By Adam Martin

UFC Fight Night 30: Machida vs. Munoz is really flying under the radar as an overall card (thanks in no small part to the truly epic evening that was UFC 166), but if you take a closer look at it, there are actually quite a few intriguing matchups with important questions to answer.

I’ve combed the card up and down and I’ve come up with four hidden storylines that viewers should be aware of going into UFC Fight Night 30. Let me know what you think in the comments section, and be sure to come back to CagePotato on Saturday for our liveblog of the broadcast.

1) Can Lyoto Machida Make a Run at the Middleweight Title?

The most important question that UFC Fight Night 30 will answer, in my opinion, is whether or not Lyoto Machida is going to make a run for the UFC middleweight title. The former light heavyweight champion dropped down to 185 pounds after a controversial decision loss to Phil Davis at UFC 163 and now faces Mark Munoz in Saturday’s main event.

With a win over Munoz, one of the top 10 fighters in the division, Machida will instantly prove that he has what it takes to make a run for the belt at 185 pounds and become just the third fighter in UFC history to win titles in two separate weight classes (the other two fighters who have accomplished this feat being Randy Couture and BJ Penn).

(Michael “Winky” Bisping | Photo via @ArielHelwani)

Michael Bisping has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled October 26th UFC Fight Night 30 main event bout against Mark Munoz because of a detached retina. Bleacher Report‘s Damon Martin has the story.

“Bisping first dealt with the injury earlier this year after his win over Alan Belcher at UFC 159 in April.

The belief was that the eye was healed and ready to go, but another setback happened to Bisping during training, while getting ready for Munoz, and he was forced to visit his doctor again where he was given the diagnosis.

According to Bisping’s management team at Paradigm Sports Management, who spoke to Bleacher Report on Friday evening, the British fighter already had the necessary corrective eye surgery on Thursday and will now begin his rest and rehabilitation.

Bisping is expected to have no contact whatsoever on the eye for the approximately the next three months, and then they hope he can return to full sparring and a fight in four to six months.

The timelines are obviously estimates based on the surgery and typical recovery time, but Bisping could potentially return sooner or later depending on how he heals up.”

Lyoto Machida, who was set to face Tim Kennedy less than two weeks after UFC Fight Night, at Fight for the Troops 3 on November 6th, has been tabbed to replace Bisping against Munoz. Kennedy is now left without an opponent, and has been doing his best on twitter to find a new one.

First, Kennedy, called out former middleweight champion Rich Franklin:

(…and be sure to stay tuned after the fights for the premiere of Bisping’s gritty new crime drama, Two Blokes and a Wanker. / Photo via @bisping)

The rumors were halfway true: Yes, UFC middleweights Michael Bisping and Mark Munoz will face off in the main event of the promotion’s return to Manchester, England, on October 26th. The UFC confirmed the booking on Saturday, although no other matchups have been officially announced for the card.

Here’s where things get a little strange. Contrary to initial reports, the event will not air on FOX Sports 1 (which is launching on August 17th to replace The Speed Channel), but instead on FOX Sports 2 (which will be replacing FUEL). It’s odd, because we thought the whole point of the UFC moving its cable events to FOX Sports 1 was to have all of those fight cards and prelim broadcasts in the same place. No longer would fans have to switch between FX and FUEL, in addition to keeping track of which fights are on FOX and pay-per-view. (And Facebook!) Fox Sports 2 was originally announced as a “general sports channel,” but now that channel is showing UFC fights too?

The UFC recently declared that its FOX Sports 1 events would henceforth be known as “Fight Night” events — just like their old Spike TV cards — which streamlines the naming process and prevents snot-nosed bloggers like us from making more jokes about it. (i.e., “UFC on FOX Sports 1 2: Condit vs. Kampmann 2: 2 Cute 2B 4Gotten.”) The problem is, calling an event “UFC Fight Night 30: Bisping vs. Munoz” doesn’t indicate which channel it’s on, which could be confusing if there are multiple destinations for UFC cable content.

