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CHICAGO - Clearly hungry for a UFC event, Chicago fans today packed The Chicago Theatre for today's UFC on FOX 2 fighter weigh-ins. Before a massive crowd that eventually spilled over to the historic venue's balcony, all 20 fighters successfully made weight for the show, which takes place Saturday at the city's sold-out United Center. Check out images of all the competitors as they hit scale for the nationally televised event.

If fans were dissatisfied with the UFC‘s decision to employ a one-fight card for its historic debut on FOX, they should be far more appeased the second time around, as the world’s MMA leader is staying true to its promise of delivering “PPV caliber” cards on network television, with a hat-trick of mouth-watering bouts. Both the headlining fight and the co-main event bear direct title implications, as Rashad Evans bids to cement his status as the number one contender for the light heavyweight championship for the umpteenth time, while Chael Sonnen defends his fake middleweight title against Michael Bisping for a shot at the division’s real kingpin. Meanwhile, a very tricky battle awaits Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace Demian Maia when he locks horns with one of the sport’s brightest prospects in Chris Weidman.

Preliminary Predictions:

* Chris Camozzi to defeat Dustin Jacoby by Decision * Joey Beltran to defeat Lavar Johnson by Decision * Shane Roller to defeat Michael Johnson by Decision * Charles Oliveira to defeat Eric Wisely by Submission in Round 1 * George Roop to defeat Cub Swanson by Decision * Mike Russow to defeat Jon-Olav Einemo by TKO in Round 2 * Evan Dunham to defeat Nik Lentz by Decision

Main Card Predictions:

Middleweight Fight: Demian Maia vs. Chris Weidman

One of the most promising rising fighters in the sport, Weidman’s transition from wrestling to MMA has been as seamless as he could have hoped. Like other fellow wrestlers-turned-martial artists, Weidman has been able to pick up the grappling aspect of the game with remarkable ease. His last two bouts showed the kind of submission grappler he’s developed into, as Weidman displayed a very diverse top game. Constantly looking to improve position while simultaneously punishing his opponent with ground-and-pound, the former “All-American” is far from being single-minded in his approach from the top. His guard-passing is extremely fluid, and is rendered even easier with an onslaught of punches and elbows. Where Weidman shines the most however, is when he is able to secure front headlock control, where he possesses quite an arsenal of submissions.

Interestingly, this could all prove irrelevant against Maia, whose BJJ wizardry could well negate Weidman’s grappling — that is of course, if Weidman decides to shoot on his opponent to begin with. After all, Maia’s bottom game is about as good as it gets in the middleweight division. In fact, the Brazilian is one of the few fighters in the sport who can still afford to use an open guard, as his triangles and vast arsenal of sweeps are a handful for any opponent to handle. Even if Weidman is confident in his ability to survive inside Maia’s guard, he is unlikely to find much joy in doing anything noteworthy from the top.

For his part, Maia will undoubtedly look to close the distance, get the clinch and work for the takedown. Maia’s takedowns from the clinch are extremely underrated, but putting Weidman on his back is a tall order. If he is able to do it, even for a brief moment, he could make inroads, as Maia is an expert at taking advantage of his opponent’s eagerness to regain his feet and use it to take the back, where he is incredibly difficult to shake off. When that fails however, Maia often likes to transition from single leg attempts to pulling guard in order to take the fight to his element; though just how much offense he can produce from the bottom remains to be seen.

Maia’s main flaw is his blatantly unpolished striking, highlighted by some extremely wild boxing. He will often rely on throwing a sloppy left cross and leaves himself vulnerable to getting countered in the process. Conversely, Weidman’s striking is a little raw as well, but he has shown some mild — but potentially crucial — improvements. His kicks have come along nicely, and he will be content to stay on the outside and chomp on Maia’s legs. When moving forward, he’s also capable of putting together combinations and dirty box from close-quarters.

It is a difficult test for the Matt Serra protege to take on such short notice, but this isn’t a match-up where he risks getting beat up. However, it is not a match-up where he is likely to look too good either, as his main strengths are negated by Maia’s. We could well be looking at a controversial decision in this one, as Weidman may enjoy some time on top, but his opponent will likely be doing most of the work. On the other hand, Maia’s takedowns from the clinch, sweeps, and scrambles could see him through.

