Kenny Florian vs. Takanori Gomi Targeted For Ultimate Fight Night 21, March 31st

According to a tweet by ESPN's MMA Live crew, a lightweight match between perennial UFC lightweight contender Kenny "Ken-Flo" Florian (12-4) and one-time, world-wide, divisional king Takanori "The Fireball Kid" Gomi (31-5) has been targeted as the main event at Ultimate Fight Night 21. The event will air live from Charlotte, North Carolina on Spike TV and serves as a lead-in to the first episode of The Ultimate Fighter 11 reality show, which features a cast of middleweights and will be coached by longtime rivals Chuck Liddell (21-7) and Tito Ortiz (15-7-1).

Both Florian and Gomi have fought well in losses to, UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn in the past, so this bout can be seen as an attempt by the UFC to mark just one for a potential rematch with "The Prodigy" in the near future.

Kenny Florian arguably took a round from Penn at last August's UFC 101: Penn vs. Florian before succumbing to a fourth-round rear naked choke. He has since changed his main training camp from Mark DellaGrotte's Team Sityodtong in Boston, to Firas Zahabi's TriStar Gym in Montreal. Displaying his newly retooled MMA game for the first time, Florian recently rebounded from his loss to Penn with a convincing submission of Clay "The Carpenter" Guida (25-11) at last December's UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez. Kenny has won ten of his twelve career UFC bouts at lightweight, including seven of his last eight.

Takanori Gomi fought BJ Penn back in 2003 when "The Prodigy" was in the midst of a self-imposed exile from the UFC. It was a spirited, back-and-forth match that ended when Penn secured a fight-ending rear naked choke midway through the third round. Since that time "The Fireball Kid" competed mostly in Japan's PRIDE and Sengoku promotions compiling a record of 17-3-1. However, with losses in two of his last four, some have began to question if the hard-hitting Gomi has lost a step. It seems he will have the chance to acquit himself of those accusations in his long-awaited UFC debut against "Ken-Flo" on March, 31st.

This match-up presents an extreme likelihood for a violent and decisive finish considering that Florian and Gomi have ended 28 of their 43 career victories inside the distance, for a combined finishing rate of over %65.

Other matches likely for UFN 21 (March 31st) include: Roy Nelson vs. Stefan Struve; Nate Quarry vs. Jorge Rivera; Yushin Okami vs. Lucio Linhares; Cole Miller vs. Andre Winner; Ross Pearson vs. Dennis Siver; and Gleison Tibau vs. Caol Uno

Roy "Big Country" Nelson vs. Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve Booked For UFN 21, March 21st

As their cage names suggest, Roy "Big Country" Nelson (14-4) and Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve (19-3) are both extremely large human beings. However, in terms of their actual physical proportions, the two stand-out UFC heavyweights could not be more different. Nevertheless, they will clash at Ultimate Fight Night 21 on March 21st.

The show is set to air live on Spike TV and will serve as the lead-in event to the eleventh season of the UFC's long-running reality show, The Ultimate Fighter. The opposing coaches this time out will be octagon legends Tito Ortiz (15-7-1) and Chuck Liddell (21-7).

At 6'11'' tall, a full three inches taller than Tim Sylvia (25-6), "Skyscraper" is the tallest fighter on the UFC roster. At just twenty-one years of age, Struve is still coming into his own as a fighter, which is scary because he has already managed to compile a three-fight UFC winning streak-- no easy feat in the modern HW division. Struve's last victory came via a somewhat controversial majority decision over Paul "The Headhunter" Buentello (27-11) at last month's UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez. When Struve learns to fully utilize his incredible length for striking, his stand-up skills should catch up to his formidable ground-game, which has already enabled the young Dutchman to score fourteen career submissions.

Staring up at Struve from across the octagon, the 6' tall, 265+lb. "Big Country" Nelson, with his enormous gut in tow, will certainly appear over-matched. However, UFC fans know enough by now not to be fooled by Nelson's appearance. His victory over fan-favourite "Kimbo Slice"(4-1) and near-flawless run through TUF 10's field of heavyweights is the stuff of octagon lore. His sudden KO victory over Brendan Shaub (4-1) should have convinced any remaining doubters that the "fat guy" definitely can fight. In fact, "Big Country," who is a BJJ black belt, regularly uses his gut offensively to pin his opponents to the canvas while he improves his position or rains down blows. One wonders if he'll ever realease a combination reverse-diet book and BJJ instructional guide.

There is just no denying the inherent comic value in Nelson vs. Struve, so we might as well embrace it well before UFN 21 arrives. It will be sort of like if the Mario Brothers finally squared-off, or if Abbot had finally gotten tired of Costello's antics and just punched him in the kisser.

Jon Jones vs. Brandon Vera Likely For March 21st

In a classic case of an injury resulting in a better fight, Brandon Vera (11-4) will now fight Jon Jones (9-1) after light heavyweight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira,Vera's opponent for UFC 109, fractured an ankle during training. The fight will tentatively take place March 21st, 2010 on SpikeTV's Ultimate Fight Night 21 from Denver, Colorado. That's one week before Georges St-Pierre fights Dan Hardy at UFC 111 (March, 27th).

This is a very exciting matchup considering both men are technically coming off a loss. Jones is currently contesting the DQ loss he suffered to Matt Hamill at the TUF 10 Finale, while Vera is still fuming over what he thinks was a blown call in his decision loss to Randy Couture at UFC 106.

At this stage in Jones' remarkably rapid development, Brandon Vera may be one of the few lightheavyweights in the world who can still give Jon Jones a run for his money. A dominant victory by either fighter has to put him no further than two more wins away from a title shot.