By Anthony Dion, FightTicker.com blogger

UFC 94 features the superfight between lightweight champ BJ Penn and welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre as well as a light heavyweight matchup between Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva.These two fights are going to be AMAZING and this video preview sets them both up:

With the New Year upon us, it is time once again for me to take stock of the movers and shakers in MMA in the year of 2008 with my first edition of the pound-for-pound rankings of 2009. This will be my marker for the year to compare to its 2010 counterpart in roughly 365 days.

Who will be at the top? Will the Spider continue to spin his web? Or will Georges St.-Pierre be able to dethrone him in the ultimate dream MMA matchup? Or could perhaps a heavyweight like Andrei Arlovski do the impossible by winning the WAMMA HW title as well as a boxing heavyweight title to cement his legacy? Time will tell. All I can do now is rank the fighters with the information currently at hand.

So without further ado here is my 1st edition P4P rankings for 2009:

One of the best night of fights, if not the best, in MMA's short history went down with UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 on Saturday night live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. To most, the event will be remembered undoubtedly for its upsets, but for me (having picked the three main events correctly) it will be a night remembered for the impressive performances put on by the winners.

The most impressive performance of the night clearly has to be that of Frank Mir who not only beat Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera, and not only became the first man to finish the soon-to-be Hall of Fame Brazilian, but dominated him so completely that you would've thought that Mir was the Hall of Famer instead.

And that's just it. Mir is as talented a heavyweight mixed martial artist as any that have ever stepped into the cage. People tend to discount a lot of what happens outside the Octagon when judging a fighter but when it comes to Mir that is something that you can't do.

The UFC held a conference call for the media in advance of its December 27 UFC 92 "The Ultimate 2008" card. Present for the call were Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans, who fight each other for the light heavyweight title, and Quinton Jackson and Wanderlei Silva, who face each other for the third time (first time inside the Octagon) in another light heavyweight showdown.

Here are notes from that call:

Philippe Nover

- Taking Anderson Silva comparisons all in stride:

"I just took it as a compliment. In no way am I saying I am the next Anderson Silva."

- Also believes that his semi-final fight with George Roop was a good test for him despite Roop's hand injury. But points to the final with Efrain as his biggest test to date.

"George Roop is a phenomenal fighter...he was a good test for me. Efrain would be a true test. He's undefeated and he has more experience than me. He's a test that I'm here to take."

On a night when UFC fighters got the chance to put on a show for those who fight for our freedoms abroad, many of those fighters walked away with injuries comparable with those suffered by some soldiers in attendance.

The UFC's Fight Night 16: Fight for the Troops was broadcast free on Spike TV from Fort Bragg, North Carolina to benefit the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. As part of the broadcast, all night viewers were given glimpses of some of the terrible ordeals that many of the brave men and women have suffered during combat abroad. Celebrities such as Charlie Sheen and Samuel L. Jackson taped messages asking viewers for donations.

In what has been rumored for months, Dana White announced Wednesday, December 10th that the winner of the UFC 93 main event fight between Dan Henderson and Rich "Ace" Franklin will indeed oppose Michael "The Count" Bisping on Season 9 of the UFC's "The Ultimate Fighter" reality TV show.

Rumors had persisted since October that the opposing coach would be a top American fighter (to go along with the US vs. UK theme) such as Franklin or Henderson and White made it official at a special Fight Club Q&A session in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.