Official Prediction: Demian Maia to defeat Chris Weidman by Decision

Middleweight Fight: Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping

Fresh off his long awaited Octagon return where he made short work of Brian Stann, Sonnen squares off with Bisping for a shot at Anderson Silva‘s middleweight title. After initially being scheduled to take on a wrestling oriented fighter in Mark Munoz, Sonnen is actually facing an easier stylistic match-up here.

Despite his rightful reliance on his wrestling, Sonnen is much improved as an overall MMA fighter. His striking has become quite solid, highlighted by a surprisingly quick left cross. Additionally, Sonnen has always possessed a very good chin and has never been stopped with strikes, which allows him to aggressively move forward, eat some shots, but get the takedown anyway. This is made even easier by Sonnen’s speed, explosiveness, and ability to cover an usual amount of distance with his shot. Even when shooting for a power double from seemingly outside of the proper range, Sonnen’s quick first step allows him to catch opponents by surprise and get the takedown. Shooting for power doubles isn’t all the Oregon loudmouth can do, as if he decides to close the distance, Sonnen is an absolute terror in the clinch, where he can rough up his opponent with dirty boxing, get underhooks, and put him on his back.

For his part, Bisping will be the superior striker, despite some obvious flaws in his stand-up. He is constantly guilty of circling to his opponent’s power hand, and more worryingly as far as this bout is concerned, backpedaling right into the fence when pressed. Instead of circling out and resetting, Bisping digs himself a hole by allowing his opponent to have him pinned against the cage. Given that Sonnen will be looking to rush him at any given chance and put him on the back-foot, this could spell trouble for “The Count.” Bisping will look to get on the bicycle, land some jabs, throw plenty of body kicks, and mix them up with some combinations. He does well to set up the high kick, but he lacks the power to really use it to clobber an opponent. His right cross is his best punch, and to his credit, he rarely throws it as a single strike with little set-up.

The real issue for Bisping is that he doesn’t quite possess a puncher’s chance in this one, in the sense that he was never a one-punch knockout artist, and Sonnen’s chin has historically held up very well. When the Brit has managed to put his opponent away, he did it with a barrage of strikes from up close. Against Sonnen, this is a tough proposition, as he could easily change levels and shoot or clinch up every time Bisping is within that range.

The most underrated aspect of Bisping’s game is his ability to escape from the bottom. He possesses surprisingly dynamic hips, is good in the scrambles, and is especially savvy when it comes to getting back to his feet. This will be crucial, as he is almost certainly going to end up on his back in this fight, perhaps repeatedly. Sonnen however, has a suffocating top game that makes life very difficult for his foes. He is absolutely relentless, is constantly pounding to the head and body from inside the guard, and if his recent bout with Stann is any indication, is developing solid submission grappling to complement his punishing ground-and-pound. In that regard, Sonnen has definitely improved his guard-passing technique, which adds another dimension to an already authoritative top game.

Of course, Sonnen’s Achilles heel has long been his submission defense. He tends to leave his neck exposed when shooting in, is prone to getting caught in a guillotine, and has been submitted from the bottom on numerous occasions; mainly with triangles. However, Bisping has never been a significant submission threat, and the short notice nature of the fight means he didn’t have the necessary time to focus on working submissions from the bottom.

Look for Sonnen to do what he does best (no, not trolling), and dominate Bisping on his way to a decision.

Official Prediction: Chael Sonnen to defeat Michael Bisping by Decision

Make sure to check back tomorrow for my breakdown of the main event between Evans and Phil Davis…

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

As a reminder, "UFC Primetime" returns tonight in anticipation of UFC 143's highly anticipated interim championship main event. former Strikeforce champ Nick Diaz and former WEC titleholder Carlos Condit, who headline February's UFC 143 event. Episode No. 2 of the series debuts tonight at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT on FX. The final episode airs next week.

