UFC 116 turned out to be one of the best cards that fans have seen in a long time. If you're Zuffa, how exactly do you follow that up? You take a month-long breather, hold a free card on Versus to get fans warmed up again, then bang out two mega events in the next three weeks. The first of those is 117 at Oracle arena in Oakland, California and fans are ready.

Roy Nelson vs. Junior dos Santos

UFC President Dana White has announced that the winner of this fight will be handed the winner of Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez and therefore a title shot so to say there's a lot on the line would be a massive understatement. Nelson continues to roll through the competition since his appearance on The Ultimate Fighter yet many fans are finding it difficult to see him as a serious contender. Make no mistake, Roy Nelson is well-conditioned, highly skilled mixed martial artist. I thought Joe Rogan put it best when he said that Nelson isn't just a fat guy, he's a fat guy that knows how to fight.

Dos Santos will be Nelson's toughest test in the UFC to date. He's punched his way to a 5-0 record since signing and every fight has been a stoppage. At 11-1 overall, the only loss of his career came via armbar back in 2007. His strength is definitely in his standup but he hasn't taken his ground game lightly, enlisting the Nogueiras as partners in his jiu-jitsu training at Black House. The 25 year old Brazilian has been fun to watch and fans have been clamoring for him to get a title shot. He'll get exactly that if he's able to get past one last obstacle in Big Country.

Matt Hughes vs. Ricardo Almeida

Hughes is a UFC legend and a probable Hall of Fame inductee. He made his debut with the promotion at UFC 22 in 1999 and has been fighting exclusively with the UFC since 2001. He's 16-5 at the big show and an amazing 44-7 overall. At 36 years old, Hughes has recently proven to still be dangerous in wins over Renzo Gracie and Matt Serra. In fact he's won 9 of his last 12, losing only to Georges St. Pierre (twice) and Thiago Alves, two of the world's top welterweights. His feud with the Gracie's goes back to 2006 when he engaged in a war of words with the legendary Royce Gracie. The UFC 112 fight with Renzo Gracie was a shot at redemption for the jiu-jitsu family but Hughes controlled the fight with vicious leg kicks, eventually leading to a TKO win and prompting Ricardo Almeida, a long time Gracie student, to ask Dana White for this fight.

Almeida recently made his welterweight debut, an impressive choke submission over Matt Brown at UFC 111. Prior to retiring from mma from 2004-2008, the former Pancrase champ was widely considered one of the best middleweights in the world. The Big Dog is 4-1 since his return to the UFC, losing only to Patrick Cote while battling an injury. Almeida has never made excuses in his career and will be looking to go 2-0 at ...

Make sure to check back with us the day of the event for free, live, round-by-round coverage of UFC 117 right here at FiveKnuckles.com! Join expert analyst Mike Williams as he takes you through the entire fight card blow-by-blow and then keep it right here for all the post-fight news and notes you can handle!