Dana White and some prominent fighters took to the streets of New York this past week to once again try to make strides toward sanctioning mma in the Empire State. While Madison Square Garden hosts the WWE on Saturday night, the UFC will bring the real fights as close to the Big Apple as they can get.

The Prudential Center in Newark, NJ will house an exciting card filled with competitive fights, title implications, and the light-heavyweight belt on the line. Up and coming young superstar Jon Jones will challenge a veteran who once lived that role in Mauricio Rua. Former WEC featherweight champ Urijah Faber will look to continue his climb up the bantamweight rankings as he takes on Eddie Wineland. Middleweight veteran Nate Marquardt will square off against Dan Miller, who's replacing late scratch Yoshihiro Akiyama who's confined to his home country of Japan in the wake of the earthquake/tsunami tragedy. Another veteran vs. young rising star fight on the main card will put Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic against Ultimate Fighter 10 finalist Brendan Schaub. Rounding out the main card is lightweight contender Jim Miller vs. the powerful "Prince of Persia" Kamal Shalorus.

Jim Miller vs. Kamal Shalorus 

Jim Miller has two professional losses. Those losses came at the hands of current champ Frankie Edgar and number one contender Gray Maynard. Those two will settle the score at UFC 130 in May and Miller hopes to be the next in line for a shot at the gold and a chance to redeem a loss. He's currently riding a six fight winning streak, most recently an impressive submission win over a very jiu- jitsu black belt in Charles Oliveira. Miller will fighting in his home state where he was a standout high school wrestler and the home of his current training team, AMA Fight Club. He's 19-2 overall and has stopped 11 opponents via submission.

Shalorus is undefeated. Four of his nine fights (7-0-2) have been in the now defunct WEC, which was once considered the lesser competition until the WEC lightweights merged into the UFC and proved that they can compete. "The Prince" has good punching power, winning four fights by TKO. A win over an opponent of Miller's caliber in his UFC debut would immediately put on him on the radar.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Brendan Schaub

Cro Cop has had some ups and downs throughout his career but he's without question one of the all-time best in the sport. He's been to war with fellow mma legends Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The former Pride star is 27-8 with an incredible 20 wins by (T)KO, including some of the most memorable head kick knockouts ever. He'll be looking to use his big fight experience to stop the momentum of the surging Schaub.

"The Hybrid" has only seen the second round one time in his eight pro fights, a unanimous decision win over Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 121. The product of Jackson's Submission Fighting has won five fights by first round TKO and was knocked out by Roy Nelson in the final of The Ultimate Fighter 10. At 245 pounds, Schaub is considered undersized by today's heavyweight standards but he's deceptively powerful for his size and he'll outweigh his opponent in this fight. Cro Cop might be somewhat past his prime but it would still be a huge win for Schaub's resume.

Nate Marquardt vs. Dan Miller

Marquardt is another fighter with vast experience all over the world. The former two-time King of Pancrase middleweight champion is also a Jackson student and...

Make sure to check back with us the day of the event for free, live, round-by-round coverage of UFC 128 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!