Welcome back to another edition of “MMA Link Club”, Five Ounces of Pain‘s weekly smorgasbord of offerings from our brothers and sisters in the MMA community. Enjoy…

Rashad Evans Thinks Phil Davis Lacks “Killer Instinct” (5thRound.com)

Dana White Goes to War with Hackers and Loses (MMAPayout.com)

Alistair Overeem Added to UFC Undisputed 3 Roster (MMAMania.com)

WWE Champion CM Punk Talks Brock Lesnar, Chael Sonnen, and More (MMAFighting.com)

Shane Roller Talks UFC on FOX 2 Fight Against Michael Johnson (Fightline.com)

Is Sports Media Going After the UFC? (FightOpinion.com)

A Betting Guide to UFC on FOX 2 (TheFightNerd.com)

Is Evans a Better Wrestler than Davis? (BleacherReport.com)

Arianny Celeste Looking Hot (CagePotato.com)

A Look Behind the Scenes at Golden Glory Gym (LowKick.com)

Highlights from the UFC on FOX 2 Presser (MMAConvert.com)

Jeff Monson Talks American Economics (MiddleEasy.com)

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Weigh-in Video: UFC on Fox 2

Rashad Evans’ long road back to a light heavyweight title shot reaches the doorstep of Phil Davis in a little more than 24 hours.

Sherdog.com Administrative Editor Jordan Breen will host his weekly pre-fight chat at 1 p.m. ET

Watch the UFC on Fox weigh-ins, including Norway’s own John-Olav Einemo. See “The Viking” step on the scales for the second time as he gets ready to try and upset the favorite Mike Russow.

The UFC’s first official show on FOX since their long-term agreement started in 2012 will look to build on the success of the tantalizing tease fans were offered last November when Cain Velasquez lost his title to Junior dos Santos. However, this time around the world’s foremost MMA promotion is back with a stacked card including a tripleheader of talent-laden tilts in the form of Demian Maia-Chris Weidman, Chael Sonnen-Michael Bisping, and Rashad Evans-Phil Davis.

The entire lot of competitors slated for action on Saturday night will take to the stage today in hopes of hitting their weight-related marks to make the evening’s match-ups official.

As always, Five Ounces of Pain will be tuned in throughout and relaying live results as they unfold. Things start up at 5:00 PM EST.

Here is a full list of UFC on FOX 2 weights:

Chris Camozzi ( lbs) vs. Dustin Jacoby ( lbs) Shane Roller ( lbs) vs. Michael Johnson ( lbs) Charles Oliveira ( lbs) vs. Eric Wisely ( lbs) George Roop ( lbs) vs. Cub Swanson ( lbs) Joey Beltran ( lbs) vs. Lavar Johnson ( lbs) John Olav Einemo ( lbs) vs. Mike Russow ( lbs) Evan Dunham ( lbs) vs. Nik Lentz ( lbs) Demian Maia ( lbs) vs. Chris Weidman ( lbs) Chael Sonnen ( lbs) vs. Michael Bisping ( lbs) Rashad Evans ( lbs) vs. Phil Davis ( lbs)

“I’m changing my game,” said Roger Gracie this Friday behind the scenes at the 2012 European Championship, the welcoming Jiu-Jitsu tournament going on in Lisbon, Portugal, until Sunday.

“For my whole career as a black belt I got used to starting out slow and calm in my matches. I never felt the need to go all out against my opponents during the first two minutes, since a match lasts ten. I always started out slow and brought up the rhythm progressively, hitting max intensity towards the end. However, ever since losing in MMA [to Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal by knockout at Strikeforce in September 2011] it dawned on me; if I don’t change my way of fighting, I’ll lose again,” said the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil-London, England transplant.

The Gracie gave hints that he won’t be able to be an “explosive MMA fighter” so long as he remains a, shall we say, “excessively calm” Jiu-Jitsu competitor. The essence [Jiu-Jitsu] is what dictates the rules for all the other facets of Roger Gracie, even when he steps into the ring sporting gloves and trunks.

