A fighter who has never turned down a challenge, Noons is confident of an upset. "This is for a world title,'' he said. "I'll be ready. I wasn't impressed with Nick's last performance. This is a good match-up. He's the No. 1 guy in the world; he beat Gomi. I'm just glad to have the opportunity to have a chance to be fighting someone of his caliber.

"I have nothing to lose, everything to gain. He's great on the ground. I'm not, but I work hard at the ground game. I don't plan on trying for a submission. I'll just be trying to stop him.

"Nick is probably going to try and stand and then take it to the ground to finish it. I want to make it a fight. The way I fight, every fight is exciting and a war. I'm going in to win. I won't be letting down. It's going to be head-to-head. I think fighting at 160 is good for both of us.''

Kimbo (kimboslice.proelite.com), aka Kevin Ferguson, is a big, scary-looking, intimidating heavyweight who developed an astonishing following on the Internet due to his famous "unsanctioned" backyard fights.

Lest you think he is not serious about MMA, however, forget it.

"I am totally committed,'' Kimbo said. "I'm for real at this and not short term, but long term. I am not a novelty act. I mean business. I am coming to bring the noise. I work extremely hard. There are critics who don't think I can do this, but I am going to prove them all wrong."

Kimbo, who possesses pretty solid standup, defeated former world boxing heavyweight champion "Merciless'' Ray Mercer via guillotine submission in his MMA debut June 23, 3007.

One individual who liked what he saw was Rutten, an MMA legend and one of the sport's all-time great trainers.

"I was way more than impressed with his fight,'' Rutten said. "He did his homework and worked the game plan to perfection. I write game plans. I told Kimbo, 'these are the things you have to focus on. If you do, you're not going to be in trouble, but you have to hit every point.'

"Normally, guys go for something then forget it. Kimbo took the game plan, kept it and kept working on the points. He's a sponge and wants to learn. He comes in on time and doesn't complain. He'll do everything you say. Things you teach him today, he remembers tomorrow.''