Kleinbeck, who has been known to assist commissions in administrating pre-fight physicals (he once gave a physical to his opponent), knows he cannot afford to overlook any foe.

"Every fight is important,'' he said. "I want to step up to the next level, but I have to beat who they put in front of me first. Noke has fought a couple tough guys. He is a well-rounded fighter who does everything really good. There is no way I look past him or anybody.''

Noke (kylenoke.proelite.com), of Queensland, Australia, by way of Sydney, trains at the Australian Zoo, which was started by Irvin. The Irwin family built an MMA cage for him so he could train while working at the Zoo as a security guard.

Considered by some to be one of the best pound-for-pound mixed martial artists in Australia, the well-conditioned, six-foot-two-inch 27-year-old has won titles in multiple weight classes since getting involved in MMA at the age of 22.

A well-rounded fighter who does not have any glaring weaknesses, Noke is 5-1-1 in his last seven starts. In his most recent outing and lone effort in 2007, he fought to a three-round draw with top Judoka and former PRIDE fighter Hector Lombard on July 28, 2007.

Noke, who may be most effective when he can counter, has fought the majority of his fights at 170 pounds. But his last three outings have been at 185.

Silva, who is six-feet-four and has weighed upwards of 300 pounds, is hard to miss. But do not blink once he enters the cage. All but one of his victories has come by knockout. None of his fights have gone one full round.

One of the most talked-about and feared up-and-comers in MMA, Silva's freakish size is matched with brute strength and surprising speed, brutal ground and pound striking skills. Factor in that he also is surprisingly nimble-footed and effectively combines Shotokan Karate and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and you seemingly have all of the ingredients of a future superstar

Nicknamed "Bigfoot'' for his huge, intimidating stature, Silva scored a 3:49, first-round TKO (strikes) over Wesley "Cabbage" Correira on Feb. 10, 2007, on SHOWTIME.

The victory came in his first start since suffering his only pro loss on a controversial first-round TKO to Eric Pele on Dec. 12, 2006. "I don't know what the referee was thinking when he stopped the fight,'' Silva said. "I was doing fine, biding my time, waiting for the moment Pele would slow down because I knew he was getting tired. But the referee decided to call the fight.''