(The Nogueira brothers: Like lookin’ in a mirror.)

Lots of MMA action this weekend and we’re not just talking about UFC: 81 Breaking Point. Let’s start with tonight.

Hardcore Championship Fighting: Destiny
Tonight’s event features Antonio Rogerio Nogueira against Todd Gouwenberg, a 7-2 journeyman who is riding a four fight win streak. The event will air on The Score, a not-so-high-profile Canadian sports network. Should be an adjustment for “Little Nog” since he’s been used to fighting under some pretty bright lights. The Western Canadian organization is fighting for recognition and Rogerio was a great score, but someone like Gouwenberg is not the type of talent he should have to step down to fight. Also on the HCF card are some other fighters you’ll recognize – and some you’ve never heard of:

-Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos v Gegard Mousasi
-Thomas Schulte v Garett Davis
-David Loiseau v Jason Day
-Brendan Seguin v Derrick Noble
-Damir Mirenic v Mike Pyle
-Andrew Buckland v Dan Chambers
-Myles Merola v Ariel Sexton
-Tim Hague v Miodrag Petkovic
-Nabil Khatib v Lucas Rota
-Fabian Cortez v Juan Barrantes

BodogFIGHT: Nick Thompson vs. John Troyer
The main event tonight will feature Nick “The Goat” Thompson vs. John Troyer, hence the title. This one goes down in Vegas and will see Troyer in the biggest fight of his young career. This welterweight title fight is also notable because it will apparently be The Goat’s last bout for BodogFIGHT. Losing a character like Nick Thompson will certainly be a blow to Bodog, especially for an organization that is already hurting for fans.

The card for BodogFIGHT- which also features four chicks and a four man tournament:

-John Troyer v Nick Thompson
-Kaitlin Young v Sara Schneider
-Chad George v Rick Screeton
-Lynn Alvarez v Angela Magana
-Ryan Murray v Bryan Humes
-Aaron Michel Simpson v Scott Dingman
-Seth Baczynski (tournament)
-Chris Kennedy (tournament)
-Waachim Spiritwolf (tournament)
-Demarques Johnson (tournament)

Now on to Saturday…

Cage Rage Contenders 8
This one will go down in London and will feature a total of fifteen fights. CRC pretty much happens every Saturday night in the U.K., so the fight card is filled with up-and-comers, and occasional names who are on the comeback or just washed-up. The card isn’t worth printing here, but if you want to check it out, go here.

K-1 World Max
Tokyo. If you’re into the K-1 thing, this one features an eight-man tournament, two super fights and one reserve fight.

Coupled with UFC 81 and this past Wednesday’s Pancrase Shining 1 show – also in Tokyo – it’s quite a week for fight fans. Soak it in.

Reults from the Pancrase show:

-Seiya Kawahara over Yuki Yamasawa via KO (1st Round – 0:28)
-Sotaro Yamada over Kiichi Kunimoto via Rear Naked Choke (1st Round – 1:42)
-Windy Tomomi over Emi Tomimatsu via TKO (2nd Round – 3:00)
-Wataru Takahashi over Daisuke Hanazawa – Draw
-Shinsuke Shoji over Yuichi Ikari – Draw
-Alavutdin Gadzhiyev over Yuji Hisamatsu via KO (1st Round – 0:41)
-Shoji Shoji over Artur Oumakhanov via KO (2nd Round – 0:21)
-Katsuya Inoue over Satoru Kitaoka via Split Decision