At this point, we don’t know if the event’s placement on FOX Sports 2 is only a one-off decision, perhaps made because of the card’s impending garbage-ass-ness. We’ll update you when we know more.

(And then another heh heh heh he-heh heh heh. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.)

Fresh off of a convincing victory over Tim Boetsch at UFC 162, Mark Munoz already has his next fight lined up.

According to MMAJunkie.com, Mark Munoz and Michael Bisping have both verbally agreed to fight each other on October 26th in Manchester, England. The bout will serve as the main event of an upcoming UFC on Fox Sports 1 card, although no other fights have been announced for the card.

The bout makes for a compelling match-up – not only because both guys are top middleweights coming off of victories, but also because they’ve spent the past two years calling each other out. Munoz kicked things off by rallying for a fight against Bisping after reconsidering his adorably misguided call-out of Anderson Silva at UFC 138. Bisping was suspiciously quiet about it – especially for a guy who hates this sort of thing – until he spoke with FightersOnly one year later, after Munoz lost to Chris Weidman:

Well, [Weidman is] on a roll but I don’t think a win over a fat Mark Munoz makes you a contender. Especially when Munoz has bounced into the Octagon like he’s at a Take That concert and with a haircut that looks like Belcher’s tattooist has switched careers. Did that distract him? It distracted me. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. What was it supposed to be, do you know?

(Photo courtesy of Getty Images.)

By George Shunick

Surreal. That’s a pretty apt description of most Anderson Silva fights, for better or worse. Dodging Forrest Griffin’s strikes like he was in the Matrix, standing on the cage against Stephan Bonnar, front-kicking Vitor Belfort in the face? Surreal. Dancing around Thales Leites and shouting “where’s your jiu-jitsu now, playboy?” at Demian Maia? Surreal.

But those pale in comparison to what happened last night. What happened last night, when Silva lost for the first time in seventeen fights because he pushed the envelope too far, was the definition of surreal. For the sake of trying to comprehend what happened, let’s recapitulate for a moment. The first round saw Chris Weidman, the new middleweight kingpin of the UFC, take Silva down. Faced with the area in which he was most vulnerable, Silva deftly rolled with what ground and pound Weidman offered and defended any submission attempts before getting back to his feet. The rest of the round was spent taunting Weidman and stuffing any attempts at taking the fight to the ground. At the end of the round, Silva inexplicably hugged Weidman before returning to his corner.

When the second round began, Silva was in complete control, mocking Weidman’s attempts to hurt him. It was a performance unlike any other. But Silva strayed too far to the edge; caught with his chin up in the middle of a Weidman combination, he was felled by a left hook. His eyes rolled back; he was out before he hit the ground, where Weidman followed with a salvo of ground and pound that was merely a formality. Somehow, Silva had lost his title even more than Weidman had won it.

(“Cmm ert mih brrr.” / Photo via MMAFighting.com)

They’ve smushed chins. They’ve mushed lips. But tonight at UFC 162 in Las Vegas, Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman will let their fists do the love-making, and the only bodily fluids being exchanged will be BLOOD. [Ed. note: Look, I'm doing my best here.] Whether the Brazilian G.O.A.T. makes his 11th middleweight title defense, or the “All-American” lives up to his Rocky-esque underdog hype, I think we’re in for a hell of a battle.

Also on the pay-per-view lineup, Frankie Edgar steps into his first non-title fight since 2009 when he tangles with featherweight Charles Oliveira, while divisional standouts Cub Swanson and Dennis Siver jockey for their place in the 145-pound contender chain. Meanwhile in the middleweight division, Strikeforce vets Tim Kennedy and Roger Gracie look to make a good first impression in the UFC, while familiar contenders Tim Boetsch and Mark Munoz try to bounce back to the win column.