IN THE NAME OF THE SON AND JIU-JITSU

The Gracie gets emotional (teary eyed) as he remembers the moment he first caught sight of his son after his fight with “King Mo”. “I don’t want to ever feel like that again; my son is the most important thing to me, and I want to be the best example possible for him; so I can’t let myself go home defeated,” said Roger.

“So I’m focused on my MMA career now. I believe that, in the gi, this year I’ll only compete at the Worlds. That’s why I didn’t sign up for the European. I’d really like to compete at a high-level championship but my priority right now is MMA training. That was the big career lesson I learned from losing: I have to be more determined, enter the fight at a more intense pace. In Jiu-Jitsu, I often get taken down early on, but I have around eight minutes to recover, which is plenty of time. In MMA, one punch or a knee can end the fight instantly; there’s no time to recover from a knockout.”

Through the bustle of attending to the fans, students and friends surrounding him, Roger took the reporter’s question pertaining to the absolute black belt title in Lisbon: In the end, who’s going to be the big winner of the 2012 European Championship.

“Well, Rodolfo Vieira is the favorite, there’s no denying it. He’s been coming up with great results. But everyone has a chance. I got to see Lagarto training up close, for instance, and he’s in excellent form. But if what you’re asking is that I point out the favorite, there’s no denying it’s Rodolfo.”

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If the participants in the Sherdog.com MMA Pick’Em fantasy game are to be believed, then Rashad Evans will most definitely have his day against Jon Jones. A solid 76 percent of players have sided with Evans against Phil Davis in the UFC on Fox 2 main event on Saturday at the United Center in Chicago. Evans beat Forrest Griffin for the light heavyweight championship in 2008 but lost the belt in his first defense to Lyoto Machida at UFC 98. Since then, “Suga” has picked up wins over Thiago Silva, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Tito Ortiz. Twice tabbed as the division’s No. 1 contender, injuries have halted the Imperial Athletics representative’s title hopes until now, as a victory over Davis would give Evans his long-awaited showdown with Jones, the current 205-pound king.

Weigh-ins for next month's highly anticipated "UFC 143: Condit vs. Diaz" event take place Friday, Feb. 3, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The same venue hosts the following night's pay-per-view event, which features Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz squaring off with the UFC's vacant interim welterweight title on the line. As with all UFC weigh-ins, the event is free to attend and open to the public.

MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan today joins 1620 The Zone - ESPN Radio's affiliate in Omaha, Neb. Morgan joins "Unsportsmanlike Conduct" hosts Kevin and Mike'L at approximately 4:45 p.m. ET (3:45 p.m. CT local time) to discuss tomorrow's UFC on FOX 2 event, as well as the latest happenings in the world of MMA. A free stream of the show is available at www.1620thezone.com.

Fight week!

That means it's blog week, too, and UFC President Dana White has released his second video for your viewing pleasure. This one is fairly straight forward. White shows up at a local news station to promote the UFC on Fox 2 event he's in town for going down this Sat., Jan. 28, 2012, at the United Center in Chicago.

Then it's off to the press conference, where everyone is late and acting goofy. Of course they make sure to cut in Chael Sonnen's silly antics before showing the staredowns.

And that's all she wrote ... for now. Weigh-ins still to follow, folks. Follow along with that live right here. To watch episode one of Dana White's UFC on FOX 2 video blog click here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Watch the UFC on FOX: Evans vs. Davis weigh-ins live right here today (Jan. 27, 2012) starting at 5pm EST (2pm PST) as all twenty competitors prepare to hit the scales at the United Center in Chicago, Ill. The event takes place on Saturday (Jan. 28) at the same venue with one bout streaming live on Facebook, six prelim matches will air on FUEL TV, and the three bout main card airing live on FOX.

Weigh-ins for tomorrow’s UFC on Fox 2 event take place today in Chicago, where light heavyweight headliners Rashad Evans and Phil Davis, middleweight contenders Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping, and the rest of the card will weigh-in to make their fights official.

MMAFrenzy.com will have UFC on Fox 2 weigh-in results below after the fighters hit the scale at 5pm ET.

