Feb 23, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Ronda Rousey (black shorts) and Liz Carmouche (white shorts) fight during their UFC women

title. While many, including UFC President Dana White, were against women in the UFC, these two women delivered big time Saturday. Rousey and Carmouche had said prior to the event that they were going to make fans believe that women belonged in the UFC and the two fighters did not disappoint. We nearly saw the biggest upset of the year when Carmouche transitioned quickly from being nearly mounted to attempting a neck crank on the champion. Rousey was able to shake the challenger off her back and, 4:27 into the first round, was able to secure her signature arm bar to end the bout. The win is Rousey’s first title defense in the UFC and sets her up for a possible rematch with Miesha Tate or a fight with Cat Zingano. In a post fight interview both fighters shared their view of Rousey’s fight.

Lyoto Machida was able to get one step closer to a rematch with Jon Jones after defeating Dan Henderson via split decision. The bout was rather lackluster with Hendo having trouble getting inside of the elusive Machida, but Machida rarely attacked the 42-year-old former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion. This puts Henderson in an awkward position after losing out on possibly his last chance at UFC gold. He could continue to take interesting fights like a rematch with Shogun Rua, but may have lost his final chance to become UFC champion.

Urijah Faber was able to get back to his winning ways after defeating Ivan Menjivar in a bantamweight bout. This was Faber’s first fight since his interim title loss to Renan Barao. Since losing his WEC title, Faber has gone 6-5 with all five losses in title fights. The California Kid may have one more title shot left, but will need to string a couple wins together to earn that shot.

The UFC 157 Bonuses went to Dennis Bermudez and Matt Grice for Fight of the Night, Robbie Lawler for Knockout of the Night and Kenny Robertson earned $50,000 for Submission of the Night with his knee bar over Brock Jardine in the Facebook prelims.

It was a big week for the UFC. Former welterweight champion Matt Hughes officially announced his retirement (and was given a front office job), The Ultimate Fighter premiered for its 17th season and the UFC 158 press conference took place where Nick Diaz actually showed up. After all these things that took place there is still one more event to happen. The first UFC on Fox event of the year will take place and fans were given a stacked first card of the year. Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson will take on John Dodson for the title, a grudge match between Donald Cerrone and Anthony Pettis will take place for the possibility of being called the No. 1 contender and it looks like it will feature Rampage Jackson’s final UFC fight.

Demetrious Johnson vs. John Dodson

Speed, speed and more speed. That’s what this fight is going to feature when these two fighters step into the cage. Johnson utilized his speed advantage in his fights with Ian McCall and Joseph Benavidez, but in the fight with Dodson he may be facing a fighter that can match his speed. The other advantage Johnson may have is in his footwork and takedowns. He is very disciplined in his footwork getting in and out while landing a shot, but avoiding taking damage. Dodson will need to utilize his power advantage in this fight and if he can match Johnson’s speed this could set him up for a big day. He has the power to knockout bantamweights and has continued to show his power in the flyweight division with a knockout win over Jussier Formiga. This is a battle of power vs. speed and whoever has the bigger advantage in these categories will take the belt.

Rampage Jackson vs. Glover Teixeira

Rampage steps into the octagon for the final time after what has been a shaky relationship with the UFC brass the year. He will be taking on Glover Teixeira, a fighter that has been hyped up as the next big thing since entering the UFC. In this fight we will either see vintage Rampage who can win via knockout or we see the fighter that showed up against Ryan Bader and lost a lackluster decision. This fight will also gauge how talented Teixeira is. If he defeats Jackson in impressive fashion, it could set him up for a huge next fight, but I’m not ready to crown him the foil of Jon Jones yet.

Anthony Pettis vs. Donald Cerrone

This is a grudge match that has long been in the making, but injuries have pushed the fight back until now. Pettis is an extremely athletic fighter, but has sured up the other holes in his game such as takedown defense. We’ve seen Pettis throw vicious head kicks in his fights with Benson Henderson and Joe Lauzon, but now that he is a more well rounded fighter looking for another shot at Henderson. Cerrone has also taken huge strides forward since entering the UFC. He is 6-1 since entering the UFC with a loss to Nate Diaz his only blemish. Cerrone won in impressive fashion against Melvin Guillard in his last fight, but did get clipped a few times. If he can sure up the striking defense in this fight, it’s as close to a toss up fight as any we’ve seen.

UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Dodson

Main Card:

Demetrious Johnson vs. John Dodson

Rampage Jackson vs. Glover Teixeira

Anthony Pettis vs. Donald Cerrone

Erik Koch vs. Ricardo Lamas

FX Prelims:

TJ Grant vs. Matt Wiman

Clay Guida vs. Hatsu Hioki

Mike Stumpf vs. Pascal Krauss

Ryan Bader vs. Vladimir Matyushenko

Mike Russow vs. Shawn Jordan

Rafael Natal vs. Sean Spencer

Facebook Prelims:

Simeon Thoreson vs. David Mitchell

Saturday features the first UFC event of 2013 and a main event that features an opportunity to fight against Anderson Silva for the middleweight title. Michael Bisping will take on Vitor Belfort in the main event and, while we have come to expect trash talk from Bisping, the brash Brit has taken it to a new level prior to his fight with Belfort.

For Bisping this fight is all about putting his money where his mouth is. He has been outspoken throughout his career about not having an opportunity to face Silva, but over the last year Bisping has started to put things together and take a step forward in his career. In his first fight this year, one that was a huge step up in competition, Bisping took on Chael Sonnen and, although he lost, he impressed us with his performance. He was able to stuff some of Sonnen’s takedowns and even get up off his back. His next fight took place against Brian Stann, a fight that Bisping was able to win by utilizing a wrestling game that he has added to his arsenal, which earned him a No. 1 contender bout with Belfort.

Saturday’s fight against Bisping is a story of redemption for Belfort. It has been covered before, but it must be repeated, that Belfort is a fighter that never lived up to “the Phenom” label that has been given to him. He nearly changed all that when he took on Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title and nearly defeated the champion with a first round arm bar. Belfort ended up losing that fight, however, he should have some added confidence for hanging with the champion after taking the fight on short notice.

The keys to victory for each fighter are simple. Bisping would like to utilize his technical skills and possibly some takedowns to earn a decision win. Belfort will attempt to use his explosiveness and big knockout power to earn a quick victory. The cardio of Belfort has always been questioned, even by Bisping prior to the fight, and Belfort needs to prove he can go five rounds without fading in the fight. Bisping, on the other hand, has never had cardio issues, but although it has not been a suspect chin, it is not the strongest and he has been caught before by Wanderlei Silva and most notably Dan Henderson.

The card fills out as such:

Main Card on FX:

Vitor Belfort vs. Michael Bisping

Daniel Sarafian vs. CB Dolloway

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Ben Rothwell

Thiago Tavares vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Fuel TV Prelims:

Godofredo Pepey vs. Milton Vieira

Ronny Markes vs. Andrew Craig

Diego Nunes vs. Nik Lentz

Edson Barboza vs. Lucas Martins

Yuri Alcantara vs. Pedro Nobre

Wagner Prado vs. Ildemar Alcantara

Facebook Prelims:

Francisco Trinaldo vs. CJ Keith