Written by Scott Swerbinsky

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The UFC makes it first ever trip to Chicago on Saturday night and fight fans all over the world are in store for what my cousin sees as a loaded card. The mma pound for pound king, Anderson "Spider" Silva defends his middleweight title against Patrick Cote. And the undercard is loaded. My cousin calls this the best lineup of mma fights this year. And he previews the event for us in his latest.

The UFC makes it first ever trip to Chicago on Saturday night and fight fans all over the world are in store for what I see as a loaded card.

No matter where, when, and who Anderson Silva is fighting, I'll be tuned in to see him. The pound for pound king of the mma world will once again put his middleweight title on the line when he takes on Patrick Cote. On paper, this fight is a mismatch. To me, no matter how you look at it, the fight is a mismatch.

Anderson Silva has simply destroyed everything in his path since entering the UFC back in June of 2006. He has beaten up a few of the best fighters in the world in Rich Franklin (twice) and Dan Henderson. Silva even went up in weight and defeated a solid fighter in James Irvin. His striking skills are second to none. Scary is a word that comes to mind when thinking about it. Even though his ground game isn't as good as his standup, it is still phenomenal. I see no weakness in the Spider's game.

Patrick Cote is a solid veteran fighter. Saturday night he will be outclassed and out of his league. Cote is nicknamed the Predator, but Silva will make him his prey by the end of the night. Cote does possess knockout power in both hands and will have to get close to Silva in order to land one of his bombs. I just don't see one of those shots landing. If one does get thru, Cote will have a slim chance of taking the title from Silva.

This fight card has a ton of talent on it and I have a feeling we are in for a real treat. Let's take a look at the undercard's top fights in my opinion.

Josh Koscheck vs Thiago Alves

This fight is more than likely for a title shot. Two of the very best at 170 pounds. Koscheck is a guy who improves every single time out and has great all around skills. Alves is coming off of a huge victory against Matt Hughes. I see this one with fight of the year potential.

Gray Maynard vs Rich Clementi

My favorite up and coming fighter in Maynard taking on the experience of Clementi. I look to see a complete game out of Gray as he dominates his way to another win. Clementi has an impressive style and will be more than ready.  This one might just steal the show.

Sean Sherk vs Tyson Griffin

Two awesome wrestlers going toe to toe. Sherk was dominated by BJ Penn in his last fight and looks to rebound against the very skilled Griffin. If you like technical fighting, this will be one you don't want to miss. The guy who is able to land crisper punches will have the upper hand here.

Josh Burkman vs Pete Sell

The first bout of the evening. Two guys who love to throw and have excellent gas tanks. The loser might just find himself on the outside of the UFC and looking in. I expect a fireworks display here, hopefully it makes it on to the pay per view telecast.

Full fight card:

Middleweight champ Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote
Thiago Alves vs. Josh Koscheck
Fabricio Werdum vs. Junior dos Santos
Tyson Griffin vs. Sean Sherk
Rich Clementi vs. Gray Maynard
Thales Leites vs. Drew McFedries
Spencer Fisher vs. Shannon Gugerty
Matt Horwich vs. Dan Miller
Marcus Aurelio vs. Hermes Franca
Josh Burkman vs. Pete Sell

What a great lineup of fights from top to bottom, probably the best this year. A few fighters on this card will be getting title shots in the next few months. UFC fans will be glad they tuned in for this one, I know I can't wait.