TAKE FIVE: Ultimate fighting Championship 79, ‘Nemesis’

Friday, Dec. 28, 2007 | 7:16 a.m.

Principals: Matt Hughes (43-5 mixed martial arts) vs. Georges St. Pierre (14-2)

At stake: Interim UFC welterweight championship

Date/site: Saturday night at Mandalay Bay Events Center. Doors open 4 p.m.; first bout 5:15 p.m.

Featured bouts: Chuck Liddell (20-5) vs. Wanderlei Silva (31-7-1), light heavyweights; Lyoto Machida (11-0) vs. Rameau Sokoudjou (4-1), light heavyweights; Rich Clementi (37-12-1) vs. Melvin Guillard (39-7-3), lightweights; Soa Palelei (8-1) vs. Eddie Sanchez (9-1), heavyweights

Undercard: Luis Cane (8-0) vs. James Irvin (12-4-1), light heavyweights; Nate Mohr (8-4) vs. Manny Gamburyan (5-3), lightweights; Jordan Radev (16-2) vs. Dean Lister (9-5), middleweights; Roan Carneiro (11-6) vs. Tony DeSouza (10-3), welterweights; Mark Bocek (4-1) vs. Doug Evans (6-1), lightweights

Tickets: Near-sellout at $100 to $1,000

TV: Pay-per-view, $39.95

Weigh-in: 4 p.m. today, Mandalay Bay Events Center

The main event of Saturday's year-ending UFC show became an interim championship bout after Matt Serra, originally scheduled to fight Matt Hughes, was forced to withdraw with a back injury sustained during training. News of his setback broke Thanksgiving weekend. Although Hughes and St. Pierre don't have the mutual animosity that exists between Hughes and Serra, the match does feature two of the UFC's most accomplished fighters. "This is huge for their legacies," said UFC President Dana White, who gave credit to both men for "stepping up" on short notice to ensure the fight was made. "This is one of those fights people are still going to be talking about 25 years from now."

2. Third time around

The headliner will be the third meeting between Hughes, 34, and St. Pierre, 26 - though perhaps not the last, St. Pierre said. St. Pierre lost to Hughes by arm bar submission in a 2004 title fight, but avenged the loss with a second-round stoppage of Hughes for the championship in 2006. "I'm not overconfident at all," St. Pierre said. "We each beat the other once. We've both grown since then, and it's going to be a totally different match. It's going to be our third fight, but it might not be our last one. Matt Hughes is still young and in awesome shape. I'm still young and in awesome shape."

3. Easy out?

Hughes and Serra carried on a cold war as opposing coaches of aspiring UFC competitors in the most recent version of "The Ultimate Fighter," the reality show competition-slash-marketing tool on cable TV. Hughes was blunt in expressing his disappointment about losing a chance to deliver a pounding to Serra. "I'm fighting a lot tougher opponent than Matt Serra," Hughes said. "Matt Serra is getting the easy way out ... It'll be a pleasure to fight Georges St. Pierre, stand-up character that he is."

4. Crossroads

Had a fight between Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva been scheduled a year or two ago, the meeting of the acclaimed 205-pounders could have been billed as perhaps the biggest fight in the history of the sport. Because each man has lost his two most recent fights, however, it's seen as a clash of two men at a crossroads in their careers. After losing a decision to Keith Jardine in September, Liddell planned to take some time off, but changed courses to accept the Silva fight, which figures to be a toe-to-toe slugfest. Liddell says he's not planning to go away anytime soon. "When I stop enjoying (fighting), then I'll retire," Liddell said.

5. Betting lines

A 2-1 betting underdog against St. Pierre in Las Vegas sports books, Hughes hopes to pull another upset in a year of surprises in UFC wagering. Heavyweights Gabriel Gonzaga and Randy Couture won big bouts as underdogs in 2007, and Serra was a 'dog of 6-1 or better when he upended St. Pierre in April. Silva, despite coming off two consecutive knockout losses, is a short favorite of minus-125 (risk $1.25 to win $1) against Liddell, and Machida is minus-130 against Sokoudjou. Jeff Haney can be reached at 259-4041 or at haney@lasvegassun.com.