in the UFC. Jon Jones is 11-1 overall with a 5-1 record in the UFC. Ryan Bader is undefeated with a 12-0 record and is 5-0 in the UFC.

Bader was made famous through his performance on “The Ultimate Fighter 8.” He was the winner of the program and has since looked like he could beat just about anyone in the sport. His most recent fight was against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. This fight went to decision, but he came out on top and remained undefeated.

Jones last fought in August and looked great in his victory over Vladimir Matyushenko. He ended the fight in less than 2 minutes in a dominating performance. He has now won 2 fights in a row. The only loss of his career came by way of disqualification against Matt Hamill.

This could be the most exciting fight of the UFC event. Neither fighter has shown much weakness in their professional careers. A win in this fight will be huge in advancing their respective careers towards the top of the sport.

Hardy and Johnson have verbally agreed to the bout claims MMA Fighting, which is being lined up as a co-main event for Ultimate Fight Night 24. To headline the event, a light-heavyweight battle between Tito Ortiz and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is expected.

After success on the British fight circuit, Hardy joined the UFC in 2008. With four consecutive wins, he opened his UFC career. To earn a title shot with champion Georges St-Pierre, his victories include over Mike Swick and Marcus Davis. In the March title fight, Hardy suffered a lopsided unanimous-decision loss and he then returned in October and suffered a first-round knockout to Carlos Condit.

Hardy will look to end the skid against Johnson. Since November 2009, Johnson will fight for the first time after suffering a knee injury that promoted a lengthy recovery time. Johnson was scheduled to return March of this year but injury kept him at bay. He has been out of action all of 2010. With a submission loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 106, recently, his three-fight win streak that included KO wins over Kevin Burns, Luigi Fioravanti and Yoshiyuki Yoshida came to an end. coming off back-to-back losses to Georges St. Pierre and Carlos Condit, Hardy himself has had a string of bad luck.

Of the UFC Fight Night 24 event in Seattle, the welterweight bout would probably serve as the co-headliner. With someone undoubtedly being knocked out cold, this will be an awesome fight. No other outcome can be predicted apart from the fact that neither fighter loves to go to the ground nor both men will give up the bout easily.

St-Pierre has been dominant for years, but he hit a rough patch a few years ago. He lost his welterweight title belt and had to work to get it back. One his path to win back his belt he came across Josh Koscheck. These two fought and the match came down to a unanimous decision in favor of St-Pierre.

A lot of time has passed since that fight and these fighters are both better than ever. St-Pierre seems to improve in every aspect of his game. He is fast and powerful on his feet and he also has a ground game that rivals the best in his weight class.

Josh Koscheck is the number one contender and will have a lot on his plate while fighting “GSP” (Georges St-Pierre). However, he is a much better fighter than he was the last time these two squared off. Previously he was only known for his ground game and wrestling style. He has improved his game and he has become a great standup fighter and a tough striker. While he does have some room for improvement, he has all of the tools to take on the best in the game.

These fighters will be on the Main Card and should catch the attention of all of the MMA fans out there.

“It’s time,” White said during a conference call. “As we continue to grow globally, we’re doing enough fights to fold [the WEC] into the UFC.”

All WEC talent will be retained, White said. WEC featherweight titleholder Jose Aldo will be the new UFC featherweight champion, and the same will go for the winner of Dominick Cruz’s title defense against Scott Jorgensen at the promotion’s final event, WEC 53, in December.

But what about the WEC lightweights? The UFC already has its own 155-pound title and a lot of good fighters in that division. White said he intends to fold all the WEC lightweights into the UFC, unifying the two belts with a miniature tournament.

Additionally, White announced that the UFC just penned a new contract with Versus to air four events on the network in 2011. While technically that doubles the number of UFC shows from 2010, the loss of several WEC events on Versus actually decreases the total number of Zuffa-owned shows airing on the network.

“It’s a positive. We get [more] UFC on Versus,” White said. “If you ask Versus, they were happy with the WEC’s ratings, but the UFC is going to pull bigger ratings.”

Job security is not exclusive to the WEC’s fighters, White said, as other WEC employees will keep their jobs.

After losing in the first round of his UFC debut, Lesnar won his next four fights and has become the star of the organization. The former WWE wrestler became the UFC Heavyweight Champion in November of 2008 when he defeated Randy Couture at UFC 91. He defended the title eight months later at UFC 100 when he beat Frank Mir. He took a break from fighting after UFC 100 when he was diagnosed with mononucleosis.

Lesnar returned from a year-long layoff to defend the heavyweight championship against Shane Carwin at UFC 116 in July. He defeated Carwin with an arm triangle choke in the second round. The choke would earn him submission of the night.

Velasquez comes into the fight with a perfect 8-0 record. He has won all six of his UFC bouts since debuting for the organization in April of 2008. He earned his spot in the heavyweight championship bout by beating Antonio Rodrigo in February at UFC 110.

Velasquez was a two-time All-American wrestler at Arizona State. He is young and fast and is a very skilled striker. He also has the endurance to remain active for multiple rounds.

Odds makers in UFC betting arena have pegged Lesnar as the favorite. He is listed at around -160 and Velasquez is at +130.

Many people were looking forward to the rematch between Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera, but will have to settle for Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic instead. Cro cop has had ups and downs over the years, but he has been on a positive stretch as of late that could be beneficial in his fight.

Three years ago it appeared that Cro Cop was on his way out, but he has really bounced back recently, winning 5 of his last 6 fights. He has been stronger recently, but he still seems to have some issues with confidence. He has been fighting for many years and has the technique to beat anyone if the situation is right. Cro cop will definitely have a shot to win this one, and it will all lie in his legs. He has a powerful kicking game and may be able to take Mir off balance with it.

Mir has been as good as anyone at points over the last few years. Unfortunately he has not been able to sustain it. Mir had beaten Brock Lesnar previously, but lost in their rematch. He has since lost again to Shane Carwin and is starting to look more like a second tier fighter. A loss in this one would be detrimental to his career.

This fight should be a good one as each fighter has something to prove.