MAIN CARD (Fox)

• Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis
• Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping
• Demian Maia vs. Chris Weidman

PRELIMINARY CARD (Fuel TV)

• Evan Dunham vs. Nik Lentz
• Mike Russow vs. John-Olav Einemo
• George Roop vs. Cub Swanson
• Charles Oliveira vs. Eric Wisely
• Michael Johnson vs. Shane Roller
• Joey Beltran vs. Lavar Johnson
• Chris Camozzi vs. Dustin Jacoby (Facebook)

Pictured: Rashad Evans and Phil Davis

Sherdog.com Administrative Editor Jordan Breen will host his weekly pre-fight chat at 1 p.m. ET

Why are MMA fans so cranky? Yep, it's that time of the month again.

Rankings!

Our partners in crime over at BloodyElbow.com have once again published their divisional rankings for mixed martial arts in the nation’s largest daily newspaper, USA Today, for the month of January 2012.

For those of you unfamiliar with the process, here’s how it works:

"The rankings, which will offer a definitive perspective of top MMA fighters across all weight-classes, will be released monthly and published in the Sports section of USA TODAY, online at USATODAY.com and on SB Nation’s MMA commentary and community blog, BloodyElbow.com … The USA TODAY/MMA Nation Consensus MMA Rankings are compiled each month by Nate Wilcox and Richard Wade of BloodyElbow.com. The rankings utilize each of the top MMA rankings from multiple unique sources. A weighted-formula is applied to normalize and distill the various rankings into one consensus ranking per weight class."

To check out the latest USAT/MMA Nation rankings click here. We’ve also listed their top 10 in each class after the jump for your convenience.

Heavyweight:

1. Junior dos Santos 2. Cain Velasquez 3. Alistair Overeem 4. Frank Mir 5. Fabricio Werdum 6. Shane Carwin 7. Daniel Cormier 8. Josh Barnett 9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 10. Antonio Silva

Light heavyweight:

1. Jon Jones 2. Dan Henderson 3. Rashad Evans 4. Mauricio Rua 5. Quinton Jackson 6. Lyoto Machida 7. Phil Davis 8. Forrest Griffin 9. Alexander Gustafsson 10. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Middleweight:

1. Anderson Silva 2. Chael Sonnen 3. Yushin Okami 4. Mark Munoz 5. Vitor Belfort 6. Demian Maia 7. Michael Bisping 8. Luke Rockhold 9. Brian Stann 10. Nate Marquardt

Welterweight:

1. Georges St. Pierre 2. Nick Diaz 3. Jake Ellenberger 4. Carlos Condit 5. Johny Hendricks 6. Josh Koscheck 7. Jon Fitch 8. Jake Shields 9. B.J. Penn 10. Martin Kampmann

Lightweight:

1. Frankie Edgar 2. Gilbert Melendez 3. Gray Maynard 4. Ben Henderson 5. Shinya Aoki 6. Jim Miller 7. Clay Guida 8. Nate Diaz 9. Michael Chandler 10. Anthony Pettis

Featherweight:

1. Jose Aldo 2. Hatsu Hioki 3. Chad Mendes 4. Pat Curran 5. Marlon Sandro 6. Diego Nunes 7. Dustin Poirier 8. Erik Koch 9. Chan Sung Jung 10. Kenny Florian

Bantamweight:

1. Dominick Cruz 2. Urijah Faber 3. Joseph Benavidez 4. Brian Bowles 5. Scott Jorgensen 6. Demetrious Johnson 7. Renan Barao 8. Miguel Torres 9. Bibiano Fernandes 10. Masakatsu Ueda

What do you think? Looking good on all fronts or are there a few issues with the consensus opinions here?

Share your ranking rants in the comments section below.

CHICAGO - MMAjunkie.com was on scene and reporting live from today's UFC on FOX 2 official fighter weigh-ins, where all 20 event competitors successfully made weight for Saturday's event. Today's festivities took place at The Chicago Theatre, and a vocal crowd made their presence known as event headliners Rashad Evans (205) and Phil Davis (205) hit the scale. Co-headliners Michael Bisping (185) and Chael Sonnen (185) also received vocal welcomes before standing forehead-to-forehead and engaging in a little last-minute trashtalk.