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On January 1, 2011 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the UFC 125 event is scheduled to take place. The main event of the card will be a championship bout between UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. But despite defeating B.J. Penn twice in 2010, Edgar hasn’t gained the respect or fanfare one might expect.

The bout will be Edgar’s second defense of the title that he won from B.J. Penn in April 2010. His opponent, Gray Maynard is 10-0 while Edgar’s record is 13-1. Edgar’s sole loss came at the hands of Maynard in April 2008.

Even though Maynard is certainly one of the most effective in the division, he is not the most exciting of fighters. He’s a tough challenge for Edgar, and not just because Maynard won the last time these two met in 2008. Maynard’s greatest asset is his ability to not allow opponents find their comfort zone. However, Edgar believes he just needs to do what he’s been doing, and his record will speak for itself.

Edgar said during a pre-event conference call this week, “I just think it takes time. B.J.’s been around for such a long time, he was such a dominant champion at it just takes time for people to come around on someone new. If I keep winning fights the respect will come eventually.”

In 2007, since their first meeting, Edgar has rattled off five straight wins, defeating former title challenger Hermes Franca as well as former Champion Sean Sherk before the wins over Penn. With each successive victory, Edgar has developed his skills to an elite level, and he continues to get better.

Jim Miller will take on Charles Oliveira in a mixed martial arts lightweight bout soon. These fighters will be squaring off at the upcoming UFC 124 event. This will be a great way for each of these fighters to finish off their years with a bang as this is the last UFC event of the 2010 season.

A lot of people are excited for this matchup because they are ready to see the Miller brothers back in action. Jim and his brother Dan are popular fighters and they will both be squaring off against opponents at this UFC 124 event.

Both of these fighters, Jim Miller and Oliveira, have won their most recent fights. They will both enter into this match with momentum after impressive victories. Miller has now won 5 straight fights. Oliveira not only has a similar streak going for him but, he was also very impressive in his last fight with “Submission of the Night” honors against Efrain Escudero.

Oliveira has never lost a fight in his career and a win in this fight could help him on his path to becoming a contender for the lightweight title. Jim Miller is a rising contender and a solid victory in this event could launch him even higher into the ranks of top contenders. If he loses, he will likely fall back and it will be a long road for him to be considered a contender again.

There is a lot on the line for both of these fighters and you can count on both of them to come with everything that they’ve got when they square off at UFC 124.

Dan Henderson and Renato “Babalu” Sobral have been around for years and their legacies are practically on everyone’s minds. Henderson has won two divisions in PRIDE, whereas Sobral captured Strikeforce’s light-heavyweight championship. It is safe to assume most of their careers are behind them, since both are quite old. It seems more critical to capture the opportunities that come, with time no longer an ally to either man. Company CEO Scott Coker has said that the Saturday’s Strikeforce matchup may be a golden one. It is very likely that winner of this bout will battle against reigning 205-pound champion Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante.

In this upcoming fight, Henderson said that he does not feel that this fight is a do-or-die situation for him. He said he is not going to retire even if the fight does not go his way. For this fight he feels, he is very confident and he is hopeful that it will not be an issue and thinks that the smart money would be on him for this fight bet.

In the Strikeforce, Henderson failed to come in terms with the UFC. He said he felt his conditioning was great in that fight although it did not showed. The weight cut was tough for him and he had some other issues.

In this fight, Sobral’s performance is what the bout will depend on, as Henderson’s plan is no secret. What needs to be seen is whether Sobral opts for the style he used against Lawler or he keeps Shield’s strategy in mind and taking the fight down at all costs.

In the end though, this fight will probably settle into a mostly standup affair, as Sobral is unlikely to chase takedowns like Shields. Henderson seems to clip everyone, although it will come down to Sobral having to out-land Henderson while staying away from his bombs. As a general rule, unless the numbers are so overwhelming they cannot be ignored, judges tend to favor cleanly landed power shots to volume. Henderson seems to be the one because of that edge.

Former PRIDE champion, who is now 40-year-old, takes it 29-28. To add a shiny new belt to his collection, he is on for a chance.