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The city of Portland, Oregon will play host to the UFC tonight as the king of all MMA organizations brings fight fans its 102nd event. UFC 102 is scheduled to get underway at 10:00pm ET tonight at the Rose Garden Arena and it can be seen live on Pay-Per-View. The main event on this evening's card is a heavyweight battle between former champion Randy "The Natural" Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The undercard features a light heavyweight scrap between Keith "The Dean of Mean" Jardine and Thiago Silva. UFC 102 Odds, Picks & Predictions at Bodog.com have Jardine pegged as a -140 moneyline favorite.

Keith Jardine is one of the more recognizable fighters in the UFC, but his struggles with consistency have left him on the outside looking in when it comes to getting a title shot. He has fought some of the top fighters in the light heavyweight division, and has won his fair share, including victories over Chuck Liddell, Forest Griffin, and Wilson Gouveia.

However, the 33 year old has had difficulty stringing together wins. Jardine is 3-3 in his last six UFC fights and is 6-4 inside the Octagon. While is professional record is a stellar 14-6-1, he has not displayed the kind of steadiness needed to get a shot at the belt. A win tonight, though, would be a step in the right direction.

Jardine, who lost his last fight via unanimous decision to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, indicated he feels confident that he will be able to beat Silva, but regardless of the result, MMA fans will be entertained.

"The matchup is great for me," Jardine said. "He's a guy who likes to brawl and standup. He's not necessarily going to push for the takedown, and if it goes to the ground, I'm fine there. So, it's guaranteed that it's going to be a great fight and I'm pretty excited."

Thiago Silva comes into tonight's fight looking to rebound from his first loss as a professional fighter. Silva suffered a knock out at the hands of current light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida at UFC 94 back in January. The first round finish brought the 26 year old Brazilian's MMA record to 13-1 and his UFC mark to 4-1.

Prior to the Machida loss, Silva submitted Antonio Mendes in May of 2008. Silva, who has a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, has had just one of his fights inside the Octagon go past the first round. The lone exception came in September of 2007 when he scored a TKO against Tomasz Drwal at 4:23 in the second.

Bodog.com Keith Jardine vs Thiago Silva UFC 102 Odds, Picks & Predictions:

Keith Jardine -140
Thiago Silva +110

Randy Couture -215
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira +175

Nate Marquardt -180
Demian Maia +150

Chirs Leben -145
Jake Rosholt +115

Ganriel Gonzalez -500
Chris Tuchscherer +300

Brandon Vera -215
Krzysztof Soszynski +185

UFC 102 Odds: The UFC will be in Portland, Oregon this evening for UFC 102: Couture vs Nogueira. The event will take place at the Rose Garden Arena at 10:00pm ET; it can be seen live on Pay-Per-View. The 11 fight card features several intriguing battles, including a middleweight skirmish between Nate Marquardt and Demian Maia. UFC 102 Odds at BetUS.com has the more experienced Marquardt listed as a -180 moneyline favorite to take out Maia.

Nate Marquardt enter tonight's fight with a lot on the line. The 30 year old fighter is vying for another shot at middleweight champion Anderson Silva's belt. Silva beat the Denver resident back in July of 2007 with a first round TKO. Since that loss, Marquardt, who has a 31-8-2 professional MMA record, has compiled three wins and one defeat.

The lone post-Silva loss came in a controversial split decision against Brazilian Jiu-Jitu ace Thales Leites at UFC 85: Bedlam in June of last year. Marquardt has recorded TKO victories over Martion Kampmann and Wilson Gouveia since falling to Leites. 

Marquardt, who is a well rounded fighter with wins via knockout and submission, knows what kind of fighter Maia is, but he indicated that the Brazilian will not stand in the way of another potential meeting with Silva.

"I think he is a great fighter, " Marquardt said. "He is the best at what he does. He is undefeated but I plan to change that."

Demian Maia is an unbeaten 11-0 as a professional fighter, and he is 5-0 inside the Octagon. Maia, who hails from Sao Paulo, Brazil, has won every one of his UFC fights with a submission, three of which have come in the first round.

The journanlism major last fought in February of this year, recording a choke submission of Chael Sonnen at 2:37 into the match.  

Despite Maia's impressive resume, some doubt whether he can compete with the best of the best in the middleweight class. A win over Marquardt would certainly prove otherwise. Maia, however, suspects that that will not be an easy task.

"He is my hardest test [to date]," Maia said. 

BetUS.com UFC 102 Odds: Nate Marquardt vs Demian Maia UFC 102 Picks

Randy Couture -200
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira +160

Nate Marquardt -180
Demian Maia +150

Keith Jardine -140
Thiago Silva +110

Ed Herman -115
Aaron Simpson -115

Chris Leben -150
Jake Rosholt +120

Gabriel Gonzalez -375
Chris Tuchscherer +275

Krzysztof Soszynski +165
Brandon Vera -210

Nick Catone +165
Mark Munoz -210

Marcus Aurelio -160
Even Dunham +130

Justin McCully +210
Mike Russo -280

Tim Hague +160
Todd Duffee -200

UFC 101 Results: B.J. Penn looked like a man possessed as he made his way to the Octagon tonight, tongue flopping in and out of his mouth, eyes glazed over and absent looking. Turns out he was not possessed, just incredibly focused.

The lightweight champion was a -260 UFC 101 results favorite at Bodog.com entering the fight, but many felt Florian had a chance to overcome Penn if he just hung around long enough. Florian hung around for almost a full four rounds, but his efforts, while commendable, simply were not enough to put away the more talented Hawaiian.

Penn opened the fight with a great deal of energy, dictating the pace early on, but he did not force the issue. The 30 year old "Prodigy" mostly waited for Florian to strike either with the legs or hands, and then he countered with pin-point accuracy. He nearly knocked Florian out in the opening round with a solid right cross to the temple after the Massachusetts native missed with a combination.

Florian, however, weathered the early storm and began to lean on B.J. in the middle rounds in an attempt to wear him out. At times the strategy appeared to be working, in the fourth round, however, Penn proved otherwise as he took Florian to the mat and began to exercise his brilliant jiu-jitsu skills. It was only a matter of time before Penn (3:54) took the top contender's back and sunk in a deep rear choke that resulted in a tap out.

Penn, who is 14-5-1, has now successfully defended his lightweight title three times.

In the co-main event, Anderson "The Spider" Silva, a -340 UFC 101 results moneyline favorite, destroyed Forrest Griffin in one of the most impressive displays ever put on inside the Octagon. Silva, who is the middleweight champion, moved up to the light heavyweight class for the second time in his UFC career. Both fights in the division were ended by Silva via first round knock out.

Griffin, who is one of the top 205lbs. fighters and a former UFC champion in the weight class, came at Silva early, but was unable to land anything of substance. The Brazilian shuffled and bobbed around while gaging Griffin's striking abilities. About two minutes into the round Silva became more aggressive and began countering the former police officer's shots. He wobbled Griffin on a couple of occasions, which setup the hard, straight right that ended the fight at 3:23 into the opening round.

Prior to tonight's fight, some were wondering if maybe Silva was starting to lose his edge, in the process doing damage to his reputation as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Those thoughts are long gone as he made Griffin look like a novice fighter.

Silva, who is 10-0 in the UFC, may be at a cross-roads as he appears to have little competition in the 185lbs. weight class. His jump to light heavyweight may become permanent or, possibly, the UFC could create a catch weight fight between welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and the incomparable Silva.