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It's time for another edition of Buzzfeed!, breaking down UFC Fight Night 36: "Machida vs. Mousasi," which takes place TONIGHT (Sat., Feb. 15, 2014) from Arena Jaragua in Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Here is everything you need to know about the mixed martial arts (MMA) event that with air on FOX Sports 1:
Who: Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi
What: UFC Fight Night 36
When: Sat., Feb. 15, 2014
Where: Arena Jaragua in Santa Catarina, Brazil
Why It Matters: The results of the main event (and potentially the co-main event) will give us a little more clarity in terms of who could be the next Middleweight title challenger. We know Lyoto Machida (20-4) can secure a shot with a win over Gegard Mousasi (34-3-2); however, will a spectacular performance for the latter be enough to convince the brass?
What's Hot: Don't approach the headlining bouts as a 185-pound tournament, but one big winner might earn the opportunity to become either Chris Weidman or Vitor Belfort's next opponent.
The main card also features exciting Brazilian fighters such as Charles Oliveira (16-4), Erick Silva (15-4) and Viscarde Andrade (17-5), who usually bring the heat every time they compete.
Also, this is the first event taking place in Brazil thus far in 2014, and apparently, it gets kind of hot down there.
We will also get to see how this new bonus structure works.
What's Not: The fact that Gilbert Melendez signed for Bellator one day before this event?
Jokes.
But, seriously, UFC has had a boatload of bad press this week, including performance-enhancing drugs (also known as marijuana), the signing of a coffee shop employee instead of a great wrestler, trashing one of the most accomplished Heavyweights to ever compete in combat sports and disappointments about conforming to the private school uniform.
Oh, and by the way ... there's an event happening this evening in with three former mixed martial arts (MMA) champions in both the main- and co-main events.
In short, UFC should channel is energy on promoting this upcoming card instead of stirring the pot when there's an event on the weekend.
Save that stuff for the slower weeks.
New Blood: The promotion continues to fill its divisions with fighters we are not quite familiar with, and it's much of the same story here in Santa Catarina.
There are four fresh faces making their Octagon debuts tonight.
The Russian invasion continues in the UFC as 23-year old Zubaira "Warrior" Tukhugov (15-3) competes against Brazilian newcomer Douglas Silva de Andrade (22-0) in the opening bout.
"Warrior" is currently riding a six-fight win streak, including three first-round finishes.
Andrade has been slaying the opposition in promotions such as Jungle Fight, Super Pitbull Fight and Shooto in his native Brazil, with seven-straight finishes since the beginning of 2012.
Albert "Einstein" Tumenov (12-1), hailing from Nalchik, Russia, gets a stiff test against Ildemar Alcantara on the UFC Fight Pass "Prelims."
"Einstein" has finished his last five via technical knockout, crushing his opponents in the very first round.
Last but not least, a veteran on the Japanese fight scene, Takenori Sato (17-8-7) makes his debut against Erick Silva, stepping up as a replacement for Nate Loughran. The former King of Pancrase Welterweight champ did most of his damage under that promotion alongside Sengoku and Deep. He hasn't lost 2010, amassing eight victories and two draws since.
Original Card vs. Actual Card: This event didn't suffer too much damage, as everything stayed in tact except for two bouts.
Silva was expected to face Loughran, however Loughran suffered an injury and was replaced by Sato.
Tavares was supposed to battle Tuhugov, but the Brazilian had to pull out of the bout because of injury. Replacing him will be the aforementioned de Andrade.
How do the "Prelims" look: Exactly how you would expect the "Prelims" to look on a Brazilian card.
There aren't really any mouth-watering duels taking place on Fight Pass, yet there are seven bouts involving Brazilian fighters -- we could be treated to a slick submission or two.
Three lightweight bouts with be the featured attractions, as Cristiano Marcello (13-5) takes on Joe Proctor (8-2), Rodrigo Damm (11-6) looks to continue his winning streak against Ivan Jorge (25-3) and Francisco Trinaldo (13-3) is up against Jesse Ronson (13-3).
Iuri Alcantara (28-5) will try to shake off a loss to Urijah Faber in his last outing against Wilson Reis (17-4), which takes place in the Bantamweight division.
Maximo Blanco (9-5-1) will be looking to avoid his fourth loss in five outings as he battles fellow Featherweight Felipe Arantes (15-6-1), and this is a must-win for "Maxi" after failing to make weight yesterday.
Who Needs A Win Badly: There are a few dudes in do or die situations.
We already touched base with Blanco, and his opponent Arantes needs to win as well to avoid a string of losses, not to mention only being victorious twice in his last seven bouts.
Iuri Alcantara needs to win in order to avoid two straight losses, too, and only having one win in his last five could cost him his job.
As exciting as Silva is, he's been fairly inconsistent, with a record of 3-3 since making his debut at UFC 134 in 2011.
Charles Oliveira will be looking to avoid losing his third fight in a row, and despite his entertaining style, two wins out of eight would be enough for the promotion to cut ties with him. His opponent Andy Ogle (9-3) may not be safe with a loss either, since it would make him 1-3 in the promotion.
The same goes for Cristiano Marcello, who needs to beat Joe Proctor in order to avoid a 1-3 UFC record, too.
Interest Level: 6.5/10
The main- and co-main events are definitely worth checking out, although this fight card would have been better suited for a Wednesday. The east coast start time is rather late for a Saturday night (10:30 p.m.), and there isn't that much worth getting excited for outside of the headlining fights.
In all honesty, there are some good fights here, but the card as a whole isn't that strong.
Here is the full UFC Fight Night 36: "Machida vs. Mousasi" fight card:
Main Event:
185 lbs.: Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi
FOX Sports 1 Main Card (10:30 p.m. ET):
185 lbs.: Ronaldo Souza vs. Francis Carmont
170 lbs.: Takenori Sato vs. Erick Silva
170 lbs.: Viscardi Andrade vs. Nicholas Musoke
145 lbs.: Andy Ogle vs. Charles OliveiraFight Pass Prelims (7 p.m. ET):
155 lbs.: Cristiano Marcello vs. Joe Proctor
155 lbs.: Rodrigo Damm vs. Ivan Jorge
155 lbs.: Jesse Ronson vs. Francisco Trinaldo
135 lbs.: Yuri Alcantara vs. Wilson Reis
145 lbs.: Felipe Arantes vs. Maximo Blanco
170 lbs.: Ildemar Alcantara vs. Albert Tumenov
145 lbs.: Douglas Silva vs. Zubair Tuhugov
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