If a fighter wants to know where he stands in the welterweight division, he should face perennial contender Karo Parisyan (5’10”/170 lbs., fighting out of North Hollywood, Calif.). The 26-year-old dropped his last fight to No. 1 welterweight contender Thiago Alves, but has amassed a 26-5 professional mixed martial arts record and has nine of those wins in the UFC, including victories over Matt Serra, Chris Lytle, Josh Burkman and Ryo Chonan. Korea’s Dong Hyun Kim (6’1”/170 lbs., fighting out of Busan, Korea) will have to be at his best if he wants to defeat the UFC veteran. Like Parisyan, Kim has a strong judo background and the 27-year-old is coming off consecutive wins in his first two UFC matches against Jason Tan and Matt Brown. Now Kim brings in his 11-0-1 record against the Armenian warrior.

Any match that includes Clay Guida (5’7”/155 lbs, fighting out of Johnsburg, Ill.) is sure to be a high-energy fight, and Guida will need all that energy against 23-year-old Ultimate Fighter Season 5 winner Nate Diaz (6’0”/155 lbs., fighting out of Stockton, Calif.). Guida has won his last two fights, earning a TKO victory against Samy Schiavo, and then going the distance in a victory against Mac Danzig. The 27-year-old has compiled a 24-6 MMA record and looks to stop Diaz (10-2), who is riding a five-fight win streak with victories against Josh Neer and Kurt Pellegrino in his last two fights.

With an extensive list of top-tier fighters, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has seen only two competitors start their UFC careers by going 8-0 – one is UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie, the second is Ft. Wayne, Indiana’s Jon Fitch (6’0”/170 lbs., fighting out of San Jose, Calif.). Looking to rebound from a loss to St-Pierre, the former Purdue wrestler (21-3, 1 NC) will stare across the Octagon this time at MMA veteran Akihiro Gono (5’9”/170 lbs., fighting out of Nakano, Tokyo, Japan). The 34-year-old with a 28-13-7 record started his UFC career with a win over Tamdan McCrory at UFC 78 but then dropped a split decision to Dan Hardy at UFC 89.

Fighting on the same card as his cousin Karo Parisyan, Manvel Gamburyan (5’5”/155 lbs.,
fighting out of North Hollywood, Calif.) looks to rebound from his loss against Rob Emerson in his last match. A judo expert like his cousin, the 27-year-old will put his 10-4 record up against Thiago Tavares (5’7”/155 lbs., fighting out of Florianopolis, Brazil). The 24-year-old Brazilian thrilled fight fans in 2008 with his wars against Matt Wiman and Kurt Pellegrino, and he’s looking to kick off 2009 with a big win.