I know UFC 84 is just three short weeks away, but I haven't heard too many people complaining about the card, which is a good thing. It seems as though fans are pretty happy with the Penn-Sherk, Ortiz-Machida, and Jardine-Silva fights. I'm looking past 84 at 85, and I'm getting happier by the day...

After the Chuck Liddell injury, people began crying that the sky was falling, and that there was no fight to be made that could save UFC 85. And when the announcement that James Irvin was fighting Rashad Evans, and no main event had been announced yet, the nay-sayers came out even more furiously. Well, the rumored card doesn't look half bad, for a card that is supposed to ruin the UFC forever.

The rumored fights as of now are...

Matt Hughes v. Thiago Alves
Fabricio Werdum v. Brandon Vera
Nate Marquardt v. Thales Leites
Michael Bisping v. Chris Leben
Rashad Evans v. James Irvin
Marcus Davis v. Mike Swick
Martin Kampmann v. Jorge Rivera
Paul Kelly v. Jonathan Goulet
Ryo Chonan v. Roan Carneiro
Thiago Taveras v. Matt Wiman
Luis Arthur Cane v. Jason Lambert
Jess Liaudin v. Paul Taylor
Neil Wain v. Antoni Hardonk

13 fights, seven of which are lsited on the main card. Hughes - Alves is a fight between two of the top welterweights in the world. Werdum is in line for a title shot if he beats Vera, who is trying to prove he belongs in the mix at heavyweight. Marquardt - Leites has real potential to be Fight of the Night. We'll find out how strong Bisping is at middleweight against Leben, the ultimate gatekeeper at 185. The Evans - Irvin fight could be interesting, depending on which Irvin shows up. Davis - Swick should be exciting, and I am a huge Martin Kampmann fan. I'm hoping he is back to where he was before the injury. Rivera will be a good test, coming off his huge KO of Kendall Grove. The undercard is chock full of good fighters like Paul Kelly (looked awesome against Paul Taylor), Ryo Chonan (needs a win in the worst way), Thiago Taveras (only loss so far is to Tyson Griffin - no shame in that), Jason Lambert (KO or to be KO'd - that is the question), Paul Taylor (has shown tons of heart and skill in his two UFC losses to Marcus Davis and Paul Kelly- maybe he gets off the schneid in this fight), and Neil Wain (this guy is a bomber...Hardonk better bring a helmet. Wain is only 5'10", so Hardonk will have a six inch height advantage, but Wain is a tough guy. Could be a really fun fight, if Wain has his way).

I'm really excited about this card. And to boot, I have heard rumbling around the water-cooler that they may give this card away on Spike. MMAjunkie had been reporting 85 being a free card for some time now (http://mmajunkie.com/news/3831/ufc-officially-announces-ufc-84-and-ufc-8...). If this card if free, man, the UFC is going to gain a ton of new fight fans with the talent they have tapped for this event.