Handling our liveblog for the “Silva vs. Weidman” main card is Alex Giardini, who will be slingin’ live results after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for the latest updates, and feel free to mouth off in the comments section.

By Dan “Get Off Me” George

This Saturday night, a mixed martial arts legend will look to further cement his legacy while a rising prospect and undefeated fighter will try not to let Georges down and become the next 185lbs sensation. Somebody’s 0 in the Octagon has to go when Champion Anderson Silva defends his middleweight title against Chris Weidman at UFC 162.

Come along as we head to Las Vegas and breakdown some of the undercard as well as all of the main card bouts for Zuffa’s latest 2013 PPV offering. All betting lines courtesy of BestFightOdds, as usual.

Undercard bouts:

Seth Baczynski (-280) vs Brian Melancon (+240)

Melancon makes his UFC debut as the +250 underdog after a 1-1 record in Strikeforce against a -300 Seth Baczynski. “The Polish Pistola,” who is built like a middleweight, will enjoy a 7 inch height advantage and should be able to keep the fight standing to compliment his striking advantage in this bout. Melancon has yet to be finished and fight goes the distance at -195 is a fairly safe prop option for a single bet. Baczynski makes the parlay.

(Props: YouTube.com/CagePotato)

In this interview with Elias Cepeda at Metamoris 2, UFC middleweight contender Mark Munoz defends the controversial performance of Brendan Schaub, opens up about how his last loss to Chris Weidman sent him into a depression — which he buried in food, at the expense of his health — and discusses how re-ordering his priorities and relying on the support of family and friends allowed him to focus on being a fighter again. Munoz will return to the Octagon at UFC 162 against Tim Boetsch on July 6th. Follow Mark on twitter @Mark_Munoz, and for more hard-hitting MMA interviews, subscribe to CagePotato on YouTube.

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“Metamoris 2: Gracie vs. Aoki” Video Trailer (YouTube.com/Metamoris)

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Reese Witherspoon’s Dash Cam Arrest Video Is Her Best Performance Yet (FilmDrunk)

The Most Surprising Clutch NBA Playoff Performances of All Time (Complex)

Brittney Griner Signs With A Chinese Team Because It Pays A Lot More (Deadspin)

The Funniest Counterfeits Ever Photographed (DoubleViking)

Avoiding the Dreaded ‘Friend Zone’, Part 1 (EgoTV)

(Using so-phisticated technology, Jurassic Park scientists were able to extract the preserved blood from Munoz’s bone spurs and BINGO! Dino DNA. Photo via Munoz’s Twitter.) 

Fact: Chris Weidman hits so hard that his victims often fail to quantify the force of his punches until weeks and sometimes months after they’ve been hit. Just ask middleweight contender Mark Munoz, who received such a vicious beating at the hands of Weidman last July that his bones began to disintegrate over the course of the year in an attempt to deal with the shock. Hell, even Weidman’s body cracked under the pressure of possessing two pipe bombs for hands. So it’s quite fitting that, almost a year to the day after their clash at UFC on FUEL 4, both Weidman and Munoz have been booked to return to action at UFC 162. 

While Weidman is already scheduled to face off against Anderson Silva for the middleweight title in the evening’s main event, Munoz will taking on the man Weidman was expected to face at UFC 155, Tim Boetsch.

If you recall, Weidman’s teammate, Costa Phillipou, quickly stepped in as a replacement against Boetsch at UFC 155 and managed to successfully cut “The Barbarian’s” title hopes right out from under him with a series of eye pokes and headbutts that were eventually declared a third round TKO. Prior to the loss, Boetsch had racked up 4 straight wins in the middleweight division over the likes of Hector Lombard and Yushin Okami among others. Will ring rust play a factor in Munoz’s return to the octagon, or will Boetsch launch himself right back into the short list of contenders at middleweight with a win here?

Munoz vs. Boetsch is just one of several exciting matchups to be announced within the past few hours, so join us after the jump to check out the chronologically-sorted list.