Live from Arco Arena in Sacramento, California, UFC 73 is without question one of the deepest UFC cards ever.

Two Championship Belts are on the line, four current or former champions are fighting and it’s the UFC debut of one of the heaviest players in the world of international MMA.

The main event is a Middleweight showdown between Anderson "The Spider” Silva (-160) and Nate Marquardt (+130).

This will be Silva’s first actual title defense after annihilating Rich Franklin at UFC 64. He did submit Travis Lutter at UFC 67, but it was not a title fight as Lutter was unable to make weight.

Nate Marquardt is a four-fight UFC veteran, scoring four consecutive victories in the octagon. Marquardt hasn’t been around the UFC for as long as a lot of other middleweight fighters, but he boasts a 25-6-2 MMA Record, dating back to 1999.

In the other title showdown, Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk (-230) finally gets to defend the newest UFC belt as he takes on Brazilian fireball Hermes Franca (+180).

Sherk is an astounding 32-2-1 in his MMA career, losing to arguably two of the best MMA fighters on the planet in Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre.

Franca is coming off three recent victories in the UFC, and is currently on an eight-fight win streak.

In the third undercard, that can be hardy considered “low profile”, Tito Ortiz (-120) is back to take on undefeated light heavyweight Rashad Evans (-110). Ortiz is attempting to salvage his title hopes in the UFC after two victories over an aging Kan Shamrock, and a second loss to former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell.

Rashad Evans is coming off one of the most high profile knockouts in recent UFC history, a savage right kick to the head and neck of Sean Salmon at UFC Fight Night in January that made headlines on sports highlight shows all over the world.

And finally, not that this card needed it, we get to be privy to the emergence of a PRIDE heavyweight champion, Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira. At 6’1” and 240 lbs., this Jiu Jitsu expert has never been knocked out in any of his 34 MMA fights; he has taken the #1 ranked fighter in the world, Fedor Emelianenko, the distance in 2004. At UFC 73, he is taking on fellow heavyweight veteran Heath Herring (27-12-1).

Here’s a round-up of the rest of the fights: Mike Nickels vs. Stephan Bonnar Diego Saraiva vs. Jorge Gurgel Drew Fickett vs. Chris Lytle Mark Bocek vs. Frank Edgar

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