FanHouse Thiago Silva

Light heavyweights Rashad Evans (18-1-1) and Thiago Silva (14-1) have been upgraded to headline UFC 108 on Jan. 2 in Las Vegas following Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's withdrawal against Cain Velasquez due to a serious staph infection.

"The bout between Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva is a fight we always talked about as a main event, and now these guys have the chance to headline UFC 108 and kick off the new year in impressive fashion," UFC president Dana White said. "At the same time, we wish Antonio Nogueira a speedy recovery and can't wait for his return."

The fight card is below.

The UFC announced Tuesday Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez and Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva as the two co-headlining bouts for UFC 108 on Jan. 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The winner of the heavyweight main event will determine the title challenger next in line once Brock Lesnar recovers from his sickness and puts his belt up against Shane Carwin.

The Evans-Silva matchup pits the former 205-pound champ looking to avenge his training partner Keith Jardine's knockout loss at UFC 102.

Lyoto Machida is still the light heavyweight champion of the UFC, but not many people agree with the three judges who allowed him to keep his belt after 25 minutes in the Octagon with Shogun Rua on Saturday night.

So does Machida keep his status as the top light heavyweight in MMA in my latest Top 10? He does, but Shogun also moves up in the rankings after a very close fight with the champ. The full rankings are below.

If the Lyoto Machida-Shogun Rua fight at UFC 104 had gone the way everyone expected -- Machida handily defeating Shogun to retain his title -- the UFC would have faced a quandary with its light heavyweight division. Machida would be perceived as so dominant that there wouldn't be any particularly interesting fights for him, and the stacked UFC light heavyweight division might have started to feel a little stale.

That's why Machida's controversial unanimous decision victory on Saturday night was a great thing for the UFC: It sets up a Rua-Machida rematch that will be a bigger fight than the first one, and it buys time for the UFC to re-establish some of its other light heavyweights as contenders to take on the Rua-Machida 2 winner.

In short order, Lyoto Machida has become MMA's golden child, captivating fans around the world with his inimitable style and perfect record. But it wasn't too long ago that Mauricio "Shogun" Rua was MMA's flavor of the month.

So will Machida continue his unbeaten run at UFC 104, or will Shogun rediscover the glory that made him one of the sport's rising stars just a few years ago?

Let's take a look at how Machida-Rua will play out.

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Left without an opponent for his next fight when Rampage Jackson walked away from the UFC, Rashad Evans said Wednesday that he expects to fight Thiago Silva next, likely some time in December or early next year.

In an interview with FanHouse, Evans -- the former UFC light heavyweight champion -- said that while nothing is official, he thinks the Silva fight is the best option for himself and the UFC after Rampage decided he'd rather act than fight.

"Thiago Silva is a good fighter, I'd like to fight him and I think he wants to fight me," Evans said. "When I saw him after he fought Keith Jardine, he kind of gave me a nasty look that I interpreted like he wanted to take me on, and I'd like that."

I don't think we've all given enough credit to Thiago Silva.

To review, Silva is 14-1 in his MMA career, and the only loss is to the undefeated undisputed champion of the light heavyweight division, Lyoto Machida. Of Silva's 14 wins, he's finished 10 opponents in the first round, the most recent of which was Keith Jardine Saturday night at UFC 102.

And yet the UFC's light heavyweight division is so stacked that on my list of the Top 10 light heavyweights in MMA, there are eight UFC fighters ahead of Silva. The full list is below.

UFC Twitter universe had plenty to say about UFC 102, with thoughts on upcoming fights for Randy Couture and Thiago Silva (could both of them be future opponents for Lyoto Machida?) as well as praise for Nate Marquardt.

Your questions and comments, and my responses, for our UFC Twitter mailbag are below.

UFC 102 is in the books, and the UFC Twitter universe had plenty to say about a great night of fights. We have questions and comments about old-timer heavyweights Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Randy Couture, young up-and-coming heavyweight Todd Duffee, light heavyweight knockout artist Thiago Silva and a couple of NCAA champion wrestlers, Jake Rosholt and Mark Munoz, who are looking good early in their MMA careers.

Your questions and comments, and my responses, for our UFC Twitter mailbag are below.

PORTLAND, Ore. - In a fight eight years in the making, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira beat fellow former champion Randy Couture via unanimous decision to win the main event of UFC 102 on Saturday at the Rose Garden.

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